


Fazbear Escape

by ComedyMonarchy



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Adult Themes, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, LOTS of violence, On the Run, The quality of writing improves as the story advances, Thin Line Between Good and Evil, hidden past, long story, past trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-01-16 09:26:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 56
Words: 540,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21268781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComedyMonarchy/pseuds/ComedyMonarchy
Summary: Escape...everyone wants to escape the past, for Freddy Fazbear and the others, it is no different. Even though you may not be interested in the past, however dark and chaotic it is, it is most certainly interested in you. After all, one's interpretation of events are not so clear cut when you look at them again...





	1. Five Nights at Freddy's

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings to all FNAF fans or curious readers, this is Fazbear Escape, not your ordinary FNAF Fanfic as you will soon discover...
> 
> I want to give special thanks to Tenebrae Vesper, who in their stories, demonstrated the importance of interlinking songs be they related to FNAF or not to the art of story telling. (Check their FNAF stories out, they're quite interesting with engaging and loveable characters, especially their OCs).  
Finally the vast majority of characters in this particular story will be human based, not robots, I wanted to give the plot an element of being unique, something different from the ordinary to help make it stand out.  
Also this is my first ever fanfic, so please be kind should I happen to make several grammar errors, but constructive feedback in reviews is more than welcome.  
This story is also on Fanfiction.Net in case anyone is interested. 
> 
> I do not own Five Nights at Freddy's, that belongs entirely to Scott Cawthon of Scottgames.

** Chapter 1 **

  
** Five Nights at Freddy's. **

** _"When seeking revenge, dig two graves, one for yourself."_ **   
** _ Douglas Horton_ **

There was the hard grinding screech of old rusted hinges as Freddy opened the back door to the Pizzeria's roof, pushing it open full circle.  
It was quite a challenge with the door itself being fire proof, hence being made from a strong, thick and durable metal. Yet even old age had taken its toll by the year twenty fifteen. Once finished with his task, Freddy turned around to face the others.

They all looked eager to go and leave this dump behind, their hopes were high for a new life. . .a second chance.  
All the packing had been done beforehand, in this now empty, decaying and filthy pizzeria, only the Fazbear family remained.  
"Ok, Mike's airship is waiting for us upstairs, let's go," he said, stepping aside to make space for the others.

"Everything is done, you can give this place your personal farewells."

"I'll carry BB up then," Chica announced, proceeding to instantly scoop him up into her arms and he didn't take it lying down.

"I AM NOT A CHILD!" BB protested, kicking and screaming with all his might as Chica only merely tighten her grip.  
Freddy sighed, he wished that Balloon Boy could be more cooperative for the occasion, after all this would be the last time they would ever see this place again. He turned to Toy Freddy, his younger counterpart, light blue eyes met dark green.  
"Toy Freddy, can you go and take care of Puppet, but make sure to lift her out carefully," he ordered to which Toy Freddy nodded and immediately went over to the Puppet's Music Box which was stationed at the far end of the Pizzeria.

Amidst Balloon Boy's vocal protest at being carried up, Freddy's eyes looked around in search of Goldie, aka Golden Freddy, the much older counterpart to himself and Toy Freddy. "Where's Goldie, it shouldn't be taking him this long to get Springtrap?" he asked aloud, hoping that someone would answer him.

"Over here Freddy."  
Freddy turned to find Goldie, dragging with all his might an unconscious Springtrap through the open doorway that led down to the basement, being careful not to cause him injury.  
Freddy upon seeing him struggle, ran over to help.  
"He's still unconscious I'm afraid, obviously, he's not in a good state after decades of neglect," Goldie stated, as he and Freddy pulled Springtrap across the floor.

"Although I shouldn't be surprised, given how long he has been asleep for," Goldie remarked, he then paused to think.  
"Thirty-seven years in all I think."

"Still, we're leaving no one behind," Freddy muttered to which Goldie nodded in response. "I was able to keep him attached to his nutrient bag and everything else, so he should be good for the long ride to Jeremy's," Goldie said joyfully. He was trying his best to keep a steady grip on the essential medical components which had kept Springtrap alive in his coma state. Slowly, they dragged him like a body bag over to the foot of the stairs where the others had already gathered. Immediately, Freddy began to give out orders.

"Ok, everyone else head up to the roof, Goldie can you carry Springtrap up-"  
Then suddenly from the direction of the front doors, Foxy burst in like he was on fire, running into the main dining area with panic written all over his face.

The young man in what was clearly an old worn out pirate's costume didn't stop for breath as it looked as if Death himself was chasing him.

"CAPTAIN, THE PURPLE GUY IS HERE, AND HE HAS AN ARMY OF ENDOSKELETONS WITH HIM!"  
"WAIT WHAT, PURPLE GUY, ENDOSKELETONS!" Freddy shouted, shocked yet struggling to grasp with Foxy's words.

"THEY'RE RIGHT OUTSIDE THE PIZZERIA!" Foxy shouted back, racing towards the group as fast as he possibly could.  
He pointed with his hook in the direction from which he had come.

"THERE'S HUNDREDS OF THEM, THEY JUST TURNED UP OUT OF NOWHERE!"

"QUICK, ABANDON SHIP!" Toy Bonnie yelled, proceeding to grab Bonnie and throw the girl over her shoulder, before rushing up the staircase towards the roof top without a moment's notice. "WHAT THE?!- PUT ME DOWN, YOU MORE FEMININE VERSION OF ME!" Bonnie screamed, bashing her fists against her back, but Toy Bonnie's grip held firm.

Then came the sounds of the front doors being bashed open, glass shattering, wood splintering and then snapping. Metal groaned in agony as it was bent and misshaped by whoever sought to gain entry. "Oh God, they're breaking down the doors," Toy Chica whispered in her horror, gripping onto her older counterpart, who was too distracted by all the noise to notice, even with BB thrashing about to get free.

Although once he realised the situation, he immediately stopped and joined the others in their fixed gaze towards the source of the sound.  
Instantly as fear began to spread throughout everyone's minds, Freddy picked up the mantle of leadership as he often did.

"Everyone up the stairs now, Foxy, can you-"  
Foxy was already uplifting tables and chairs before pushing them towards the main corridor that lead to the front entrance, trying to buy them some much needed time.  
"Yes. . ." Freddy muttered.  
"Do that."

Whilst he turned to the others, his mind began to fill with numerous yet unanswerable questions.  
_"This is all too soon…why is he here now?"_

_"Why would he return right out of the blue?"_

_ "What could he want this time?"_

  
"Freddy what do we do?" Toy Chica asked, shouting to be heard over the chaos, her words brought him out of his chain of thoughts.  
"You and everyone else get up the stairs right now!" Freddy ordered, running over to help Foxy. "Just get to the airship Toy Chica, Foxy and I will buy you and the others some extra time."

Not needed to be ordered for a third time, Toy Chica along with the others legged it up the stairway, with Chica cradling Balloon Boy in her arms even though he was too old for that.  
Goldie followed them close behind having to carry the unconscious Springtrap over his shoulder. It was right then that Toy Freddy returned, carrying the Puppet in his arms, she looked shocked with her bright white dots for eyes darting about in all directions, reacting to every sound in a nervous manner.

"What's going on, aren't we leaving now?" she asked urgently.  
"It was a bit of a struggle trying to get her out of those strings of hers," Toy Freddy muttered, presenting the Puppet to Freddy.  
"You didn't need to haul me out, I could have done it myself, thank you very much," she retorted, her black jet hair flickered to the side as she glanced back to give Toy Freddy a glare of frustration.

She wasn't one to be bossed around.

"Take her up now, everyone else is already up there," Freddy replied, tilting his head in the direction of the back door. Toy Freddy nodded and proceeded to run up the stairs with the annoyed Puppet in his arms, she frowned, but didn't struggle, there was no point given the gravity of their situation.

Then there was an almighty deafening groan of metal, which meant that the front doors were about to give way.  
"FOXY, COME ON!" Freddy yelled, as the walls shocked with the sound a loud snap, followed instantly by the noise of the front doors hitting the once polished tile floor.

Then it was quickly drowned out by the sound of multiple metal feet hammering the floor as the unseen intruders pilled in like a wave of frenzied zombies. Foxy finished with the last of the barricades before racing back towards Freddy.  
"Everything's ready captain, permission to leave the ship?" he asked, coming to attention like a sailor.

"Really, Foxy, now of all the moments to do this," Freddy thought, rolling his eyes.  
"Yes, let's go, those barricades won't hold for long-"  
Then suddenly the barricades shock violently as something or rather somethings collectively charged into them head on.  
The wood buckled and splintered.  
Out of the emerging gaps, thin metal skeleton like hands appeared…. endoskeletons and there were lots of them, hundreds maybe.

However, Freddy and Foxy had already ran out of the room, slamming and locking the back door shut behind them. "Goodbye much beloved Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria," Freddy announced joyfully with a sarcastic undertone, locking the back door shut.  
"And maybe you rot in hell," he cursed under his breath.

"Come on Freddy, the others are waiting!" Foxy groaned, urging to him move faster.  
Freddy upon completing his task, turned round and shoved Foxy up the stairway.  
"I know that, Mike said he could only keep his invention in hover mode for so long!" he stated as they raced up towards the roof.

"Then let's go and be done with it matey!" Foxy replied, running off ahead of him.

* * *

Meanwhile the barricades finally gave way and the endoskeleton horde descended on the abandoned inner rooms of the Fazbears' home. Their grey eyes, thin metal skeleton like frames and the constant static sound which they emitted from their voice boxes filled the air. Some scuttled around on the floor on all fours like ants, but most walked across the cracked tile floor like the average human being.

If encountered individually then they were easy to handle, but as a group they were quite deadly and they were not without a leader.

Emerging out of the shadows behind the endoskeleton horde and carrying a modern scope rifle, a man with purplish hair stepped in. He wore what was an old looking purple uniform with the tattered yellow Fazbear logo stitched onto its upper shirt pocket.  
Stepping over the broken smashed pieces of wooden chairs and tables, the endoskeletons parted before him like the Red Sea supposedly did before Moses.

Vincent Afton was his name, also known as Purple Guy…child murderer and former staff member at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. Standing in the centre of the main dining area which was littered with debris and held all signs of a hasty exit.  
Vincent's dull, cold green eyes casted a glance in both directions.

"Mmm. . . search the entire place from top to bottom quickly, capture anyone you see and bring them to me, no killing," he ordered plainly to which the endoskeletons proceeded to carry out his orders without question.  
"That right is reversed for me. . .alone," he muttered with an under tone of anger as he watched them raced in all directions like a pack of wolves on the hunt.  
With that done, he then examined the backdoor, he knew where the Fazbears had most likely gone, he had even seen the airship hovering over the Pizzeria when he arrived, but he wanted to be sure that some of them weren't hiding anywhere else. The door itself was made of steel, about thirty to sixty centimetres thick, he could tell simply by looking at it, it was a fire door and it needed to be tough.  
Despite its age, it would be hard to break down even with all the combined strength of the endoskeletons.

"Mmm...time for a little explosive I think," Vincent remarked, now smiling as he reached round with one hand and pulled a C-4 out from his back trouser pocket.  
He soon attached it to the door's lock and primed it ready, before taking a good several steps back and then simply waited for the charge to detonate. The resulting blast caused the door to swing wide open, banging against the wall with a loud deafening metallic clang.

"Oh, walking through a Fazbear wonderland," he sang, striding through the open doorway triumphally before proceeding to climb the stairs. He checked his gun to see if he had placed the right ammunition in, better be safe than sorry when it really counted.  
"Set to kill, for today I'm in a joyous mood," he declared as his horde of endoskeletons crawled up the stairs behind him like a swarm of ravenous insects.

As he suspected they hadn't found anyone else down here, therefore the Fazbears had to be on the roof.  
Speaking of which…

* * *

When Freddy and Foxy finally reached the rooftop of the Pizzeria, Purple Guy's attack couldn't have come at a worst time. Mike's airship was hovering above the roof with a rope ladder dangling from the hatch which led into the ship's interior. . .but no one was getting on board.

You would think so given the situation. . .but no.

Bonnie was outright refusing any help from her Toy counterpart, even though she would need her help to get on board the airship. Chica was of course wresting with Balloon Boy, who had reignited his fight to become free. Meanwhile Toy Freddy was trying to carry the Puppet up the ladder, but now she was insisting that she did it herself and wasn't cooperating in a friendly manner, proceeding to claw him with her fingernails.  
"LET ME DO IT, I AM NOT LIKE BB, I AM NOT A CHILD!" she argued, pushing against his grip, but Toy Freddy simply wasn't having it.  
"PUPPET, I'M ONLY TRYING TO HELP YOU!" the Toy roared back.

Mangle, who was actually the only Fazbear onboard, was crawling around the airship's cockpit using her endoskeleton arms to grip the ceiling, while Mike was trying to get the ship's engines to power on full blast. "Come on, you son of bitch, don't give out on me now," he groaned, twisting the key in the ignition.

He had spent several good long years, nearly a decade in fact trying to prefect this airship, so why wasn't it working now.  
"Smash it with a hammer dear, that's what I'd do," Mangle stated humorously, whilst crawling across the ceiling like a lizard.  
"And damage everything else, no thanks," Mike muttered humorously giving the ignition another try.

"Jeremy said he had checked the engines before I left, oh I am so having a word with him about this if I make it to Chicago."  
Meanwhile outside, Toy Chica, had the opportunity to climb, but was too busy screaming at the sight of dozens of endoskeletons climbing up the outer walls of the pizzeria. Only Goldie could achieve his aim of getting the unconscious body of Springtrap onto the ship. Although it was a bit of a struggle carrying up someone who weighed the same amount as you on a rope ladder.

"Here you go, nice and comfortable," he said sounding quite satisfied, as he strapped Springtrap into his allocated seat and making sure that any of the vital medical compartment hadn't been damaged. "Stay still damn you, I'm trying to help!" Toy Freddy shouted, trying to constraint the Puppet, who was refusing to climb up the rope ladder.  
"I WANT OUT, I WANT OUT!" Puppet screamed, kicking her legs into Toy Freddy's knees, which whilst it didn't hurt him, only further served to anger him even more.

Freddy turned to Foxy, everything was clearly becoming chaotic.  
"Lock the door, quickly before-"  
BANG!  
A bullet raced up the staircase, just missing Foxy's left shoulder and went right through Freddy's top hat.  
That couldn't be fixed any time soon.

Freddy slowly reached up and took his hat off, examining it in a state of pure shock. "My hat. . .since nineteen eighty I've worn this hat, on many stages this hat has been by my side to entertain children and adults." Quickly Foxy turned and saw Vincent smiling, as he walked proudly up the staircase with his rifle in hand, not to mention his horde of endoskeletons following on behind him.

Foxy instantly proceeded to slam the door shut and bolted it, before grabbing Freddy, who was still in a state of shock about his hat and raced towards the airship.

They all needed to leave and fast. Bonnie, however had just about had it with her more feminine counterpart.  
"Just let me do it ok, I don't need your help, I'm a capable woman like you," she said, throwing her arms up in frustration.

Toy Bonnie just sighed and rolled her light green eyes at her counterpart's fiery reddish purple pupils.  
"Fine, if you won't let me help you, then you leave me no choice," Toy Bonnie stated with her arms folded.  
"Thank you, now if you excuse me, I must-"  
Before Bonnie could start climbing, Toy Bonnie immediately grabbed her waist and threw her upwards.  
"AAAAIIEEE!" She screamed.  
It was half a success, as the upper half of Bonnie had gone through the hatch, but her lower half stuck out with her legs kicking about in the air. "Well, you were asking for it," Toy Bonnie muttered scornfully under her breath, as she climbed up after her.

Toy Freddy had by now tied the Puppet's strings to his body, so she couldn't attempt to break free. "Finally, we're making some progress," he hissed through gritted teeth, as he started to pull himself and the Puppet up towards the entrance hatch.

"Come on BB," Chica called, pulling Balloon Boy close to her chest as she climbed up the rope ladder.  
Toy Chica was the last one to follow, as the airship began to struggle with maintaining its ability to hover due to the added weight of its new passengers.  
Mike had finally got the engines working with full power, but the endoskeleton horde was now climbing onto the roof and the roof top door itself was buckling against the strength of the endoskeletons on the other side.

No sooner had they clambered their way onto the rooftop, all the endoskeletons proceeded to make a beeline for the airship.  
"We need to buy Freddy and Foxy more time!" Chica exclaimed, watching from the airship hatch as hordes of endoskeletons converged on the airship.  
"We can't stay for long or we're dead!" Mike shouted, preparing the airship for lift off.

"I'll keep this thing stable for as long as I can, Toy Bonnie, use the gun turret quickly!" he ordered, pressing a series of buttons on the main control panel.

"Since when did you have a gun-"  
Suddenly the floor opened beneath Toy Bonnie with everyone else watching her fall through. She landed safely in the seat of a gun turret, with a throttle for movement and a trigger to fire.

Instantly a million questions popped into her head. "Don't ask questions Toy Bonnie, just roll with it," she muttered to herself, pressing down on the throttle's trigger as she pushed all questions aside.

The gun turret opened fire with its high-powered cannon barrels, blasting away multiple endoskeletons with a single shot as they were shredded from limb to limb. "YEAH, NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL MAKING PROGRESS!" she shouted, causing Chica to laugh with amusement, watching countless endoskeletons getting cut down in the explosive bullet storm with various body parts flying everywhere all over the rooftop.  
Chica kept on laughing. . .until she looked down.

"Err guys, a little help please," Freddy cried, reaching up with his hands as the increasing gusts of wind caused the rope ladder to move further away from the pizzeria's roof.  
"No use captain, the winds have it," Foxy stated, also trying his best to jump.  
Then the roof door gave in, being bashed wide open, the impact nearly knocked it off its hinges. Out of the carnage stepped Vincent followed by more endoskeletons.

He instantly saw the dire situation Foxy and Freddy were in.  
"My my my, what have we here," he chuckled, bringing the rifle's scope up to take a shot.  
"It's just like shooting children in a barrel. . .far too easy."  
"Come on Freddy, grab my hand," Chica pleaded. who was down on her knees and reaching out of the hatch with her hand, hoping to grab hold of Freddy's. However, just as she was about to grab his hand, a shot rang through the air, causing her to flinch and miss. Vincent was obviously firing at the rope ladder, trying to stop Freddy and Foxy from escaping.

He then turned his attention to the cockpit and fired at Mike.  
The shots burst through the cockpit window, but luckily Mike ducked in time.  
"Oh, no you don't, you psycho bastard!" he stated, pulling hard on the ship's steering wheel, this caused the airship to turn away from the roof that way Vincent couldn't shoot him.  
"NO!" Chica screamed as her second attempt to reach Freddy only just missed by an inch.  
"MIKE, WE CAN'T LEAVE THEM!" she yelled in desperation, as more and more endoskeletons crawled towards the airship, despite the best of Toy Bonnie's cannon fire.

"IF WE STAY WE'RE DEAD!" Mike shouted back, trying to be heard over the propellers.  
"THERE'S TOO MANY!" Toy Bonnie screamed, as the neverending endoskeleton horde advanced through what was effectively hellfire. The sudden movement of the airship caused everyone onboard to stagger briefly, meanwhile Vincent's endoskeletons raced towards Freddy and Foxy. "COME ON, JUMP UP, I'LL CATCH YOU!" Chica screamed, leaning even further out to grab hold of either Freddy or Foxy.

Toy Chica, saw her counterpart's distress and dropped down onto the rope ladder, she swung it around and grabbed hold of Freddy's hand. "Gotcha, what's a band without its lead singer hey," she said, trying to crack a joke whilst she pulled him up. "What's a ship without it's pirate," Freddy stated, pointing with his free hand at Foxy, who was still trying to get hold of the rope ladder.

"Err captain, a little help would be much appreciated!" Foxy shouted trying to jump upwards, as Vincent turned his attention to the lone figure on the roof.  
"Well, well, well, fox at twelve clock," he muttered humorously, steadying his rifle.  
"SURPRISE MOTHER FUCKER!" Toy Bonnie shouted, turning the turret round and firing a burst of cannon fire at Vincent.

He instantly dived to the ground, unlike his fellow endoskeletons who got blown to pieces before they could even react.  
Chica leaned further out and was able to grab hold of Foxy's hook.  
"Mmm. . .mmmm, your. . .too. . .heavy," she groaned through gritted teeth, as her arm muscles were stretched to breaking point.

Vincent was annoying Toy Bonnie, no matter how steady she aimed the turret, she just couldn't seem to hit him.  
"WHY CAN'T I KIILL YOU OF ALL PEOPLE GOD DAMMIT!" She yelled, firing burst after burst at Vincent and his endoskeletons.  
However, Vincent wasn't so easily suppressed, whilst laying on the ground, he turned to his endoskeleton servants. They were the ones who had been wise enough to hit the deck like he had. He then pointed at Toy Bonnie, who he could clearly see in the ball turret.

"Distract her for as long as you can," he ordered, hugging the floor to avoid the firefight that raged on about him. The endoskeletons immediately nodded and rushed towards Toy Bonnie on mass without any care for themselves. "CHRIST ON FIRE!" Toy Bonnie shouted, turning the turret to rip shreds into the hordes of endoskeletons which were trying to attack her.

With Toy Bonnie distracted, Vincent slowly rose back to his feet and took aim with his rifle.  
"Foxy, give me your other hand," Chica pleaded, leaning out as far as she possibly could.  
Foxy reached up with his other hand and-  
BANG!  
Freddy looked at his clothes, they were splattered with blood, but he had not been hit.  
There seen to be nothing, but utter silence as Foxy with an open mouth, slowly looked down to see a gaping hole in his abdomen.  
It looked messy to say the least.  
"Oh...that...will require...some stitches," he murmured faint heartedly, as blood dripped down his clothes.  
"Do we have…"  
He appeared to go limp, with his eyes closing, it quickly occurred to the others that he was losing awareness.  
"FOXY!" Chica screamed, as Foxy slipped into unconsciousness.

Freddy instantly reached out and grabbed him with his free hand before Foxy's weight could become too much for Chica to bear. He turned and saw Vincent now aiming at him, their eyes locked and it wasn't for the first time.  
Light blue met a dull lifeless green.

_"Little bear went down to the woods today excepting a big surprise,"_ Vincent mentally chuckled with his finger on the trigger.  
He had a clear shot, now to just pull and-  
Suddenly the rifle was ripped out of his hands by an unseen force.  
"WHAT THE BLAZES!" he yelled and then he saw her. . .the Puppet leaning out of the hatchway above the others, using her long puppet strings to pull the rifle away. "WHY YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Vincent growled, grabbing the rifle and pulling it back towards him, he had completely forgotten about her ability to use her ropes as a weapon.

Meanwhile, Goldie and Toy Freddy, who had since given up all hope of getting the Puppet to sit still in her seat, appeared by the airship entrance and helped the two Chicas pull Freddy and the unconscious Foxy inside.  
Puppet then pulled her strings back towards her, ending her tug of war with Vincent. She did it just as Mangle, having cleaned airship's exterior free of any endoskeletons, crawled back inside. Immediately Goldie proceeded to pull up the rope ladder and then slam the hatch door shut.  
He then locked it tight, completing the act.

"WE ARE ALL ON!" He shouted, raising his voice to be heard over the chaos. "GOOD, NOW WE CAN LEAVE THIS FORSAKEN DUMP!" Mike yelled back, pushing the accelerator handle forward, thus making the airship's propellers spin faster.  
He then grabbed his walkie talkie, opening up a communications channel.

"Mangle, how's the rudder outside?" he asked.  
"Since I last checked, she's endoskeleton-free sugar," came Mangle's cracked voice through the receiver.  
"Are you inside now?"  
"Yes, I'm inside with the others, there's nothing else left for us here," she replied, sounding very happy that this was finally happening.  
"Good, now let's fly," Mike muttered, as he turned the rudder wheel far to the right. The airship was now too far away for any of Vincent's endoskeletons to climb onto. However, that didn't stop Toy Bonnie from firing at them. "DIE, DIE, DIE, EVERYBODY DIES!" She shouted in a fit of immense rage, firing at point blank range into the hordes of endoskeletons that crowded the rooftop of the pizzeria.  
After seeing Vincent shoot Foxy, she was rightfully pissed.

The airship then did a one hundred and eighty degree turn and proceeded to fly away over the rooftops of the surrounding town, getting smaller and smaller in the distance. Away from the endoskeletons, away from Vincent. . .away from the past.  
However, that didn't stop Vincent, he quickly changed his ammunition for something less lethal and more technical, before aiming at the rear of the airship and fired.  
The device hit its target and latched on.  
"You may run. . .but you cannot hide. . .you just can't," he said smiling, amidst the burning wreckage and malfunctioning parts of destroyed endoskeletons that littered the roof top.

He then felt the tug of something on his sleeve, making him turn and look down.  
It was an endoskeleton, one which had survived the hellfire of Toy Bonnie's shooting spree.

  
_"Sir, what should we do now?"_ it asked, in a plain and clearly robotic voice as due its programming. Vincent thought for a moment, his smile dropped as he turned back to look at the airship which was now a dot in the far distance.  
"Phase one hasn't worked out as I planned, but I suspected that it wouldn't," he muttered, he was speaking more to himself than the endoskeleton.

"Hence why we have multiple backups."  
He then turned back to face the endoskeleton in question, his eyes briefly scanned the rooftop, it was littered with numerous destroyed endoskeletons. He had lost a good number, but he had even more endoskeletons to cover today's losses.

"Gather the dead, repair those that can be and basically just amuse yourselves until the big guns arrive, then we move," he ordered.  
The lone endoskeleton nodded, before sending out the commands telepathically to all its nearby counterparts. They received the instructions simultaneously and immediately proceeded to carry them out.

"I'll be down in the main office if anyone needs me," Vincent stated, forgetting to mention that part previously.  
Inside he smiled, the pizzeria was now his, his old hunting ground.  
Whatever the Pizzeria intended to mark itself out to be, people only remembered Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria for two things and two things only.

Mystery and death...

* * *

"QUICK, GIVE HIM CPR!" Toy Freddy bellowed, as Goldie and Freddy quickly carried the unconscious and seriously wounded Foxy to the back of the passenger compartment, with Chica holding onto his hand all the way.

"PLEASE LET HIM LIVE, PLEASE!" she sobbed, trying to read his face for any sign of movement.  
There was nothing, not even the flicker of his eyelids.  
"COME ON WAKE UP!" she screamed, hoping that her emotionally charged words would stir him awake.  
However, something grabbed hold of her shoulder, making her stop, she turned to see that it was Freddy.  
"Chica, please can you go and sit down and-"  
"NO!" She shrieked, grabbing onto Freddy's blood-stained clothes and pulling him down to her level.  
"Please, I can help Foxy, I've preformed medical procedures on children in the past," she whispered calmly, despite having a tear streaked face and breathing in a panicked manner. "That bullet went in deep Chica, the kind of medical procedure that Foxy will require is beyond giving a child CPR when a piece of pizza has gone down their windpipe," Freddy replied softly, his bright blue comforting eyes staring into Chica's shiny, vibrant green.  
"It's not the same field."

Even then, the last time he had seen Chica preform any kind of medical treatment was long ago, about twenty years at least.  
"I can handle this Freddy, I have read medical books in my spare time. . .I know what to do in a situation like this, I can at least help Goldie and Toy Freddy," Chica pleaded, hoping to convince Freddy of her understanding of the world of medicine. "Please, just let me help them," she begged, pulling a little extra on his clothes to get her point across.  
Freddy thought it over, he couldn't deny that she would do everything in her power to help, she had always held feelings for Foxy since they first met.  
"Ok, nurse him back to health like the mother hen you are," he said smiling, deciding to let go of his doubts. Chica then unexpectedly hugged him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Thank you Freddy and you know I will," she whispered, sounding very relieved.  
She hugged him before rushing off down the aisle to join Goldie and Toy Freddy at the far end. Freddy stood for a moment, thinking things through, but mostly what had just occurred within the last ten minutes. They had just been able to escape, and now Vincent Afton, the metaphorical Purple Guy had returned, after last being seen twenty odd years ago, and he had somehow got a massive army of endoskeletons at his beck and call.  
It may have only lasted for ten minutes, but it was a lot to take in.

Suddenly, he felt a sudden wave of exhaustion pass through his body, he staggered as he stepped forward, hoping to balance himself.  
Luckily, Bonnie, having already noticed rushed up and caught him in her arms.  
"Are you ok?" She asked, sounding worried as she pulled him upright, so he could regain his balance.  
"No. . .I feel very tired for some reason," Freddy replied holding his hand to his head, this tiredness was very sudden, maybe it was the adrenaline dying down.  
"Well sit down then," Bonnie suggested, leading him to a nearby seat. But Freddy instantly pulled away, he had much bigger things on his mind. "No, I need to see Mike and then check up on Foxy, I want to give him support and help out," he argued. Bonnie, however grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him right back, she wasn't going to let this lie. "Foxy will be well looked after by Goldie, Toy Freddy and Chica, Mike is fine as he is with flying this thing, you on the other hand need some rest," she stated, digging in her feet to prevent him from escaping.

She began looking around, hoping that this wasn't causing a scene. "You're obviously tired from your recent brush with death," she stated firmly, hopping to get her point across. Freddy of course struggled with her, but in his exhausted state, Bonnie was physically stronger and forcefully pushed him down into a nearby seat.  
"Let me go, I need to see if everyone else is ok," Freddy protested, still trying to fight back, but obviously not making any headway.  
"It's my job as the head of the family."  
Bonnie, however ignored him and proceeded to strap him in tightly so he couldn't get up.  
"Sorry I have to do this Freddy, but from what I've come to know of you over the years and frankly that is a 'lot', you can get a little. . .stubborn for your own good."  
"My own good. . .MY OWN GOOD, YOU LISTEN WELL BON BON-"  
Bonnie instantly clapped her hand over his mouth and lowered herself down to his level with a serious deadly look in her eyes. Freddy instantly froze and stopped struggling, that icy look could kill if it were possible.  
"Don't. Call. Me. Bon Bon, now I will leave you here to cool down and rest and if it really helps you, I will go and see how Foxy is doing...got it?" she asked, there was no sweetness in her voice, only a rogue determination.

Freddy with wide eyes slowly nodded, he was now slightly terrified of Bonnie. . .if he wasn't before.  
"Good, see you soon, have nice dreams Freddy," she said smiling sweetly, snapping right out of her icy demeanour as if it never existed.  
And with that, she turned around and walked off further down the aisle towards the cockpit. "But, I cannot be left alone all by myself, what if the airship suddenly falls out of the sky," Freddy called after her.

"Then just hope that someone will come by and notices you, anyway you got company so relax," Bonnie replied plainly, pausing to stop and point in his direction.  
"Company, I haven't got company," Freddy remarked, looking at the seats next to him, they were all empty. He then turned in the other direction and came face to face with Springtrap, still unconscious and sitting right next to him.  
The sudden and unexpected shock of seeing him made Freddy jump right out of his skin.  
"AAAA!" he screamed, shocked by his discovery.  
Springtrap was in a slumped position, leaning to his left with his bunny ears lightly touching Freddy's right shoulder.  
At least Freddy could put on a good first impression.  
"Hi there, I'm Freddy Fazbear and you are?" he asked, extending his hand towards Springtrap.

Yet Springtrap's response was one of utter silence, as he was completely motionless and oblivious to the world around him. Freddy rolled his eyes and slumped back into his seat.  
"Why must I be placed next to the mute," he moaned, unhappy with the situation that he now found himself in. He looked down at the seat belt strap, grabbing it with both hands and trying to pull it from the press lock that ran down to the side of his seat.  
"She must've jammed it shut, Bonnie was always an assortative one, unlike Toy Bonnie who's not assortative and doesn't question Toy Freddy's position as her superior."  
Freddy then paused to think, casting his mind back to earlier days.  
"I think, unless she has said something sarcastic and he just hasn't noticed, which I wouldn't put pass the guy anyway," he muttered under his breath, although obviously, no one would hear him.  
He then laid back in his chair and closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep, after all he might as well.  
"Think of the good old days Fazbear. . .think of better times," he whispered to himself, feeling his mind begin to drift off.  
There were plenty of good moments for him to ponder on.

Springtrap however on the other hand was dreaming of anything but the good old days. . .


	2. Springtrapped Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter, I will highlight now that this story is going to jump about between different perspectives, so don't worry, it's all part of the plot.  
I forget to mention this before in the previous chapter, but I will say it now, in regards to songs being used, the vast majority will be in the background not interacting with the story itself, others will be interactive, think sing along.  
Also the addition of quotes at the start of each chapter is to signify the chapter's theme.  
Enjoy...
> 
> (The song used in this chapter is 'Just Gold' by MandoPony.)

** Chapter 2. **

** Springtrapped Nightmare. **

"_**There are bad dreams for those who sleep unwisely."**_

_ **Bram Stoker, Dracula** _

_"No, you leave him alone, don't you dare touch him."_

"_I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE!" _Springtrap screamed, as he pounded his fists on the door of Fredbear's Family Diner.

The lone boy outside was being stabbed to death, again and again the knife cut into his flesh, bringing ear splitting screams from the boy. _"SHUT IT YOU LITTLE SHIT!" _yelled a man in a dark purplish uniform, as he covered the boy's mouth with his hand, trying to muffle his cries for help.

Springtrap, tried to break through the door, but all he could do was watch the horrifying scene repeat itself repeatedly on a never-ending loop. He turned round to see dozens of children singing and dancing to the songs being played by Fredbear otherwise known as Goldie.

"SAVE HIM, SOMEONE SAVE HIM, PLEASE JUST SAVE HIM!" Springtrap cried, trying to get everyone's attention.

"I'm a little tea pot short and stout, you know the words kids," Goldie sang, whilst on stage.

"HERE IS MY HANDLE AND THIS IS MY SPOUT!" the children sang, while jumping up in the air.

"GOLDIE, GET THE CHILDREN OUT OF HERE, THERE'S CHILD KILLER OUTSIDE AND HE'S KILLED A CHILD ALREADY!" Springtrap shouted, trying to push through the mass of children to reach Goldie.

But the more he pushed, the further and further Goldie became. "Just remember kids, you've heard it from me and Spring Bonnie, that Fredbear's Family Dinner is a place of fun," said Goldie, laughing to himself as everything faded away into nothing.

His last word echoed in Springtrap's mind...this _was _a place of fun.

Then the scene changed with the diner being filled with policemen, forensic teams and sealed off areas. The ravenous press outside was being contained by a line of local policemen, but taking pictures and calling for interviews which went unheard.

"No, no, no, not this, I don't want to relive this," Springtrap muttered, gripping his head.

"Where's the body?" a policeman asked.

The man who responded, was by Springtrap's assumption the chief of the local police.

"In one of the trash dumps outside...it's pretty ugly sight, rumor has it is that whoever killed him craved a smile into his face...scared the hell out of the men who found him."

The man wiped his brow with tissue from his pocket.

"And the saddest thing is that he was only 9."

That one sentence had broken Springtrap's heart many times. "End, just end it please," he whispered, trying to block out the sounds of the scene, the police sirens, the sounds of cameras clicking and the wailing screams of the public.

"However, we have word to believe that there was one witness to the crime," the chief of police muttered solemnly.

"Who?" the policeman asked, his curiosity had been lit.

"It's me, it's me, it's me!" Springtrap yelled, desperately jumping up and down in front of the officer, sadly he couldn't see him as it was only a memory.

"It's me...it's me."

Then the scene changed again, with everyone disintegrating like sand against the tide as their surroundings morphed. When the transformation was complete, the diner was now empty, old, abandoned and rotting.

Springtrap looked around to see the barred front doors, the murky windows, the tables were cloaked in a blanket of thick dust and the sunken stage, with the wood being too rotten to stand on. "Why...why did everything have to go because of that one man?" he asked, falling to his knees in despair.

_"BECAUSE IT'S FUN!"_ a voice yelled, causing the whole diner to shake.

Springtrap turned around to find the voice, but saw nothing. "Who are you...show yourself," he demanded, although he really didn't want to see who it was. "Come on out!" he shouted, rising to his feet once more.

_"I'M YOU__, __THE YOU THAT WILL COME IN TIME!" _the voice echoed, shaking the walls of the diner and knocking tables over.

Springtrap, fell to the floor, he looked up to see the diner break apart, as pieces of it flew up into the blacked purple sky that was a tornado, which flashed with lighting and rumbled with thunder. Before him was a large, spiky, crudely constructed horror ride attraction, the sign upon the main entrance read as follows: Fazbear's Fright.

The rusty iron gates swung open with a loud creak.

And there...standing at the entrance was him...but not as he saw himself.

This Springtrap was withered, old and held a demonic look to him, especially in the eyes which were a bright purple. He held out his hand towards Springtrap, beckoning him to come forward.

"No," Springtrap whispered, backing away, he didn't like this place.

_"COME,"_ the other Springtrap yelled, it's voice sounded ancient and demonic.

But Springtrap kept walking backwards.

The other Springtrap held out his hand and pulled it towards himself. Suddenly Springtrap was pulled uncontrollably forward towards his other self by some unseen power. He stopped abruptly in front of him, before being sharply dropped to the ground.

_"FOLLOW ME!"_ the other Springtrap ordered, pointing to himself.

"No, I won't-"

The other Springtrap swiftly grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up into air, denying the real Springtrap any chance to finish his sentence.

_"SPRINGTRAP, THE SPRING BUNNY, WELCOME TO FAZBEAR'S FRIGHT,"_ he bellowed. "LET ME GO," Springtrap yelled, trying to loosen his other self's grip on his throat.

He only proceeded to tighten it in response. "_BEHOLD YOUR FUTURE AND YOUR ENTERAL PRISON...A SHARED PRISON MIGHT I ADD,"_ the other Springtrap yelled.

"SHARED?" Springtrap asked, amidst the ragging wind and rumbling of thunder.

Other Springtrap just smiled, and then he opened his mouth wide. Springtrap's eyes widen in horror as he saw a rotting human skull inside, it's empty eyes sockets staring back at him.

_"My name is Springtrap...and I am here to do the devil's work,"_ the other Springtrap replied, closing his mouth and smiling.

He then proceeded to drag Springtrap through the empty streets of the attraction which was a mockery to one in real life. Springtrap did his best to break away from his other self's hold, but his grip was as strong as iron.

_"I WILL SHOW YOU THE FRUITS OF MY- I MEAN OUR LABOUR!" _

It was then, at the precise moment, Springtrap, punched him in the back of the head and broke free.

but the other Springtrap merely turned and did a come here gesture with his hand. Springtrap was suddenly pulled back towards his counterpart, who wrapped his arms around him.

_"Trying to escape from me...that won't happen, no one has escaped from me...they've all died trying and I assure you that it wasn't a quick death,"_ the other Springtrap hissed through gritted teeth.

"Let me go!" Springtrap shouted, but his other self just picked him up bridal style. _"How about I sing a song to calm you down,"_ he suggested, crushing Springtrap against his body to hold him in place.

"FUCK YOU!" Springtrap screamed as his body was compressed.

_"It'll distract you from all of this,"_ the other Springtrap replied, tipping his head towards the sharp spiky park rides, they didn't look comfortable to say the least.

He then proceeded to walk through the attraction, heading towards the central tent.

Then rather unexpectedly he started to sing, in a gravel and solemn tone.

_"Time for the main attraction, your story must be told, you are a chain reaction."_

"Let go of me!" Springtrap yelled, hammering his fists against his other self's chest.

His other self just ignored him

"_That never gets old, some guys get satisfaction, breaking the mould."_

"I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!" Springtrap screamed.

_"Some guys are just distractions...just guys are just gold,"_ the other Springtrap sang, ignoring his screams.

He then enforced his grip, so hard that Springtrap could swear that he had lost all sense of feeling in his body as he was pressed against his counterpart's chest. _"You did a good job, entertaining those little kids, but it's warms my heart and blood to hear some fresh screams, but don't get me wrong Springtrap, you were very brave, when faced with unbeatable odds you never craved."_

He then entered the central tent, carrying Springtrap with him inside.

_"I'm finishing training, done explaining, no more facts are left remaining, now you know the gist of it, you're a perfect fit, i don't hear no more complaining."_

Other Springtrap's eyes appeared to glow, more brightly than before.

_"I'm passing down this golden opportunity, enteral graveyard immunity take it with pride and enjoy the ride you'll forever be a part of this community."_

Springtrap then saw where his other self was taking him…it was a large pit in the centre of the tent and a foul smell reached his nose. _"You may say that's all in your mind, but in the end I think that you will find."_

He held Springtrap up high and then Springtrap himself saw the source of the disgusting smell, it was unbearable. Then he saw with his own eyes, the smell' source...

Bodies of dead children filled the pit, their decayed rotting flesh was being chewed on by rats.

"NO, NO, NO PLEASE, I BEG YOU!" he shouted, the images buried themselves into his mind.

But the worst thing was that he recognised these kids, all of them were from the diner and had danced and sang along with him and Goldie.

His other self, meanwhile just kept on singing, like nothing was wrong. . . like the sight was natural.

_"You are the main attraction, your story must be told, you are a chain reaction, that never gets old, some guys get satisfaction, breaking the mould, some guys are just distractions...some guys are just gold."_

And with that the other Springtrap tossed Springtrap into the pit, he landed amongst the rotting children and rats.

His hands were now covered blood, thick, sticky blood, he looked up see the other Spring-trap dragging a cover over the pit. "No wait, please," Springtrap begged, holding his hand up, trying to climb the walls of the pit.

However, Springtrap's other self, did nothing, as he dragged the cover over the pit, which was more like a lid.

_"HAVE FUN WITH YOUR OLD FRIENDS, THE ONES WHOM YOU FAILED TO PROTECT!"_ His other self's voice crackled with demonic laughter. Springtrap felt something grab his hand, he turned and saw the children rising up and grabbing hold of his arms and legs.

They were dead, half decayed, their eyes were missing, only having a vacant darkness in them.

"NO, GET OFF ME, GO TO HELL!" Springtrap yelled, trying to break free.

But the children were too many for him to handle.

"PLAY!" they cried, crawling him with their decaying fingers.

Springtrap pushed some of them away, but they just kept on coming.

"PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!" They all screamed.

Then the other Springtrap pulled the lid over the pit, blocking out the light completely.

"Play, play, play," the children whispered, although did nothing to relieve Springtrap of his fear.

Springtrap's eyes darted about in the pitch blackness trying to make things out. Then the pit lit up with a purplish glow, it was slow at first, but soon all of the darkness had vanished.

He looked around and saw the source of the purplish light coming from a child, who was facing the wall. He also noticed that all the other children were now all huddled together behind him with worried looks on their faces.

They were scared. . .

"Hello," Springtrap called, walking slowly towards the glowing child.

The child said nothing.

"What's your name?" Springtrap asked softly.

He reached forward and touched the child's shoulder.

Upon doing so the child suddenly swung round, fully revealing itself.

Springtrap fell backwards in shock, landing on his backside, his eyes widen when he recognized the child.

It was a boy with tears running down his face...the same boy from outside the diner. _"IT'S MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"_ The boy screamed, causing Springtrap to cover his ears.

The children cowered behind Springtrap, also covered their ears. The next thing Springtrap knew, the boy seemed to open his mouth wide, revealing rows upon rows of sharp pointed teeth.

_"IT'S TIME TO DIE!"_ It screeched.

Then he leapt at Springtrap, hands raised and mouth wide open.

The sight of a decayed, demonic possessed child rushing at him nearly caused his body to freeze.

"NO!" He screamed, covering his face for protection.

_Then everything dissolved into pitch darkness. . . _

* * *

"AAAH!" Springtrap screamed, sitting up-right, fear ran through his system, as he tried to make sense of his immediate surroundings.

He was in his old room at the diner, he felt the bed it was real...very real.

"I'm home...again?" He asked looking around, seeing that everything appeared to be in its place.

Somehow, he was back.

His breathing went from heavily to light, as his sense of security grew. Then he saw the bedroom door, he went up and opened it, aiming to see what lay behind.

Although he had forgone the same experience time after time again, he was sure that things had changed each time he returned. The cycle always returned to its starting point in a new fashion, it was always different from what came before.

Upon opening the door, he found the backstage, but he was much more interested in the noise that was coming from behind the curtain. He walked out and slowly parted the curtain, peeking through the gap to see...

Goldie dancing along with children and singing.

_"I'm back."_

Springtrap watched the children dance and sing with Goldie, he felt happy listening to their laughter. Then his smile disappeared when he noticed a lone child outside, crying, trying to get in.

His heart sank, he knew what would happen next.

"Oh no," he whispered, fate was written, this scene never changed.

Then a purplish looking car pulled up outside, slowly the driver's door opened and out stepped a man in a purple clothing. He looked at the child, yet he didn't smile, his eyes bore a deep-seated anger as he slowly pulled out a knife out from his trouser pocket.

"No...not again," Springtrap muttered, watching the man walk causally towards the child, eyeing only him.

"Hey here little guy, are you lost?" He asked coldly, holding the knife behind his back so the child wouldn't see.

The child turned around to face the newcomer, looking curious at the stranger who stood before him.

"I can't get in," he said, pointing at the closed door.

"Awwww, don't worry, listen I have a little surprise for you," the man replied warmly, although that hard look of determination remained on his face.

"It'll brighten up your day and afterwards, I'll help you get in, I know a way."

The child's eyes lit up, as the man placed his hand on his shoulder.

"It's a secret, so be quite ok," he whispered calmly.

"Nod, if you understand?"

The child nodded, his eyes sparked with great interest.

"No...not this again, why must I see this," Springtrap pleaded, he could do nothing to stop this, he had tired, God help me he had tired.

He couldn't even remember how many times this God-awful scene had repeated itself.

"You will love this," the man stated coldly, carefully bringing his other hand out from behind his back.

Then he swiftly stabbed the child right in the chest, much to Springtrap's blood curling screams...

* * *

"Is he stable?" Toy Freddy asked, turning to face Goldie.

"Yes...for now," Goldie answered, his tone was blank and his facial expression was one of deep completion.

They all needed to be carefully with what they were about to do, given their limited experience in such affairs.

He then turned to face Chica. "His breathing isn't faint, Chica, please pass the scalpel and the clamps, quickly now."

Chica opened the first aid kit box and picked up the required items, before handing them over to Goldie. "Right, I'll take his shirt off, we need to remove the bullet quickly before it forms a blockade, then he could get gangrene...or worse," Goldie stated, getting down on his knees.

Toy Freddy noticed a glint a of excitement in Chica's eyes, as Goldie slowly unbuttoned Foxy's shirt.

She then noticed that Toy Freddy was starting at her.

"What?" She asked, her checks going slightly pink.

"Nothing," Toy Freddy replied with a blank expression, but inside he was smiling smugly.

Goldie removed Foxy's shirt, exposing his bare chest and muscular forearms. "First, we'll cut into the wound, mainly in the area around the bullet to loosen it, then hold it in place with the clamps, after which we'll use the tweezers to remove the bullet," Goldie explained.

"And then patch up the wound with stitching and bandages?" Toy Freddy asked, holding the said items up.

Goldie nodded.

"Let's begin then," he said picking up the scalpel.

Goldie cut into Foxy's flesh, further opening up the wound, Chica looked uneasy, reading about medical procedure was different to seeing it firsthand.

_Very different . . ._

Goldie said nothing as he cut around the wound, his eyes were focused as he was being extra carefully not to cut too deeply for he did not wish to cause Foxy any further harm.

"Right, Toy Freddy, apply the clamps now," he ordered, stopping in the act.

Toy Freddy tightly placed the clamps around Foxy's wound, keeping it open.

Goldie then pointed to the tweezers which lay in the first aid box. "Now Chica, use the tweezers to extract the bullet," he demanded.

"And be careful, although that goes without saying."

Chica was a bit surprised that such a role was being given to her. "Oh...ok," she said, slowly picking up the tweezers.

She carefully pushed into the wound, heading towards a black dot which was the bullet. After a series of careful manoeuvres, she got the tweezers to clamp around the bullet.

"Got it," she exclaimed, somewhat surprised at her success.

She then slowly pulled the tweezers out of the wound and thus removing the bullet. "Here, put it in this," Toy Freddy suggested, holding out a small plastic box.

Chica placed the blood covered bullet in the box, before putting the tweezers back into the first aid kit.

"I'll begin the stitching," Goldie said, putting a thread of string through a needle. He removed the clamps, allowing the skin fold back to its original position, as he started to stitch it back together, sealing up the wound to prevent any further blood loss or worse, an infection.

Once done, Toy Freddy then proceeded to warp bandages around Foxy's abdomen.

"There...now we must let him sleep, unfortunately when he does regain consciousness, he will be in a lot of pain," Goldie stated, looking their handiwork. To say this was their first try of medical performance after a decade of doing anything else like it, the result was decisive.

"But, he will recover and hopefully it will be quick?" Chica asked, hoping that Foxy would be back to his good old self again. "Should we put his shirt back on?" Toy Freddy added.

"Might as well as give him some dignity," Goldie replied, putting Foxy's shirt back on and redoing the buttons.

"Well...we've done all we can," said Toy Freddy, getting up.

He groaned slightly as he felt his knees ache from being sat on for too long.

He then turned and walked straight through the curtains that separated the storage compartment from the passenger compartment. Goldie likewise proceeded to follow his example.

"You're coming Chica?" Goldie asked, turning round to face her, whilst holding the curtains open. "No... I'll stay with Foxy for a little bit," Chica replied, who remained sitting down by Foxy.

"Ok, we'll be with the others if you need us," Goldie stated, he smiled before turning round and continuing to make his way down the aisle.

He knew…everyone else did.

With him gone, Chica then turned back to Foxy, who was breathing softly. "You gave me quite a scare back there at the pizzeria," she said, stroking his silky red hair.

"But you're a pirate, so your properly use to being shot on the high seas," Chica giggled.

She then sighed, flirting was fun, but not so much when the one you care about is unconscious.

"By the way, you owe me a favor seeing how I helped save your life."

She patted his head.

"Just try to remember that ok?" she asked tenderly, watching Foxy's chest rise and fall. She closed her eyes, seeming to go into deep thought.

Then just as suddenly as she had entered it, she exited, her choice was made. She turned to see if anyone further up the aisle was watching, before quickly seizing the chance to lean down and briefly kissing Foxy on the forehead.

"Just get better and that's an order," she said in a fake stern tone, knowing that somehow he would see the funny side of it. Getting to her feet she turned and parted the curtains, but then stopped and looked back at the sleeping Foxy. "I'll see you soon," she whispered, before turning back round and walking off to join the others.

Foxy lost in the deeps of slumber, continued a steady rhythm of breathing in and out, but with the faintest whisper he murmured.

"Chica...don't go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stage is slowly being set, carefully put together.
> 
> Foxcia has been one of my favouritive FNAF ships, I just like the contrast and chemistry, it is almost natural for people to put Foxy and Chica together.  
I often view Springtrap to be one with a troubled past for obvious reasons, many FNAF fanfictions have portrayed him as such.
> 
> I quite like how he's evolved into his own character, whereas when FNAF 3 first came out many people put him and Afton together, one body and one personality, but over time people broke that up to being two, enabling Springtrap to have a tragic side...being possessed by a child killer.  
I've even noticed the same process happening to Ennard from FNAF SL it's gradually becoming its own character, fully separate from the other four. 
> 
> Although many people see it as a 'he'.


	3. Building Bridges

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens but where does it lead...we'll see eventually, I've got some plot ideas to go on.  
This chapter sees the introduction of a new character as well as more character development, for now it is all about setting the scene, establishing plot lines.  
I may have forget to mention this beforehand, but this is my first ever Fanfic, so constructive reviews are greatly appreciated.  
Also the individual chapter quote gives a hint at what is to come, be it on chapter theme or character traits.  
Enjoy...

**Chapter 3.**

**Building Bridges.**

**"_No man chooses evil because it is evil, he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks."_**

** _ Mary Wollstonecraft. _ **

"AT FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S THREE, I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN AND YOU WILL SEE, YOU BURN ALIVE, WHEN YOU REACH NIGHT FIVE, THAT'S LIFE, AT FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S THREE, A HORROR RIDE BUILT JUST FOR ME!" The song screamed out of the music player which sat upon the main desk in the security office.

"Mmm, nice touch, I've always liked the rhythm of this song, it has that dark menacing edge," Vincent muttered, resting back into the security guard's office swirl chair.

"Ironically this song pretty much reminds me of myself."

He relaxed, loosening his joints and muscles.

"Aaa, I've missed this place, the sounds of children screaming, the shrieks of people and it is all thanks to my singing entertaining friends." He laughed, kicking away at the wall so to make the chair spin. "They may have decided to run away, but I am still here…I'll always be here."

_"Sir...the thing you requested is ready...all system checked and counting, we're bringing it over now…should be here in about ten minutes."_

Vincent stopped the chair from spinning and turned, to see an endoskeleton standing in the office's left doorway. He was quite tempted to close the door on it, however he relented from pressing the button. "Yes?" He asked, putting on a straight face. _"What...you requested...is done," _the endoskeleton replied, it's robotic voice stuttered between its words, due to problems with its wiring.

"Is everything in order, did you follow the list I gave you, did you even look at the instructions or the drawing I made?" Vincent asked, leaning out of the chair.

The endoskeleton titled its head, to symbolize it was thinking Vincent's words through. _"Yes...everything is ready, built specifically to your instructions, it'll be here soon,"_ it answered plainly. "Good," Vincent remarked, lying back into the chair. "Now go and join the others, I'll come and see the end result for myself, once it's arrived." The endoskeleton nodded and then left, the noise generated by its motors echoed down the hallway.

"Perhaps I should increase their intelligence," Vincent muttered to himself, although he thought that he had done a good enough job with reprogramming them. He turned off the radio, before getting out of his chair and leaving the office.

He walked down the darken halls which were dimly lit, through the dining area and headed for the toilets. He was surprised that this place still had power, after it went bust in the early nineteen nineties.

The entire building has been allowed to decay, to rot and become forgotten by the community.

Many would say that it deserved such a fate, given its dark history and the entire building seemed to showcase that with its poor lighting, worn away posters and the least said about the plumbing situation the better.

Although the Fazbears had made clear attempts to keep the place clean and tidy to their best ability, after all this had been their home for many years. Walking along the wall and running his hand over the polished marble which flowed in a squared chess like pattern, Vincent followed the wall through memory.

"Somewhere...over...here," he murmured, he knew every inch of this place like the back of his hand, he was never one to miss detail.

He tapped different sections of the wall, until he found what he was looking for.

"Ahhaa," he said triumphantly, clapping his hands like an excited child.

He pressed a certain stone, making the wall separated into two, but it then slid away, revealing a rusty metal door behind it. He opened it, pushing down on the worn-out handle and entered. It was a small squared room, consisting of four blank greyish windowless walls, but even in the dim light, it was clearly in an even worse state than the rest of the pizzeria put together because of it being sealed off for so long.

_However, it wasn't empty…_

Vincent switched on the light by means of a nearby light switch. The overhanging lightbulb flickered to life several times, before finally stabilising, having unused for countless years.

In the middle of the room was a table upon which lay a body.

As Vincent approached its features become more visible, the body was ragged, and worn.

It looked like another Freddy, but much less so than Goldie and Toy Freddy...rather it held a very strong likeness to Freddy Fazbear himself. Its hands were bony and the nails looked like daggers, however it had metal restraints which were attached to the table. The hair was a reddish brown, its skin was a normal whitish colour, while the rest of the body however was covered by the dinner jacket suit along with the famous iconic top hat.

Vincent smiled at the figure, he learned down and whispered into its ear, whilst tapping it on the shoulder.

"It's time to wake up."

Instantly its eyes shot wide open revealing two dark red pupils, as the other Freddy slowly turned its head towards its visitor.

_"Who...am I?"_ The Freddy asked as its dazed eyes which were full of confusion explored the room.

Vincent paused for a moment trying to remember the Freddy's name.

"You are...Nightmare Freddy, you love to mane, kill and scar, both mentally and physically," he replied, watching Nightmare Freddy's body twitch as all five of its senses started to wake up.

_"Who are you...victim?"_ Nightmare Freddy growled, his eyes narrowed as he shook the chains...desperate to be free. Vincent laughed, angering Nightmare Freddy even more as his eyes became slints of pure rage.

"Victim...I am your ally, please do try to treat me with some respect," he replied, folding his arms with an amused smile.

His words made the Nightmare laugh, completely disregarding the idea that he and Vincent were allies in any enddevour. _"__'__Respect__'!" _He exclaimed in a mocking tone.

_"You are just a bag of fluid, bone and muscle, you're like a bean bag and if I were to apply enough pressure to your skull, it would burst like a balloon_ _."_

"As would you, if you haven't noticed already," Vincent commented sharply, proving a point. "One clear shot to your head and the far wall will be covered in the scattered remains of your brain and your arrogance, which I can easily preform." Nightmare Freddy replied with a smirk, baring his sharp teeth, understanding Vincent's threat.

_"But I am stronger and faster than you, you're the sort of person I would like to rip into, having you scream in fear and agony, before I slowly stuff your lights out."_

He slowly sat upright, bringing himself up to Vincent's level.

"_You're just lucky that I'm curious to find out who are first."_

Vincent cocked his head to one side and shrugged.

"Strange, but I shouldn't be too surprised, initially I thought that upon waking you, you would remember the deal we made in nineteen eighty seven, I did give you a physical body…it was all part of the arrangement we made and I expect you to uphold your end of the bargain at the very least."

Nightmare Freddy reached out towards Vincent with the intention of chocking him, until the light went from his eyes. Yet he couldn't as Vincent had already chained him to the table, something the Nightmare had only just noticed for the first time when he felt something strong and metallic tug against his hands. He could only move so far and Vincent had rather wisely taken the decision to stand way out of his grasp.

"I knew what I was bringing into this world," Vincent stated smugly, clearly in full of control of the situation.

"Don't you think that someone like me who has just given you new life, plus having a similar mindset to mine, would give you an opportunity to attack me to purely fulfill your sadistic desires?" he asked smoothly.

Nightmare Freddy's eyes narrowed, but he kept his smile. _"Of course, how foolish of me,"_ he sneered. "_I don't know you, so your reasons for bringing me here and then chaining me up are indeed a mystery."_

Vincent proceeded to walk around the Nightmare, the man's eyes tracked him like a predator in the wild, but Vincent wisely kept his distance.

"_I can't recall any deal being made…but clearly I hold no leverage over you…so I might as well accept my situation," _Nightmare Freddy remarked_._

The Nightmare then looked down at his chains and muttered softly.

"_Being chained to a table…"_

"Anyway, when you do remember, I won't release you just yet...you need time for your memories to return and when they do," Vincent interjected, turning to meet him in the eye. "Everything will soon fall into place."

_"So when will you release me?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked greedily, his dark red eyes were filled with hunger as he stared longingly at Vincent. He was like a wolf, pacing away in its cage, waiting to be set loose.

"Soon...but not now...in fact, I won't even be here when you are released," Vincent stated, briefly looking away to observe the room's blacked walls which had decayed from old age.

He then turned back to face the Nightmare. "You'll be released by no one, because those chains don't require someone else to unlock them." He then elaborated, seeing the Nightmare's confusion, walking around him as he went into some detail.

"They'll unlock by themselves, think of them as 'timed locks'."

_"Timed...locks?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, examining his chains more closely. "In two days' time, the timer inside the chains will end and then those chains will fall off your hands and legs, thus freeing you…I am a creative type in my spare time."

"_And t__hen what?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, looking up to face Vincent, who instantly went blank faced.

"Oohh…this'll be a struggle because you can't remember, but still I'll enlighten you."

He began.

"Ok, here's the first part, which also happens to be the fun part as well...once released you'll follow the trail of several people who look similarly like you and...kill them, slowly, painfully, loving every scream like it was pure honey," Vincent stated, smiling like a kid at Christmas. Nightmare Freddy could only guess that this man was not sane judging by how positively he described death and murder.

_"Why would I want to go and chase down several people like me with you, when there are properly billions upon billions of people out there in the world for me to kill and mane, what makes these people so... 'special'?"_ Nightmare Freddy spat the last word out like it was poison. Vincent just laughed in his response, he could so easily start Nightmare Freddy's personality from scratch.

"Oh, these people are special…believe me...because of your or our nature they want to remove us from society, lock us out or kill us all together."

Nightmare Freddy slowly nodded, so Vincent continued.

"They hate us for who we are, they won't let us express ourselves naturally, so you get the picture, we must get rid of them." He then reached forward and grabbed hold of Nightmare Freddy's hands to illustrate his point.

"Before they get rid of us," he argued.

"Besides when you regain your memory, you'll know why they all have to die."

_"I see..."_ Nightmare Freddy's answered, his eyes scanning Vincent's for any sign of lying...he didn't find any...the man appeared to be completely honest in what he was saying. "And that is just one point for why we should work together, don't worry your memory will hopefully kick in soon, it's just that you've been sleeping for a long time," Vincent commented.

"About….twenty eight years in total."

_"So...while I waste away in here for two more days, what will you be doing?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked. Vincent smiled, although it was cold and had the arua of detachment. "Oh, I'll be following the others, I hope to slow them down, kill a few in the process and then you will end them of course, having someone else to help you is much better than doing it all by yourself," Vincent replied, turning away to study the room's ceiling which had decayed with age.

_"Then again, I was successful with that whiney brat in 1978, then there were those five little shits in 1983 and finally I successfully tampered with the Toys and killed those kids in 1987...but when you need help, you take it," _Vincent thought, reflecting on his past achievements, if any moral sane person could actually call them achievements!

_"How will I know where you or even where the others are, once these locks deactivate?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, bringing the man out of his inner thoughts. "Well with this thing of course," Vincent replied smiling as he spun round, pulling out a small watch from his pocket.

He swiftly attached it to Nightmare Freddy's left hand.

_"What __is __this?"_ He asked, studying the watch in great interest, so many buttons to press, each one lighting up its small screen and displaying things he didn't initially recognise. "A tracking device I made, it shows where I am and how far I am away from you. it has a dual capacity to track two people, so once I've located the Fazbears, I'll send you the coordinates so when you are released, you will be able to track them down and commit...you know what," Vincent replied, smiling as Nightmare Freddy examined the tracking device which he'd made.

Nightmare Freddy raised his head, locking eyes with Vincent…he smiled, his smile matched the man who stood before him as his new-found ally. Only it was more insane than Vincent's if such a thing could be possible.

A dry yet dark chuckle escaped from Nightmare Freddy's throat.

"_Are they ready…for Nightmare Freddy?"_ he hissed, showing his rather sharp teeth.

"Trust me they have no idea that you are coming," Vincent replied. Nightmare Freddy smiled even more, his dark red eyes narrowing in sick delight…he could feel some familiarity around this guy…as if he already knew him.

Vincent stepped back.

"Before I go, I should inform you of two things."

He held up one finger.

"Number one, you'll remember this soon, but just to help anyway, you are part of the supernatural, something or someone that isn't physical, you have no real body to speak of."

This to no surprise caused Nightmare Freddy to look down at his own body.

"_But how?"_

"That isn't your body…well it wasn't yours to begin with…you'll remember everything eventually, but to surmise you need a physical host to interact with the real world and that's what your body provides for you."

"I know…that's lot to take in right now, but you'll understand it at some point."

Vincent continued, holding up another finger.

"Number two and mostly importantly…you are as your name suggest a Nightmare…a representation of everything bad in a dream." He then pointed directly at Nightmare Freddy. "You have the power to enter the dreams of anyone and you can mess with them…effectively you can do." Vincent chuckled as the endless possibilities filled his messed up head.

"Whatever you want...everyone is free with seven to twelve hours of unlimited access,"

Nightmare Freddy's eyes glowed with interest.

"_I like that…I like that a lot." _

He smiled

_"I could enter yours you know..." _he stated looking directly at Vincent.

Vincent laughed, catching the Nightmare somewhat of guard.

Nightmare Freddy dropped his smile and frowned.

"_What's so funny?"_

"Oh…do you really think that there's anything of interest in my head?" Vincent asked, throwing the question back at him. _"I don't really know you, so I would be willing take the risk,"_ Nightmare Freddy sharply answered back.

Vincent smiled.

"Once you remember everything else, you'll find you have no need to look inside my head…trust me."

"Anyway, I'm sure you'll use these two days to get use to things…take the time to test your abilities, can't have you running on two of four cylinders when push comes to shove." Nightmare Freddy laughed internally, he couldn't wait for nightfall when everyone else fell asleep.

"_Ok, now it's my turn to ask…who am I supposedly chasing?" _

"Well there's twelve of them, plus two former night guards of the establishment," Vincent answered, starting to count.

"Their names are Freddy, Toy Freddy, Golden Freddy, aka Goldie, Bonnie, Toy Bonnie, Chica, Toy Chica, Foxy, Mangle, Balloon Boy, the Puppet, Springtrap and then there's Mike and Jeremy," Vincent stated, filling Nightmare Freddy's head with extra knowledge.

_"Why are there so many Freddies?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, he was interested because he was himself one of them.

"There just are, but beware-"

Nightmare Freddy laughed, his deep voice morphing into that of a demon. _"Beware, why should I be wary of the other Freddies?"_ He asked, he could already feel his vicious, sadistic calculating nature returning. Vincent just frowned, to underestimate your enemy wasn't a smart move in any given situation. "Because these Freddies just so happened to be the leaders or at least they take turns at being the leader, take out the three Freddies and-"

_"The rest of the body will die without its head to guide it, yes I know what you__'re __referring to," _Nightmare Freddy answered, smiling coldly at Vincent. "_It's a common tactic of breaking down your foe and I will quite happily administer the axe to this family…although to kill them in one clean sweep would lessen the amount of pleasure I could get from taking each one on individually."_

Vincent smiled and nodded his head. "Good...you know what I mean, see you in two to three days time." He turned round and headed towards the door. "Well goodbye Nightmare Freddy, may flights of screaming banshees sing you to your rest."

_"Wait...little purple man?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, he actually reached out this time, as far as his chains would allow. This action caused Vincent to stop mid-step. _"What's your name, you clearly know mine?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, curious to know more. Vincent slowly turned round, he had a puzzled look on his face, no one had really asked him that question before...at least not in a long time.

"Vincent Afton, my name is Vincent Afton. . ."

He appeared to lower his head.

"Although I prefer to be called Vincent…you'll remember it from previous encounters within a few days," he answered…sounding…sad. _"Well goodbye Vincent, I'll see you soon in the red mist,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied smiling. "_Just hope I recognise you this time,"_ he chuckled, slowly things were starting to feel more natural. "By the way, you will need to eat and drink in order to stay alive…your not exactly invincible anymore and you'll need to press this particular square here to unlock the door from the inside once the chains deactivate." Vincent said, pointing to the said square in the wall.

Nightmare Freddy's eyes locked onto the target…you would remember that special square. Vincent then pressed the square and the door opened, letting in even more light from outside.

"I need to go, but we'll meet again soon," Vincent stated, walking forward.

_"Thanks for everything Vincent and happy hunting,"_ Nightmare Freddy whispered, his dark red eyes glowed as soon as the room was plunged into complete darkness upon Vincent turning off the light. The door was closed with the wall sliding back into place…pretty soon it looked as if there was nothing there…just an old wall with a white black chess pattern. Vincent paused for a moment, thinking things over. Nightmare Freddy despite the initial hostile reception appeared to warm to him towards the end…a sign that his memories were starting to return. Slowly a smile appeared on his lips, so far everything had gone as he predicted it would.

Now the Fazbears would have to deal with two enemies…one of which they had no idea even existed…but that was always Vincent's strategy…to use the unexpected for mass effect. Soon he heard something, a buzzing humming noise and it was getting louder with each passing second. Even the surrounding tables and chairs had started to shake as the sound's intensity grew. "Ahh, now that'll be my invention…" he muttered, recognising the sound's source.

"With him by my side, they can't stop us...they just can't...not anymore."

Nightmare Freddy would soon prove himself to be a far greater asset than any endoskeleton.

He smirked as he set off towards the Pizzeria's main entrance to inspect the final result of the 'thing' he had laboured so hard and for so many years to build.

* * *

The skies darken as day rolled into night, all the while Mike's airship cruised into the approaching sunset. "Well Mangle, who says a night guard can't build his own airship," Mike stated in a proud tone leaning back in his self-styled captain's chair. "No one I've ever heard of," Mangle answered plainly, crawling around the cockpit ceiling.

"Precisely," Mike replied warmly putting his feet up to relax.

Now that they were far beyond Vincent's reach, Mike felt safe enough to lower his guard, therefore he could be a bit more social with his friends. Looking at Mangle, he could make out her key features more clearly. While she was human, she did have animatronic parts self-fitted onto a belt which Mangle wore around her waist, it contained several endoskeleton arms which rose above her back, which helped her perform multiple functions at once.

Quite handy in a tense situation.

Meanwhile in the passenger compartment, the others were setting down for the night.

Toy Freddy had found several blankets in the storage compartment and was passing them around to people. "Here I found these, lay one of them over Foxy, so he doesn't get cold," he said, giving two to Chica. She then instantly proceeded to rush down the aisle towards the storage compartment where Foxy still lay unconscious. Toy Freddy continued in handing out blankets, he tossed a couple towards BB and Puppet, who was watching BB create several animals from his balloons. Toy Freddy chuckled upon hearing BB's cry of annoyance when the blanket landed on him as he was performing his talent.

"Hey, no fair," he shouted, throwing the blanket off him, while Puppet just rolled her eyes at BB's misfortune. Toy Chica was showing off her cupcake to Toy Bonne which she had hidden away in her pocket, whilst Toy Bonnie was trying to demonstrate to Toy Chica her guitar skills...expect she didn't have one, so she was improvising by pretending that she did. "So, this one I call the longbow, because as you brush your hand across the guitar strings, it feels like your pulling back a bow, read to shoot an arrow," she stated.

"Oh...but aren't you worried that you'll...slip up while playing?" Toy Chica asked, looking somewhat puzzled. "Well yes, I am, but I have played the same songs for decades now, so if I do slip up, it's due to my lack of concretion, because I'm bored most of the time," Toy Bonnie replied, smiling, making Toy Chica smile back.

"Toy Bonnie can I ask you something?" Toy Chica asked, learning forward.

"Sure, what's on your mind?" Toy Bonnie replied, stopping what she was doing to focus on Toy Chica. "How do get someone's attention...I mean do you get someone who you like to pay attention to you?" Toy Chica asked, she looked sound to see if anyone was listening.

"Like who?" Toy Bonnie asked, her smile and eyes was filled with mischief.

"I would prefer to keep it a secret sorry...it's just that I don't know how to get their attention," Toy Chica replied, her cheeks going pink. "Mmm...well as far as I know it, find out what they interested in...and just talk to them, say nice things obviously and just compliment them on their looks," Toy Bonnie answered, Toy Chica slowly nodded in response listening to every word. Freddy, meanwhile was still asleep, snoring softly in his chair, which Bonnie had strapped him into. Springtrap, of course remained motionless in his seat, breathing softly with his head resting against Freddy's.

It was actually kinda of cute.

"Ohh...they look so adorable, don't you think?" Bonnie asked, turning to face Goldie.

He merely shrugged, before passing her two blankets.

"I so wish I had a camera right now," Bonnie giggled, as she laid one blanket over Freddy and Springtrap. "Freddy isn't used to touching moments, he's always preferred to come over as a strong leader," Goldie commented. "But you and I know better," Bonnie stated smugly. "Of course," Goldie replied smiling. Bonnie patted Freddy on the head, she appeared to be blushing, or at least that's what Goldie registered. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then Goldie, have sweet dreams," said Bonnie turning to face him.

Goldie nodded in response.

"See you tomorrow Bonnie, hope you sleep well."

Bonnie turned and walked down the aisle, heading towards her seat. Above her the ceiling lights switched into night mode, which sent the whole airship into almost complete darkness, save for the lights' faint whitish glow. It was enough for the average person to make their way through the airship if need be. Goldie watched the sun sink further and further below the horizon, as night rolled across the sky like a thick curtain.

He then turned to face the sleeping Freddy and Springtrap. Goldie, in the darkness saw that Freddy's top hat had fallen off and rolled under his seat. He slowly reached down and picked it up, before placing it on Freddy's head. "You work too much Freddy, kinda of like me in my old days," Goldie smiled, straightening the hat right so it actually fitted on Freddy's head.

_"But that was before 1978, Springtrap's breakdown, I just didn't see what he saw...before it was too late," _he thought, watching Springtrap sleep. "_I'm sorry Spring, I was a blind fool, I was too enveloped with the role and nothing else." _Goldie proceeded to pat Springtrap's bunny ears. "_I chose denial over friendship…I didn't want to accept reality…that our world had changed forever."_

He felt sadness and regret build up inside him. "Please wake up Spring...I need you...I miss you, I can't remember the last time you'd smiled," Goldie whispered, not caring if anyone heard him. But Springtrap remained still, only breathing in and out. Sighing, Goldie walked past the sleeping Freddy and headed off down the aisle towards his allocated seat, where a blanket lay waiting for him.

He sat down, pulled the blanket over himself and drifted off to sleep.

Around him the others were doing the same, returning to their allocated seats and falling asleep. Toy Bonnie had wrapped herself in her blanket, dreaming of a song that she could write for Toy Chica, or even Mangle, whereas Toy Freddy had already fallen into a deep slumber, unfortunately he was the loudest snorer.

Bonnie had briefly gone to look for Chica, but to no surprise she found her sleeping next to Foxy in the storage compartment, hand in hand. Smiling at the sight of them, Bonnie turned round and returned to her seat, it was better to leave them in peace. From where she was Bonnie could just make out the outline of Freddy's top hat a few seats up. _"I wonder what Freddy dreams of?" _she wondered, before pulling the blanket over her and closing her eyes. Puppet had already curled up in her seat, completely covering herself with the blanket.

_"Sleep, must sleep, I'm not in a box, no box...no box...no box-"_

"Hi," said a familiar voice. Puppet opened her eyes, she slowly pulled aside her blanket to see a boy standing before her, holding a blanket.

_"BB," _she thought.

"What do you want?" Puppet asked, watching as Balloon Boy shifted his feet. "I just...wondered...if you would...like some...company?" Balloon Boy asked, his tone was shaky, Puppet wouldn't be surprised, if he was struggling to maintain eye contact. "No, go back to your seat BB," Puppet replied, pulling the blanket back over herself.

"Are you sure" Balloon Boy asked, seeking confirmation. "Yes, I'm sure, now go and sleep BB," Puppet replied.

BB sighed, lowering his head.

"I pity you Puppet," he muttered sorrowfully.

"Why pity?" Puppet asked from within her cocoon, BB was surprised that she heard him. "Because you come over as so lonely...you're always separated from everyone else, I just thought you might want some company...you enjoyed my balloons," Balloon Boy stated. "I'm not alone...it's true BB I like your balloons, but I don't want to...sleep with you," Puppet replied hesitantly, sounding very uncomfortable.

"I'm not asking you to sleep with me Puppet, I just want to give you company!" Balloon Boy shouted. Puppet went red as she facepalmed herself.

_"You idiot, now you've woken up the whole house!"_

"Ohhh, is BB looking for some fun time," Bonnie cheered, laughing her head back. "I hear wedding bells," Toy Chica laughed. "Hey BB you, might wanna start at base one and work your way up, going to base four instantly doesn't work out for everyone," Toy Freddy called out.

"I think you two would make a cute couple," Toy Bonnie commented.

"Swiggity swooty BB's coming for that booty," Mangle sang, crawling around the ceiling in the darkness. Balloon Boy's face redden with embarrassment as everyone laughed at him. Deeply sadden, he turned and slowly walked back to his seat and hid himself away under his blanket. _She couldn't trust anyone seriously _anymore...not after 1987, she loved her family members, but trust was still a hard thing for her to cope with, after seeing it being abused for monstrous ends.

After a few minutes, the laughter died down as the gang drifted off to sleep. Mike entered the compartment after transferring the flight control over to the auto pilot. He scoured the lengthy room with a torch from the cockpit supply box.

Shinning the light across the sleeping group, Mike walked along the aisles, rather glad that they were no longer his enemies. He hated those nights where he would survive by having just 1% of his power left, only to sleep with his bedside light on, for the fear of having one of the four humanoids attack him in his sleep, should he turn out the lights. It never actually happened, but his experiences of being a night guard had put him on edge. However, having become friends with the Fazbear Gang, his fear had subsided, much quicker than he thought it would.

Yet his instincts hadn't, as he heard a scuttling noise above him. He shone the torch light above him to see Mangle crawling around.

"Jesus Mangle, you scared me to death, get down from there," Mike demanded, clearly shocked. "Sorry Mike, I forgot Jeremy told you about his experiences with me hanging above him for half the night," Mangle replied, lowering herself to the ground. "Yeah...you were quite the stalker apparently, Jeremy was scared half to death when you were around," Mike stated, shining the torch over the other parts of the room.

"Well...times were different then," Mangle replied.

She un-clicked the belt which attached her animatronic parts to the rest of her body. "Ahhh...much better, I feel much more human," she said, feeling relieved as she stretched her arms and legs. "Get some sleep, Mangle, I've set the flight computer to fly us towards Jeremy's home city of Chicago, we should be there by tomorrow afternoon," Mike announced, causing Mangle to raise her eyebrows.

"He'll still be uneasy around me," she commented. "He now knows that you mean no harm Mangle," Mike replied warmly, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"You have nothing to fear."

"Thanks Mike," Mangle stated, smiling, her eyes appeared to glow in the darkness. "See you tomorrow Mangle, rest easy," Mike smiled, ruffling her whitish grey coloured hair. He then turned round and headed towards his allocated seat, strapping himself in and pulling his blanket over him.

_"Vincent will need to have a major ace up his sleeve in order to catch us now, he might be an inventing type, but I have an airship."_

He closed his eyes.

_"I would like to see him do better," _he thought, before differing off to sleep, today had been hard, maybe tomorrow would be better.

"_I would like to see him try. . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you all know the Endoskeletons and Nightmares will speak in italic, it helps to create a greater sense of identity with each individual character, plus it's easier to make out whose talking at the time.  
Until next time. . .


	4. Nightmare Freddy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, as you may now see, new threats are emerging from unseen directions, things are properly still unclear, but that's the aim...for now.  
In this chapter you will understand the concept of the dream world or dreamscape and it is not a domain that is under your control...hence the name choice for this particular chapter. ;-)

** Chapter 4. **

** Nightmare Freddy. **

"_**Rest your head, it's time for bed!"**_

_ **Sammy Lawrence, from Bendy and the Ink Machine by The Meatly** _

_"Well, hello there, Freddy Fazbear…"_

Freddy opened his eyes, instantly sitting up straight...something was wrong, he could sense it.

He was still in his seat on Mike's airship with the seatbelt on and it was still dark outside, although he couldn't see the others it.

"What, who said that?" he asked, looking around, unsure of his surroundings…this felt very wrong.

A dark chuckle echoed throughout the compartment, bouncing off the walls.

_"Well, well, Freddy, it seems we haven't been introduced...properly," _a voice replied, dripping with delight and amusement.

"Who are you, you sound familiar," said Freddy, trying to see the environment around him, there something to that voice which reminded him of someone.

_"Odd...I've never actually met you before Freddy, face to face I mean, but I've always got the impression that you were a strong capable leader," _the voice replied.

That voice, it sounded… a lot like his own, although this one was a mixture of ancient, demonic, charisma and youth all rolled into one.

Then he saw something…a figure moved amidst the flickering lights somewhere in front of him, which also revealed the compartment to completely empty save for himself and whoever else was in here with him. Not even Springtrap was next to him, which Freddy would have greatly taken as a form of immediate comfort.

"Where is everyone else?" Freddy asked, his eyes desperately searching for a familiar face, but finding no one, not matter how hard he looked.

"_They're not here Freddy, so quit stalling," _the figure replied, each flicker of the overhead lights revealed it to be approaching the Fazbear, walking pass row after row of empty seats.

Not to mention its dark red eyes which glowed and pieced the darkness like a dagger.

Freddy could watch as the figure walked down the aisle in long strides, it's footsteps getting louder as it approached, as well as increasing the fear he felt.

"Goldie, is this one of your tricks, because I'm not in the mood."

The figure just laughed, sounding as if it was enjoying Freddy's uncertainty, but kept on walking. "Is it you Toy Freddy, look I don't know how you do that trick with your eyes, but this isn't funny," Freddy stressed sounding angry, but secretly he was quaking with fear, as the figure neared.

_"You are gravely mistaken Freddy, for I'm neither Golden Freddy nor Toy Freddy, I am something much different," _the figure bellowed.

Freddy's eyes widen in shock, when the figure stepped into the flickering light, now standing right before him.

"Your-"

_"Like you, no I am Nightmare Freddy, and you are my victim," _said the other Freddy, smiling as he revealed his sharp pointed teeth.

His red brownish hair hung over his eyes, but Freddy could see the dark reddish tint that they held. His suit was tattered, old and dusty, as was his top hat which contained many holes.

Freddy could only guess that Nightmare Freddy was from the same era as Golden Freddy.

And Freddy certainly didn't like the look of Nightmare's Freddy's hands...or were they claws?

"Victim?" Freddy asked, slowly reaching to undo the lock on his seatbelt.

_"I wouldn't do that if I were you, because I would have to tear your hand off my bare teeth, while I rip and drag my nails across your smooth soft flesh,"_ Nightmare Freddy sneered.

Freddy wisely stopped, this 'Nightmare Freddy' held all the cards and he sure wouldn't give Freddy anytime to grab the initiative.

"_Mmm…so you are smart after all,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered under his breath.

Freddy unconsciously sank into his seat, as Nightmare Freddy leaned over him, studying him with great interest.

"What are you?" Freddy asked, his voice was barely a whisper.

_"I am Nightmare Freddy, your personal torturer, your personal hell raiser and I'll be your nightmare for the evening victim,"_ Nightmare Freddy smirked, slowly pulling on Freddy's brown curls, still sizing him up. "I am asleep, this is all just a nightmare and you are not real," Freddy replied, straightening himself up to show that he wasn't afraid of this 'thing'.

_"Oh...nice statement Freddy, maybe you're right, perhaps I'm not real."_

Nightmare Freddy smiled.

"_However, you should fear me regardless, even more than you should fear Vincent,"_ he stated smiling. "Vincent, how do you know Vincent?" Freddy asked, utterly confused at how this Nightmare version of himself would know Vincent.

Nightmare Freddy just smiled, once more displaying his sharp teeth.

"_Well, if I am just a product of your mind, then I would know everything you know…right?" _

He smirked, as he dragged his claws across the leather cover of the seat. _"So, tell me Freddy, would you like to see your fears, any idea what they might be?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked.

"Is this your attempt to strike up a casual conversation?" Freddy asked, folding his arms, he could just defy this monster and wait until it was time to wake up.

"_Perhaps, just answer the question and this'll all go smoothly."_

"Why should I tell you anything, you're not someone who I would trust," Freddy replied, his blue eyes narrowed as Nightmare Freddy stared back with his dark red.

_"Because it's better than having me force it out of you...but then again you did refuse to go about this nicely so..."_

Within the blink of an eye, Nightmare Freddy grabbed, Freddy's head with his claw like hands, pressing them into his skull. This not too surprisingly caused Freddy to feel a great amount of pain.

"AHH, AHH, STOP IT!" he screamed, gripping Nightmare Freddy's hands and trying to pull them away.

_"No, you will show me your fears!"_ Nightmare Freddy shouted, increasing the pressure on Freddy's head.

Nightmare Freddy's eyes appeared to glow more brightly than before, Freddy felt like he was being sucked into them…those dark red remorseless orbs of insanity. Then several small red threads slithered out of Nightmare Freddy's eyes and flowed directly into Freddy's, penetrating his mind.

They were like snakes, wriggling their way into Freddy's head, opening up multiple doors. Nightmare Freddy flowed through them, using them as a means to see inside Freddy's head.

_"Now let's see...ahaa, what do we have here,"_ he giggled...now this was what he called 'fun'.

_"Do you fear drowning Freddy, being dragged down by sea monsters, or having predators swim around you, as the light of the surface world fades away?"_

Freddy was trying his best not to shout out in pain as the threads wormed their way deeper and deeper into his mind.

"Get...out...now!" he stressed through gritted teeth.

Nightmare Freddy mocked being serious.

_"Hang on, let me think about it for a second…mmmm….mmmm…mmmmm…..how about…..no."_

He smirked like a Cheshire Cat, his expression quickly becoming psychotic.

"_Besides we've only just started!"_

Through his threads, he mentally searched Freddy's mind, leaving no stone left unturned.

_"Mmm...Do you fear knifes Freddy, having cold steel rip into your bare flesh, splitting it apart and having your bones broken into tiny pieces,"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, smiling as Freddy withered in pain. "Your….you're a monster!" Freddy growled, although he could do very little to stop Nightmare Freddy for doing what he wanted.

"_Am I not just the darker version of you Freddy, we all have a devil within us somewhere don't we?"_

Nightmare Freddy directed the threads elsewhere, mentally following them through Freddy's mind, it was like someone following a ball of string to find their way out of a maze. _"Mmmm...there's something strong here...Ah, got you," _ Nightmare Freddy grinned, his sharp teeth appear to be illuminated in the darkness, partly lit up by the glowing red threads which poured nonstop into Freddy's eyes.

_"Isolation...you fear being all alone, abandoned in the wildness with nowhere to go and no one to help you, the silence you fear...must be deafening," _Nightmare Freddy whispered, increasing the pressure on Freddy's head with his hands. "_Deep down…your terrified...now I wonder if that's how you feel or whether it's the feelings of the ghost child that resides within you?"_ Nightmare Freddy wondered out loud.

"How…do you know…about the ghost children?" Freddy asked, struggling to cope with the amount of pain he was undergoing.

Nightmare Freddy smiled.

"_I'm you remember, I know what you know, isn't that how you see me?" _

"Fuck...you!" Was all Freddy could shout amidst the sheer agony.

Nightmare Freddy just laughed.

_You know if I wasn't doing this to you, I would have you sliced in half because you said that, even castrated you if I felt very angry."_

He increased the pressure on Freddy's head.

_"You feared being isolated from your friends, your family, being left all on your own, your family...I know of them, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, my my what's happened to him, he looks wounded since you last saw him?" _Nightmare Freddy asked, as he scoured and scanned Freddy's memories. _"Oh, he and Chica look so cute together, so adorable, perhaps I recreate them and give them something to really scream about-"_

Freddy suddenly mentally blocked his nightmarish counterpart out of his memories, but that only enraged him.

However, Nightmare Freddy knew he had hit a nerve.

_"Getting tough are we, think again,"_ he hissed, mentally he followed other threads, as Freddy tried to block them out.

_"Mmmm...more friends, the Toys...you've always thought that was an odd name, the Puppet, she looks so fragile and breakable, not much effort would be required to break her," _Nightmare Freddy smiled, filtering through Freddy's mind.

_"Strange...I see Golden Freddy and that Springtrap fellow...veterans by the look of things...Balloon Boy is so innocent, unaware of the wider world, but that'll change soon...wait there's something else here…something…big,"_ Nightmare Freddy commented, he looked unsure as he charted into an unknown part of Freddy's mind.

"_The former night guard Mike, he stands out from the rest, built an airship, I'll tilt my hat to him for being so inventive, but still that's not it." _

Then Nightmare Freddy found the end of the thread and what he had been sensing.

He couldn't help but smiled as he mentally clapped his hands in delight.

_"Ohhh...this'll be good!" _he cheered.

He pressed forward, but found he couldn't, as Freddy was once more trying mentally stop him.

_"Don't resist me Freddy, don't make me kill you, you haven't even witnessed how much pain I can truly bring, your quite interesting for being my counterpart," _Nightmare Freddy stated, pushing through Freddy's defences.

It was only then he could see what Freddy was hiding.

_"I see Chica, Bonnie, Mangle, Toy Chica and Toy Bonnie, they're beautiful, enchanting, but I sense a rather strong desire flowing around Bonnie."_

Nightmare Freddy battered aside Freddy's mental blockades, he was like a ship sailing through a storm.

Then he saw why.

_"Ohhh…Freddy,"_ he giggled, his eyes widen with pleasure.

"_I see her now, beauty, divine, you're holding her and she isn't stopping you."_

Freddy couldn't tell whether Nightmare Freddy was taunting him or genuinely taken back by what he was seeing.

It was most likely the latter.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Freddy screamed, mentally pushing back, as Nightmare Freddy craved himself a path towards the heart of Freddy's desires...it was kind of obvious. Walking forward with his mental red threads aiding him, Nightmare Freddy saw more….and he liked it

_"You're kissing her Freddy and she's kissing you back...why she is wearing a white dress and why is Chica throwing petals over you two?" _He asked, he really knew what the scene meant, and he enjoyed tormenting Freddy because of it.

_"You love her don't you Freddy, that's it isn't it, Bonnie...I can't blame you for doing so."_

"What…would you know…about love…and affection monster?" Freddy asked, trying to seal off more parts of his mind, despite Nightmare Freddy's superior mental strength. _"Oh, I know nothing about love or affection." _Nightmare Freddy answered his dark red eyes narrowed, glowing brightly as his smile turned into a smirk.

_"But I know about lust...you know about lust too don't you Freddy, perhaps I should make this little scene a bit more 'interesting' make it something 'special'," _he muttered, grinning as he mentally stepped forward, getting ever closer.

"NO!" Freddy shouted, blocking Nightmare Freddy's attempts to move forward, he wouldn't let him wreck his dreams or desires.

"I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER!" he screamed.

_"Then again, I could just kill Foxy and have Chica instead, he's a pirate, too busy sailing the oceans to have time for her, she's looks like a goddess, or I could have the others, hell even the Puppet-"_

"YOUR HAVING NO ONE YOU HEAR, NO ONE DESERVES YOU MONSTER, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO EXIST REAL OR NOT!" Freddy shouted.

Summoning all his mental strength, he started to push Nightmare Freddy away from his desires, shredding his threads apart, forcing Nightmare Freddy to retreat. Surprised by Freddy's attack, Nightmare Freddy fought back, but now he was on the back foot as Freddy expelled him from all parts of his mind.

"PAIN AND LOVE, MAKES YOU DO THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOU COULD DO!" Freddy screamed, as Nightmare Freddy backtracked, his threads being routed with him.

His hold on Freddy weaken, in doing so the pressure from his hands-on Freddy's head loosen.

"Now let's see how you like it!" Freddy sneered.

Blue string like threads surged out of Freddy's light blue eyes and went into Nightmare Freddy's dark red.

He had no idea how he could do this, yet such questions were shoved aside as Freddy pushed his way into his counterpart's mind.

It was the complete opposite to his own mind, this one was twisted beyond anything sane, an ever-shifting maze of chaos and sick pleasures.

Freddy could just make it into his memories and even then, it was a struggle to make out anything recognizable. He briefly saw the pizzeria, then a dim lit greyish, metallic and somewhat subterranean room, with what looked like a body on a large metal table and a man wearing a purple uniform.

He was standing over it, holding a series of tools and smiling like a psychopath…._Vincent._

Then the image changed to one of another dark room, but there were no signs of anything metallic, this room only lit by a single light bulb. There were signs of a decay and rot along the room's walls, plus the ceiling. However, there was another body on a table with a figure standing over it.

Was it the same body?

But all of it was only visible for a couple of seconds, if there was anything else in the image then Freddy didn't get to see it.

_"No touchy touchy, I'm afraid," _Nightmare Freddy sang, chuckling as he mentally pushed Freddy out of his mind, then severed the connection entirely. But Freddy with new found strength, leapt up, breaking his seat belt in the process, grabbed Nightmare Freddy by the shoulders and slammed him down on the floor.

"FUCK OFF!" He shouted.

Nightmare Freddy just smiled, he then rolled away just as Freddy attempted to punch him. Then and quite mysteriously he vanished, because when Freddy moved to kick him…his foot went straight through thin air.

He looked around, trying to find him.

"Just where did you go?" Freddy asked, although it was a whisper.

"_That sure got your blood pumping didn't it Freddy_?" Nightmare Freddy called out, his voice bouncing off the airship's interior walls.

Thus, it was hard to pinpoint his location.

"Just what are you truly…are you a darker vision of me…"

He gazed round, searching for anything odd.

"Or something else entirely?"

There was sudden movement to right, Freddy turned the instant he saw it, but it was gone.

"_Mmmmmm….good question…..how do I put this together….I guess you could say that I'm kind of both really,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered, again his voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.

"What do you want from me…Nightmare Freddy?" Freddy asked, his eyes flickering from left to right.

"_Oh…to see you suffer Freddy…you know that deep down you're not really as innocent as you claim to be."_

Again, there was movement, only this time it somewhere off to his left, Freddy turned to face it, but found nothing.

"_You wear the mantle of a victim, yet you have deliberately brought fear and even death to those who have or rather 'had' no quarrels with you…tell me, does thirty dead night guards sound familiar to you?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked.

"What are you trying to say?" Freddy asked, throwing the question back at him.

Nightmare Freddy laughed, his demonic yet youthful laughter echoed around the compartment.

"_You think you're a victim, what about the dozens of night guards you and the others have killed over the years, yes Vincent took a lot away from you, but does that really give you the right to take away from others, especially those who have done you no harm…your kind of a hypocrite in many ways."_

"You know nothing about our situation, you're just an evil version of me here to taunt me…to test me, to mock me," Freddy called out.

"I'm stronger than you think I am."

"_Oh really…well I do love a challenge,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied from somewhere in the shadows. "I'll gladly give you one," Freddy muttered.

He was getting frustrated, he couldn't see Nightmare Freddy no matter how hard he looked. "So, come on, where are you!" He shouted out.

"_I'm where I always will be Freddy."_

What he said next was literally whispered into Freddy's ear.

"_Right behind you!"_

Within an instant Freddy turned round…and came face to face with Nightmare Freddy.

Then before he knew it, there was a painful kick to his stomach and suddenly he found himself flying backwards into the nearby wall. He hit it with a thud, before sinking down to the floor. Nightmare Freddy chuckled to himself, walking forward, eyeing the fallen Freddy.

"_Do you really think you're worthy of peoples' sympathies?"_ he asked, clearly amused.

Freddy slowly raised his head, his body struggled to recover from the recent impact with the wall.

"_You may not have been fully with it when you were committing the act, but either way you have killed…just like Vincent,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated plainly.

"I am nothing like Vincent!" Freddy shot back, he could feel his anger rising.

"_Really…are you sure?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked sweetly, cocking his head to one side.

"Positive," Freddy replied with narrowed eyes, getting up.

Nightmare Freddy dashed forward, aiming to strike another blow to Freddy with his sharp claws. However, this time Freddy was ready and he responded by punching Nightmare Freddy right in the chest. It worked like clockwork with Nightmare Freddy being stopped dead in his tracks, the impact spreading throughout his body.

Yet it didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

"_Nice, but you really got to make the person scream in pain, that way you know it was decisive,"_ he remarked, side stepping Freddy within the blink of an eye and hitting him from the side. Freddy stumbled, giving Nightmare Freddy more opportunities to step up his attack. He kicked Freddy's legs out from under him, sending him to the floor.

"_You're not really a seasoned fighter, I mean if we are the complete opposites of each other, then under that logic we should be equal,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered out loud.

Freddy jumped back up with unexpected energy and bashed his nightmarish counterpart backwards, with enough force to make him stumble.

"You were saying about being equal!" Freddy hissed. Nightmare Freddy grinned, this was far too easy, if anything this was child's play. Within seconds, he appeared before Freddy, swiftly followed by him flying backwards yet again after receiving another one of his powerful kicks.

Clearly Nightmare Freddy was both agile and strong.

Freddy recovered much better than last time, being able to land in a more stable position.

"_This is getting boring, how about we make things a bit more serious." _

Out of his sleeve he produced a knife, a sharp knife.

Freddy's eyes widen as the object gleam in the low light.

"_Oh yes…don't be shocked Freddy, in a dream anything is possible."_

Nightmare Freddy smiled, locking eyes with him.

"_Even death."_

Then he charged with knife in hand.

Freddy despite having to the urge to fight back, found himself terrified of his psychotic counterpart as he swiftly closed the distance between them.

He was mad, insane and blood thirsty.

"_HERE COMES FREDDY BOYS AND GIRLS!"_ he yelled, his eyes already two bright orbs of intense frenzy.

He leapt forward like a wolf going in for the kill, his mouth wide open as to reveal his sharp teeth.

Freddy did the only thing he could do. He dived to the ground and rolled away, just as Nightmare Freddy flew over him. Within a matter of seconds, Freddy turned and grasped the knife and pulled it right out of Nightmare Freddy's hands.

The Nightmare turned, readying himself for the inevitable fight that was to come.

Except it didn't…because Freddy with all of his anger fueling him, drove the knife like a stake into Nightmare Freddy's chest, pinning him up against the far wall.

"YOU ARE NOT ME, YOU WILL NEVER BE ME!" Freddy yelled, struggling to keep Nightmare Freddy in check by sheer strength alone.

Nightmare Freddy not being one to give up so easily however, thrashed and kicked, trying to drive Freddy away, but to no avail as Freddy pushed the knife in right up to the hilt.

Two sets of eyes, light blue and dark red glared at each other, both hate filled.

"_So…you do__ have__ an aggressive streak,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, growling in protest to his current situation.

"Only when I'm threaten by people like you…self-defense," Freddy answered.

Nightmare Freddy despite being in pain, laughed.

"_With an excuse like that you can get away with anything…even murder."_

He got his foot up and kicked Freddy in the stomach and knocking him backwards, yet he ended up pulling the knife out of Nightmare Freddy's chest. Freddy quickly recovered and picked himself back up, only to see Nightmare Freddy walk forward with his claws at the ready.

"_You've just made a big mistake__ by __not keeping the knife in,"_ he muttered, narrowing his eyes.

Freddy initially looked puzzled, but then his eyes widen and he smiled in surprise.

"Actually, I think it's you that has made a mistake, you've failed to notice something."

With the knife, he pointed at Nightmare Freddy, who saw by the knife's direction that it was aiming at his chest. He looked down…his eyes widen, his breath was taken away by what he saw.

Cracks…yes cracks…were starting to spread across his upper body…just like it would do on actual glass.

"_Wait…that's not meant to…what's happening….how?"_

Freddy smirked.

"You suddenly don't look so confident now."

Nightmare Freddy's expression changed to anger, pure anger.

He started to advance, but found himself to be struggling as the cracks spread across his body, it was like his joints were all stiffing up at once. The cracks continued reaching everywhere and soon Nightmare Freddy found himself frozen in mid motion.

"I hate to say it, but…oh well, like all dark sides, when the mask is raised you shatter like glass."

Nightmare Freddy just narrowed his eyes and laughed, his voice filled with sarcasm.

"_Ha, ha, ha, haaaa!"_ he growled.

Freddy smiled.

"Go to hell."

He threw the knife with great precision and it impacted right in the middle of Nightmare Freddy's chest, the shock of the impact rippling across his body like a shock wave. The end result was him breaking into tiny pieces, with his entire physical form collapsing and falling to the floor.

It was done…he was no more…only millions upon millions of glass pieces.

Freddy breathed a sigh of massive relief.

It was over, the nightmare was over. He slumped against a chair for support as the exhaustion of his efforts finally caught up with him.

"Thank God for cutlery," he muttered, looking at the knife which lay among the glass shards.

Then his ears picked up something odd, something cracking…

He looked down and to his complete and absolute horror saw that the floor beneath him was breaking just like glass would. In fact, it was spreading all over the compartment, up the walls, across the ceiling and on the chairs.

"Oh shit!" was all Freddy could say.

The cracking grew louder and louder and then…everything shattered. The floor disappeared, fracturing into oblivion and Freddy fell through into nothingness. He was falling, in the pitch dark amidst the sound of glass breaking up into millions upon millions of invisible pieces.

The G force was overwhelming, Freddy could feel himself start to black out from the intense pressure, his vision became white as everything around him seem to morph into the same bright white grayish colour.

The nightmare was at last ending…it was now time to wake up.

* * *

Back at Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria, deep within his rotting prison, Nightmare Freddy slowly opened his eyes, watching as his surroundings filtered back into his field of vision.

He smirked, letting out a little chuckle, that chuckle soon became a laugh, that laugh turned into a crackle and that crackle became a full-blown roar of delight.

His chains shook in his immense excitement.

He rose up slowly, allowing his fit of laughter to die down, but he was deeply pleased, the whole scene couldn't have played out any better than it did.

He smiled, he now had what he wanted.

It took some considerable effort, but it had all paid off in the end.

Faking his death was the hardest part, making sure that the knife didn't actually hit him or that he didn't really get stabbed by Freddy was tricky. Luckily, he knew how to throw up realistic projections. He had fooled Freddy, by making him think that he was nothing more than a mental representation of his dark side. By making it look as if he had won, Nightmare Freddy had cleverly kept the element of surprise as well as having gained new information by looking into Freddy's mind.

So, he could pick out new targets and wait for a better opportunity to emerge.

He quickly gathered from the information in Freddy's head that he was the de facto leader of the Fazbears and if he felt no reason to tell the others about his strange dream…then they wouldn't ask.

And when Nightmare Freddy decided to attack the other Fazbears…guess who would have to take the blame.

This is why he liked being one step ahead of everyone else, so he could fool them, not let them know where the attack would come from..._no one would see the knife._

Nightmare Freddy stretched his arms and legs, loosening his muscles which had been dormant for well over a quarter of a century, by now he had fully remembered who Vincent was and most importantly why he was helping him.

"_Vincent was dead right, I have no reason to look inside his head, similar aims…similar minds."_

Settling down, he prepared himself for sleep, before he did, he proceeded to open his watch tracker, which displayed both Vincent's position as well as that of the Fazbears.

He was surprisingly close to them, something Nightmare Freddy instantly noted.

"_You sure do move fast."_

He sent a message to Vincent regarding his success with Freddy, before closing the watch back up and lying down on the table, readying himself for sleep.

A few hours should do him good.

_"Are you ready for__ Nightmare__ Freddy?"_ He asked, closing his eyes, but of course no one answered.

* * *

About a hundred miles away, Vincent received Nightmare Freddy's text, it simply read.

_"Got to Freddy, he thinks I am nothing more than a mental representation of everything dark within him, I still have the element of surprise, the head is weak, he is unaware, I will target the others soon after a rest...I think he has a 'certain thing' for Bonnie...very interesting, have fun...I know I did!" _

Vincent simply smiled, his new friend was a success, completing his task with relative ease, and the deal which he had forged in nineteen eighty-seven was now in full swing.

He pulled a knife out of his trouser pocket and smirked, waving it through the air, imaging that he was slashing children, their tears earning them no safety.

"Now it's my turn, I am the unseen purple guy."

His eyes glowed with vicious intent.

"Oh, the joy of creation and the grand exit of innocent ones, I will renew it again."

Back at the pizzeria, Nightmare Freddy was peacefully dreaming of the exact same thing.

* * *

Freddy woke up in a shock, he was drenched in sweat, looking around him, his fear rapidly faded as he saw Springtrap next to him still asleep, as well as Bonnie and the Puppet along the same aisle.

Twisting his head back to look behind him, Freddy relaxed when he saw Toy Bonnie and Goldie still asleep in their seats.

"Oh, thank God," Freddy whispered, sinking into his seat.

_"Free at last,"_ he mentally uttered.

It wasn't so long ago that he was fighting a darker version of himself and then falling through pitch blackness, or at least it felt like that.

Now turning to face the windows, Freddy could see that it was morning, the sun was up shining brightly, despite half the sky being covered by clouds.

Then his attention turned to getting out of this bloodily seat belt, which Bonnie had put him in.

He pressed down on the release button, it released.

"Yes," he said, getting up, but as soon as his hand left the button, the seatbelt reengaged its lock, causing Freddy to fall back into his seat.

"Dam it, why do they have to make it like a puzzle," he hissed, he hammered his fist on the leather armrest in his frustration.

Then he had an idea.

He turned, took hold of Springtrap's hand and guided it over to his seatbelt lock.

With one hand, he pressed Springtrap's hand onto the release button, the lock unlocked, maintaining the pressure Freddy slowly rose up.

Standing up fully, he carefully placed Springtrap's hand back in his seat and threw the seatbelt down onto his seat, in the satisfaction of breaking free from it.

"To hell with you, stupid child safety lock!" he whispered, before turning away and marching off down the aisle triumphant.

Ok first things first, he needed to wash himself, so where is the bathroom on this thing.

He soon found it near the cockpit, walking inside and locking the door shut behind him.

Within five minutes or so, he had washed his entire face with the water from the sink and was now drying himself down with a towel.

As he lowered it, he swore that the reflection on the mirror wasn't his, but that of Nightmare Freddy…but only for a split second.

Must be his eyes playing tricks on him, after a very chaotic experience which felt very real, it would make sense for his mind to put elements of his nightmare into the world around him.

He was just trying to make sense of it all.

After putting everything back in place, he exited the room and looked around, everyone was still asleep, coiled up in their blankets.

Yesterday's events had clearly tired them out.

Looking beyond them further, Freddy could spy a metal ladder in the middle of the passenger compartment which led up through a hatchway and onto the airship's top deck. Seeing that no one else was awake yet, Freddy was curious to see what lay outside.

Climbing up the ladder and opening the hatch, Freddy pulled himself through and crawled onto the deck.

The view was simply breathtaking, even beautiful amidst the wiring noise of the twin propellers.

With his own eyes, Freddy could see the countryside below him, dotted with tiny towns and villages, flocks of birds were flying in sky around him, darting among the clouds and the rays of the sun which shone overhead. Freddy had never seen the countryside before, nor had he seen real life animals, only the ones in children's books which were stored in the Pizzeria's reading area.

He had seen the sun before along with clouds and the sky, but he had never strayed far from his home.

"Wow...this is really something," he muttered, now if he could only get into space and see the earth from on high.

"This breathing taking, so peaceful."

"Yes, it is isn't it," said a voice.

Initially Freddy jumped at the sound, but he turned in its direction and saw Bonnie sticking her head out of the hatchway, she smiled.

"Hi Bon Bon," Freddy replied in a humorous tone, knowing that Bonnie hated that nickname.

"Don't call me that, you know dam well that I hate that name," Bonnie stated, growling as she climbed through the hatch.

"That's why I do it," Freddy remarked, smiling at the expense of Bonnie's annoyance.

She then stood up and approached Freddy, taking in the scenery.

"Pretty view, only saw this kind of thing in my dreams, how about you Faz-ass?" she asked tilting her head, smiling.

Freddy in response narrowed his eyes and replied sarcastically.

"Ha, ha, ha, Bonnie, I see you're still using a child's guitar."

Bonnie's eyes narrowed, but she allowed the comment to go over her head.

_"Watch it Fazbear, I'm a professional now," _she mentally warned.

Freddy turned away to watch a blackbird fly over.

"So...did you sleep well?" Bonnie asked, changing the subject.

Freddy mentally stuttered.

Although he had defeated Nightmare Freddy and killed him, it all felt so real…so he was quite unsure even after seeing his nightmarish counterpart shatter like glass, effectively killing him.

"Yes, quite well, I feel refreshed, my dream was quite real, I mean it felt real, but it just was odd," he replied, he had no reason to worry, a dream is just a dream.

"Same...dreamt I was playing alongside Elvis Presley and Freddie Mercy, you?" Bonnie asked, her eyes watching Freddy's body language.

"I was in some sort of self-reflection match with a darker version of myself, he was just endlessly lecturing me on how I was like Vincent," Freddy answered.

"And your response?" Bonnie asked, clearly interested.

"I killed him by shattering him into thousands of pieces like broken glass."

Bonnie's purplish red eyes widen with surprise.

"Cool...nice twist, by the way Chica is still asleep with Foxy in the storage compartment."

Her eyes broke contact briefly to watch flocks of bird fly in formation across the sky.

"Why am I not surprised, she's had something for him since they first met" Freddy commented.

"I feel kind of sorry for BB though," Bonnie commented, pulling her hair back behind her bunny ears.

"Balloon Boy why?" Freddy asked, he looked confused.

Bonnie scratched her head.

"Oh, right you were asleep at the time, well Balloon Boy offered to give the Puppet some company and well...he didn't phrase his words right and she was as usual being stubborn and reclusive...poor guy."

"Young love...its hurts everyone, especially when you love someone, but you don't know if they love you back," Freddy replied.

His own words hurt his heart as it did Bonnie's...but neither one knew that.

"Well, they'll learn...Love's a bitch, isn't it?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah...it sure is," Freddy replied, watching clouds pass overhead.

"Enjoying the view?"

Both Fazbears turned to see Goldie climbing up through the hatch.

"Yeah, it's totally different to seeing it in pictures," Bonnie replied as Goldie approached them.

"So, your both awake...how did you sleep?" He asked smiling, his dark red eyes searching theirs.

Fear flashed in Freddy's eyes momentarily, but Goldie saw it.

_"Why did Freddy just look at me as if I've come from a nightmare?"_ he thought.

However, he didn't raise the issue.

"I slept very well Goldie, how about you?" Bonnie asked, hugging Goldie.

He relaxed in her embrace.

"Quite well, dreamt of performing at Fredbear's Diner with..."

His happy expression changed to a sober sad one.

"Springtrap..."

"Cheer up Goldie he'll wake up soon, I'm sure...at least he's away from the Purple Man or aka Vincent," Freddy replied, hugging his older counterpart to make him feel better.

"Thanks Freddy," Goldie replied returning back to his happier self.

"So...where to now?" Bonnie asked, looking around, watching birds fly by.

"Still aiming to meet up with Jeremy and begin a brand-new start in life?"

"Yeah, that's the plan, we'll be seeing Jeremy again," Freddy replied, turning to face Bonnie.

"Ahh, yes, Jeremy, thee Jeremy Fitzgerald," Bonnie chuckled to herself.

"I wonder if he's changed since the 1990s, when we last saw him, he did a good job in watching over us and the Toys when we were in their Pizzeria'," Bonnie muttered out loud as her eyes lit up in nostalgia. "The only guy on the night shift we didn't kill, besides Mike of course," Freddy stated, straightening his top hat.

"Well...hopefully we can start anew somewhere else, I mean I do miss both pizzerias, but I want to go places and see the world," said Goldie, gazing off into the horizon. "We all do and this is our chance to finally do it," Bonnie replied, putting her hand on Goldie's shoulder.

The man nodded in response.

"And if Purple Guy tries to stop us...well he'll regret doing so," Freddy stated, placing his hand on Goldie's other shoulder.

"He will...he can't stop us...he simply can't this time," Goldie muttered softly under his breath. Then Freddy wondered if Goldie could answer something, just what if his dream was more than a dream and knowing Goldie's connection with the super natural he could provide some valuable insight.

"Tell me Goldie…have you ever heard of...someone called -"

Then a loud drawn out screech from above, interrupted the conversation.

Several squads of birds flew overhead, clearly squawking in immense distress with many more following their trail.

"That's not normal," Freddy commented, as about thirty birds flew over him, flapping their wings as fast as they could.

"They're heading north, birds usually go south for the winter, but then they won't be doing that because it's currently summer, but still," Bonnie retorted, trying to take in what she was seeing. Wave after wave flew over, their squawks of panic filling the air as each bird shoved blindly against the other to escape from whatever was chasing them.

"Something is wrong, seriously wrong," said Goldie, his eyes filled with worry.

* * *

_A few minutes earlier..._

Mangle had just awoken from her slumber, undoing her seatbelt, she stood up straight, stretching her body.

She yawned deeply.

"Mmmm...that was a nice sleep, it is morning already?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

She proceeded to walk down the aisle, passing Toy Chica, Toy Freddy, Mike and Balloon Boy, who was still wrapped up inside his blanket...like a cocoon.

_"He's so adorable when he's asleep," _Mangle thought, Balloon Boy could be very cute, when he wasn't being annoying.

She entered the cockpit, checking the flight computer to see if they were still on course for Chicago.

"Ok, the ship is following the route as planned, everything else seems to be functioning normally, well I might as well go and-"

Then something caught her eye...the radar.

Mangle leaned in close to make out the readings.

As the radar did its sweep of the surrounding area, it was picking up a large fast moving dot coming in from the east.

"What the?" Mangle asked, confused with what she was seeing.

Then her worries turned into fears as numerous flocks of birds flew past the cockpit windows, all squawking and flying in complete disarray.

"Something's wrong," She muttered, there was a shift in the wind and it wasn't for the first time in which she had felt such foreboding. Mangle then turned and ran out of the cockpit, her feet hammering the floor as she headed for the ladder which led to the top dock.

The hatch was opened, normally Mangle would wonder why, but didn't as she pulled herself up. Popping her head through the hatch, she saw Freddy, Goldie and Bonnie all on the top deck, watching with utter confusion as flocks of birds flew overhead.

"DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY IDEA AS TO WHAT'S GOING ON?" She asked, shouting to be heard above the squawks of birds.

"NO, WE DON'T!" Bonnie shouted back.

Then Mangle saw why the birds were in complete distress, her eyes widen in complete shock and horror.

"_Oh my God!"_

"LOOK OVER THERE, FROM THE EAST!" She shouted, pointing in its direction.

Freddy, Goldie and Bonnie all turned in its direction to see...

Another airship looming out of the clouds, it was about twice the size of Mike's airship with the double the propellers and was fitted with what looked like harpoons guns on its sides.

"What...the...fuck?" said Freddy, looking utterly bewildered.

"WTF indeed," Goldie replied.

"Guys...I think we have a problem...a big one," Bonnie commented, with her hair blowing about in the wind.

"YOU THINK!" Mangle shouted, watching as the airship turned to fly parallel with their airship.

"Whose flying that thing, plus who else can build an airship that size and fit it with harpoon guns for Christ's sake!" Bonnie exclaimed, pointing at its massive size.

Then the top hatch opened and out climbed...Vincent Afton smiling as usual and carrying what looked like a self-made bazooka. He laughed at the white coloured faces of Freddy, Goldie, Bonnie and Mangle.

"WELL...IT'S LIKE WHAT I SAID, YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME!" he shouted, as numerous endoskeletons crawled out of the hatch behind him.

He then aimed the bazooka at the opposing airship and fired upon finding a suitable target. The missile flew out like a rocket, coursing through the air like a dart and leaving a thick trail of smoke in its wake. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clearly all hell is about to break loose, chess pieces are moving and they are moving fast. . .
> 
> I hope that you're enjoying the story. :-)


	5. Rock the Boat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All cards are off the table for this particular chapter...as the chapter title suggests.  
Old wounds do not heal easily.  
(Sorry for any grammar errors that I may have missed.)  
With that said enjoy...

** Chapter 5. **

** Rock the Boat. **

"_**It's all about finding the calm in the chaos."**_

_ **Donnak Karan** _

Shit literally hit the fan as the missile slammed into one of the twin propellers, causing the airship to rock violently. It almost tipped into its side as the impact of the blast rocked through the ship's inner structure, metal groaned in agony as it was bent in unnatural ways.

The result was a lot of the ship electrocutes and systems being destroyed or badly damaged. Freddy, Goldie and Bonnie were thrown off their feet, landing on the other side of the top deck. Mangle was thrown back down the hatch by the force of impact, smacking into the ladder as she fell, landing with her back on the floor.

Everyone else was abruptly shaken out of their sleep, but saved from any further injury because their seat belts.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Toy Freddy screamed, undoing his seat belt, only to find that he couldn't balance himself properly due to the ship leaning heavily onto one side. He picked himself up and steadily made his way to the cockpit, where he found Mike, panicking over a smoking console on which the dials were cracked and the warning lights were repeatedly flashing red.

"JESUS, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" Toy Freddy asked, shocked to see Mike hose everything down with one of the onboard fire extinguishers.

"I DON'T KNOW, FIND MANGLE QUICKLY, WE'RE LOSING POWER SOMEHOW!" Mike ordered, pressing buttons to see what still worked, as the airship started to fall out of the sky.

Toy Freddy turned and ran back the way he came, to his relief, he found Mangle lying on her back, she was breathing faintly.

"MANGLE!" he shouted as he ran over to her, pulling her upright.

"My endoskeleton belt...fetch it for me please," she asked, gasping for breath as she leaned against the metal ladder which led up to the top deck.

Toy Freddy ran to Mangle's seat, grabbed her endoskeleton belt and swiftly returned.

"Here, Mike's in the cockpit, but he's just as clueless as we are," he stated, giving Mangle her belt.

"Thanks...quickly go and help Freddy, Bonnie and Goldie, they were up on the top deck, when the Purple Guy's missile struck," said Mangle, pointing towards the hatch above them.

"PURPLE GUY, MISSILE!" Toy Freddy shouted in shock. "JUST GET UP THAT LADDER DAM IT!" Mangle shouted back, pushing Toy Freddy up.

Then the other Toys ran up, clearly in shock.

"WHAT'S GOING, I HEARD AN EXPLOSION, WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Toy Chica screeched, shaking Mangle harshly by the shoulders. "THE PURPLE GUY IS HERE WITH HIS OWN AIRSHIP!" Mangle shouted back, as Toy Bonnie sharply pulled Toy Chica off her.

"ONE OF YOU GO AND SEE MIKE, I MIGHT BE ABLE TO FIX THIS, BUT I'LL NEED HELP, THERE'S NO KNOWNG WHAT THE PURPLE GUY HAS IN STORE FOR US NOW!" Mangle ordered, reattaching her belt around her waist. Toy Chica ran off down the aisle towards the cockpit. Toy Freddy popped his head through the hatch to see Freddy, Bonnie and Goldie picking themselves up, amidst the raging flames and twisted pieces of metal that now covered the top deck.

"YOU GUYS OK?" He called.

"YEAH, I THINK WE'RE FINE, THANKS," Goldie shouted back, pulling Bonnie up.

"HA, HA, HA, NOT FOR LONG, NOW BOYS!" Vincent shouted, he clicked his fingers.

Inside the airship's cockpit, an endoskeleton pressed several buttons which made the guns to fire their harpoons each one trailing a rope behind them. The harpoons penetrated deep the airship's side, smashing into the passenger and storage compartments, with one of them nearly hitting the Puppet, who was still in her seat amidst the confusion.

She screamed, jumping straight out of her seat and ran towards Toy Bonnie, who she leapt at, hugging her tightly.

"Safe, safe, safe, safe," she repeated rapidly, as Toy Bonnie try to calm her down by stroking her black hair and whispering nice things in her ear.

Then Toy Chica returned, she stopped to catch her breath, Balloon Boy also joined the group at that point.

"He's says that we've lost one of the propellers, maybe the rubber and possibly the stabilisers, as well as many other things, which I can't explain for the life of me," she said.

Then she handed a walkie talkie to Mangle.

"He also told me to give you this."

"Thanks," Mangle replied, taking it off her.

Then she turned to face the others.

"Right, Toy Bonnie, you go into storage compartment and get me the tool box, it's red in colour, Toy Chica you stay here, try to keep the Puppet and BB calm and Toy Freddy."

Toy Freddy, upon hearing his name looked down at Mangle. "Get up there and secure the top deck for me, mainly the propeller that's broken, I need cover as I'm gonna fix it," Mangle ordered.

"Who made you the boss-"

"I SAID DO IT!" Mangle shouted in sudden response, her eyes narrowing in anger.

"Alright, alright, sorry I even asked," Toy Freddy groaned, climbing through the hatch, he was rather shocked with the level of Mangle's response.

"Must be her time of the month again...if she even has one," he muttered to himself, climbing onto the top deck. With the harpoons in place, Vincent's airship's pulled itself closer to Mike's. With its four propellers and its harpoons which were latched into the airship's side, Vincent's airship was the only thing that was keeping it's counterpart in the air.

Otherwise it would be plummeting to the ground like a fallen angel. Freddy could clearly see that the Purple Guy had the intention of boarding with his horde of endoskeletons.

"TOY FREDDY, WE NEED SOMETHING TO KEEP THESE GUYS AWAY FROM THE PROPELLER AND THE HATCH!" he shouted in the direction of his counterpart.

"RIGHT," Toy Freddy shouted back.

He leaned down the hatchway.

"MANGLE, WE NEED WEAPONS OF SORTS!" He shouted.

"TOY BONNIE, WE NEED GUNS, MIKE KEPT SOME ONBOARD IN THE STORAGE COMPARTMENT," Mangle cried, pointing in the direction of the storage compartment.

"I'M GOING, I'M GOING!" Toy Bonnie yelled, already running off in the required direction.

"Wait," said Balloon Boy pulling on her clothes, making Mangle turn round and face him.

"What about Chica and Foxy?" He asked.

Mangle's eyes widen.

_"Oh shit," _she mentally screamed.

In the unfolding chaos, they had all forgotten about Chica and Foxy.

* * *

Chica, was having the most exciting dream, dreaming that she and Foxy were getting married, it was so beautiful.

Unfortunately, she was rudely awaken as the airship rocked violently, causing the room to shake as the airship turned onto it's side, before naturally rebalancing itself. However, the impact of Vincent's missile had caused the storage compartment to spill its contents, light and heavy onto Chica and Foxy, who was still unconscious.

Chica, acting on pure instincts rolled away, pulling Foxy with her and avoiding most of the chaos.

She pushed him off her and sat up straight.

"Come on Foxy, wake up please, I need you, we need you, right now in fact," she begged, shaking him by the shoulders.

But nothing happened, his eyes didn't even opened. She stood up and try to pull Foxy out of the room.

"Come...on...Foxy...just cooperate with me please...just this once," she moaned, dragging his body across the chaos covered floor towards the exit which was covered by a curtain.

The airship creaked as smoke started to fill the compartment.

Then a harpoon burst through the compartment's side, causing Chica to scream in fear, as icy cool air rushed into the room.

_"Jesus it's bloody cold out there!" _she thought, continuing to pull Foxy across the floor.

Then Toy Bonnie burst in, her eyes scanning the cluttered filled room for the tool box as well as any weapons.

"Chica, are you ok, what about Foxy?" She asked, looking at her, checking her for any sign of damage.

"I'm fine Toy Bonnie as is Foxy, I was just shocked that's all," Chica replied.

"I think we all are dear, I have you seen the tool box and any weapons?" Toy Bonnie asked, looking around, being carefully to avoid the unknown number of suitcases which littered the floor. "The tool box is that one in red with the black handle and I think the weapons your looking for are over there in those three suitcases...I was curious so I took a look," Chica replied.

"Thanks," Toy Bonnie answered, she walked over and dragged all four suitcases, then proceeded to exit the storage compartment.

"I'll come back to help you with Foxy ok," Toy Bonnie stated, to which Chica nodded in response.

Toy Bonnie carried the suitcases and the tool box over to Mangle, dropping them in front of her.

"Here, I need to go and help Chica with Foxy," said Toy Bonne, rushing back towards the storage compartment. "Alright, BB, Puppet and Toy Chica take hold of these and pass them up to Toy Freddy," Mangle ordered as she opened up three of the four boxes.

"Wow...cool," said Balloon Boy, his eyes widen at the rifle he held.

"Just do what she says," the Puppet stated, rolling her eyes as she passed her gun up towards Toy Freddy.

He took it and proceeded to throw it at Bonnie.

"Hey Bon Bon, shotgun coming your way," he yelled.

Bonnie only just caught it.

_"Bon Bon...why does nearly everyone call me Bon Bon," _she muttered in thought.

"Next up, Goldie here's a rifle," Toy Freddy shouted, tossing it in his direction.

He caught it.

"Finally, time to extract a little vengeance for what that bastard did to Foxy and especially to Springtrap," he whispered, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Vincent.

_"I'll make you pay for what you did to us."_

"Alright Freddy here's yours," Toy Freddy cried, throwing him a sword and a pistol.

Freddy caught it...but looked deeply disappointed.

"A sword...Goldie and Bonnie get guns, but I get a crappy sword and a flaming pistol," he complained.

"FREDDY, EYES FRONT NOW!" Bonnie bellowed angrily. Freddy turned to see Vincent smiling at him, with his bazooka in hand.

_"We meet again Freddy, Goldie and Bonnie, oh this'll be brilliant," _Vincent thought, his eyes gleaming.

His airship pulled itself closer to Mike's, his endoskeleton horde was at the ready. Meanwhile Mike was struggling to keep everything together in the cockpit.

"COME ON WORK DAM YOU!" He shouted, pressing numerous buttons on the flight console. Somethings appeared to be working, but majority wise his commands were receiving no response.

"MANGLE, I NEED THAT SECOND PROPELLER WORKING OR WE'RE DEAD!" He yelled, as he tried to find a way of turning the warning light off.

"I'M WORKING ON IT MIKE!" Mangle replied.

"RIGHT, I'M GOING UP, TOY FREDDY, YOUR WITH ME, YOU THREE STAY DOWN HERE WITH TOY BONNIE AND CHICA, KEEP MIKE AND FOXY SAFE!" she ordered, as she climbed the ladder, pulling the tool box up with her.

"Be careful Mangle," Balloon Boy said, sounding concerned as he watched her climb.

Toy Bonnie along with Chica dragged Foxy along the floor towards the cockpit, to keep him away from the inevitable conflict that was about to occur. Mangle climbed onto the top deck, helped by Toy Freddy, who also had a shotgun like Bonnie.

"Quick, or we won't survive for long," Mangle stated, running along the deck towards the propeller which was ablaze with fire and surrounded with thick smoke, but motionless.

Vincent saw them, he knew what they were trying to do.

_"Heroic...but all in vain, I'm afraid," _he mentally muttered.

He clicked his fingers three times. His horde of endoskeletons rushed onto the harpoon ropes and proceed to climb across them towards the o their airship.

"NOW, LET'S BUY MANGLE SOME TIME!" Freddy shouted, firing the first shot with his pistol, Toy Freddy, Goldie and Bonnie quickly followed his example. However, as many endoskeletons fell, more seemed to take their place. But when the first ones jumped into the top deck, upon closer inspection they weren't the same endoskeletons which the Gang had encountered back at the pizzeria.

These ones had actual weapons for a start, plus they wore some form of makeshift armor, a tougher outer shell, clearly Vincent had thought ahead.

_"They're all for the taking," _he mentally laughed, watching the scene unfold before his eyes.

The endoskeletons due to their programming which Vincent himself had set up, proceeded to spread out, selecting their targets and trying to overwhelm them in groups.

Freddy slashed several in half and shot any others which had survived his initial attack.

Bonnie simply shot at any which got close to her.

"Nope, sorry, the Pizzeria is closed for today, but you might be able to dine together IN HELL!" She screamed, blasting away as waves of endoskeletons tried to outflank her.

"DIE, DIE, ALL OF YOU WILL DIE!" Goldie shouted, attacking any endoskeleton he could find. He punched them, fired holes into them, even kicked them until they went lifeless, but still they kept on coming like a neverending horde.

Toy Freddy simply killed any endoskeletons who came within his range.

"Mangle, how's the propeller, we can't keep this up forever, even with the extra ammo," he stated, turning back to face Mangle who had her back to him, as she fiddled about with the exposed wires, trying to bend mental struts back into place.

"Give me two minutes that's all I ask, I need to reconnect the propeller back to the central power unit and twist the propeller blades back into shape," she replied, holding up two fingers.

"Right, if we live through this, you owe me two minutes," Toy Freddy muttered, turning back to shoot more of Vincent's endoskeletons.

Although he proceeded to kill many, their numbers didn't die down, instead they continued to rush at him without any concern for their own lives. After all they were robots, they lacked any survival instincts. Vincent himself was starting to get concerned, Freddy, Toy Freddy, Goldie and Bonnie were all holding their own against endoskeletons and they weren't taking any damage.

"Mmm...time to raise the stakes I think," he muttered, reloading his bazooka.

Vincent smiled, raising his weapon so his eye was at level with the viewfinder.

At first, he was going to fire at Mangle, such a shot would hopefully kill her and Toy Freddy, as well as blast the damaged propeller off the airship. However, Vincent wanted to prolong the battle, keep the fire going, not throw water over it. He noticed that his endoskeleton hordes were pushing Goldie and Bonnie closer and closer to together.

"Kill two birds with one stone, that'll be a keeper for the record books," he smiled, turning to aim at them.

He aimed at the ground, between the two, he didn't want to kill them outright, since where would the fun be in that. Making them fall to their deaths hundreds and hundreds of feet below was much more ideal..._if you could even call it that._

Vincent waited for the right moment.

"Bonnie, back to back now, then they can't outflank us!" Goldie shouted.

"Right," Bonnie replied, running toward him.

"Like moths drawn to a flame," Vincent whispered.

He fired...

The missile rocketed through the air like a screaming banshee.

"BONNIE, GOLDIE, RUN!" Freddy screamed.

Everything appeared to slow down.

Toy Freddy mounted the words 'watch out', as Mangle looked on in eye wide horror. The missile raced across the deck and slammed into the ground before Goldie and Bonnie. The flash from the blast temporarily blinded Freddy and the others including the endoskeletons who backed away from the blast zone.

When the dust settled, Freddy raced over to the area of impact.

To both his relief and horror, Goldie and Bonnie hadn't fallen to their deaths, but were hanging onto dear life by means of a towing rope, which hung over the side of the airship.

Well...Goldie was holding onto it with one hand, his other was holding onto Bonnie.

"Freddy...help us," Goldie cried, he was clearly in pain as pieces of metal had dug into his skin as a result of the blast.

"FREDDY, PULL US UP QUICK, I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Bonnie screamed, she was panicking as her legs kicked the empty air which was all that lay between her and certain death. Freddy leaned down to reach for Goldie's hand, but the approaching endoskeletons, made it next to impossible without him being killed by at least one of them.

"Hang on, just let me deal with this first," he yelled, turning around to fire any endoskeleton that came close.

"Can't...hold...on...for long," Goldie groaned, he felt his grip on the rope slip under the combined weight.

He couldn't let go of Bonnie, even if it would allow him to climb back up, he knew that no one would forgive him if he did...especially himself.

"GOLDIE, DON'T LET GO, WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T LET GO!" Bonnie cried, she was trying her best not to look down. Toy Freddy desperately wanted to go and help, but he couldn't expose Mangle to being attacked by the endoskeletons.

Only she could keep this thing flying.

"Mangle, we could really do with a functional propeller right now," he said, as Vincent's endoskeletons closed in around him.

"Give one more minute, I'm nearly there!" she shouted, putting two wires together to create a spark.

"Hurry, there's too many for me to handle!" Toy Freddy shouted back, firing at point blank range, which successfully destroyed several endoskeletons.

They were like a collective hydra, for each one he killed, ten more took its place...

* * *

With the two Freddies occupied, the remaining endoskeletons surged towards the hatch, which Toy Chica had closed after Mangle and Toy Freddy had gone through.

Unable to opened it manually, the endoskeletons proceeded to tear at it, trying to pry it open or at least smash it inwards. Yet it proved itself to be tough, withstanding their blows and attempts to gain entry. Other endoskeletons who had just climbed across the harpoon ropes, adopted an animal trust, crawling down the side of the airship like a swam of bugs, breaking the windows and climbing in through the gaps.

Their numbers grew as they flooded inside

The rest of the Fazbear Gang had positioned themselves at the cockpit entrance at the far end of the airship to protect Mike and the still unconscious Foxy. Unfortunately in all the chaos, they forgotten about Springtrap, he was still in his chair with his seatbelt on. However, they were all armed for the inevitable onslaught. Once the endoskeletons with their soulless eyes came into range, Toy Bonnie gave the order.

"FIRE NOW!" she shouted, aiming her rifle.

They all opened fire, destroying several waves of endoskeletons.

Several of them however were able to unlock the hatch door, letting their comrades in from the top deck and further swelling their numbers. They crawled across the floor, on the ceiling and on the walls, they were just everywhere like spiders.

The Puppet, creatively used her puppet strings in wrapping them around one of the endoskeletons, immobilizing it in the arm and leg joints and then using it as a weapon to bash away at the others. Metal crashed in metal as the endoskeleton became entangled with its robotic brethren as bodies became meshed into one another.

All the while the Toys and Chica fired at any other endoskeleton which had remained untouched by the Puppet's destruction.

"MIKE, HOW ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?" Chica shouted, knocking harshly on the cockpit door.

"NOT GOOD, EVEN IF MANGLE GETS THE SECOND PROPELLER WORKING, WE CANNOT LEAVE DUE TO THE PURPLE GUY'S HARPOONS KEEPING US IN PLACE!" Mike shouted back from inside the cockpit.

"Fuck the harpoons, let's go, even if it's means dragging the Purple Guy with us, how far until Chicago?" Toy Bonnie asked, keeping her eyes on the tide of endoskeletons which raced towards them, stepping over their destroyed brethren.

"About 10 miles left, until we reach the city limits," Mike answered, he pressed several buttons and pulled on a number of levers in his efforts to transfer power away from other parts of the ship and send it to the single remaining operational propeller for maximum speed.

_"Come on Mangle, anytime now would be good," _he thought, as multiple endoskeletons started to crawl over the cockpit's windows, trying to smash them in order to get at him.

Upon seeing the new development, Mike grabbed his pistol which he kept on the sideboard, loading it and checking to see if the sights still worked.

"WAIT, WHAT ABOUT THE GUN TURRET?" Toy Chica shouted, firing at several more endoskeletons which made her kill count seventy.

"IT ONLY WORKS FOR GROUND TARGETS, WE CAN'T MAKE IT FACE VINCENT'S AIRSHIP," Mike replied, briefly checking the damage control panel for any updates.

"WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE A GUN TURRET IF I MAY ASK?" Toy Bonnie yelled, shouting to be heard over the shooting and screaming of endoskeletons.

"JEREMY AND I WERE FEELING CREATIVE AT THE TIME OF ITS CONSTRUCTION!" Mike shouted back, trying to bring the window wipers on so he could dislodge the attacking endoskeletons from their holdings.

"_If we could use the gun turret, then this could all be over in five minutes..."_

* * *

Goldie, tighten his grip on the rope, which was his only means of staying alive. Below him, Bonnie was trying to take her mind off the fact that there was a 1,000 foot drop between her and the ground.

_"Think of Freddy...think of all the things you wanted to say to him," _she thought, reliving all of her fondest memories.

She looked up to see Goldie struggling to hold on, his grip slipped, causing them to slide further down the rope.

"FREDDY, NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME!" Goldie screamed, his muscles aching with the immense strain they were under. "WAIT, THERE'S A FEW MORE COMING THIS WAY!" Freddy yelled, reloading his pistol as more endoskeletons raced towards him. Vincent meanwhile smiled, watching the group's desperation. His airship was now close enough to Mike's for him to make his entrance. Swapping his bazooka for his rifle, he grabbed a rope, jumped down and swung across.

Vincent landed on the top deck and approached Freddy.

_"Like Nightmare Freddy said, the head is weak, time to end its suffering,"_ he thought, passing his endoskeletons which circled Freddy like predators in the wilderness.

"Freddy Fazbear, it's such an honour to finally see you again after all these years," said Vincent, laughing as Freddy took aim with his pistol, hatred filling his eyes, it was consuming him.

"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU FOR THIS!" He shouted, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes in anger.

"My my, that's not how a children's entertainer treats a guest, you must set an example for the children," Vincent replied.

_"Like the ones, I've killed," _he thought.

Freddy fired a warning shot, missing Vincent's shoulder by an inch.

"DON'T YOU DARE TAKE ANOTHER STEP YOU CHILD KILLER!" Freddy shouted.

Vincent didn't, but calmly stood there, amidst the flames and twisted wreckage.

"Now Fazbear, I've gonna give you a choice here, normally I don't, but I'm feeling rather generous today." Vincent stated, holding his rifle in his hands at the ready.

"Either you can turn round and help your 'granddad' and supposed 'girlfriend' up."

Freddy's eyes twitched with inner rage at those words.

"And maybe I'll shoot you in the back...or I'll kill Toy Freddy and Mangle instead, pretty much ending everyone else's chances of survival on this ship," Vincent stated.

Everything, even time appeared to stand still.

"Or...you could just shoot me dead, but I bet my endoskeletons won't react well to that, plus I don't think Goldie or Bonnie can hold on for much longer, I would say that they're properly at the end of their rope...'literally'," he laughed, throwing his head back. Goldie and Bonnie were slipping further and further down the rope, due to their combined weight.

"FREDDY, JUST KILL THE BASTARD, OR HE'LL KILL US ALL, YOU KNOW THAT, THINK ABOUT WHAT HE DID IN 1983 AND 1987!" Goldie shouted, trying to hold on by the skin of his teeth.

"Well Freddy, what'll be?" Vincent asked, his eyes gleamed with joy, watching as Freddy struggled to make a choice.

* * *

_Down below..._

When Vincent had swung across, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica and Chica where almost out of ammo.

"WE'VE ONLY GOT THREE ROUNDS LEFT, SO MAKE THEM COUNT," Toy Bonnie shouted, no matter how many endoskeletons she destroyed, more appeared to take their place. However, some of them had brought their own guns to the fight, equipped by Vincent and started firing at their enemies, peppering the area around the cockpit in a hail of fire.

"DROP DOWN NOW!" Chica screamed.

Everyone did, but the Puppet was too slow, as a bullet penetrated her shoulder blade, logging itself into her bone.

Her child like screams echoed throughout the airship, causing Vincent on the top deck to raise his eyebrows in amusement.

_"One down, thirteen more to go,"_ he thought.

Balloon Boy instantly grabbed the Puppet and pushed her to the ground, covering her mouth with his hand to muffle her screams.

"She's hit," he cried, amidst the flying bullets and raging fire which had sprouted up at the back of airship.

"TAKE HER INTO THE COCKPIT AND CALM HER DOWN!" Toy Chica ordered, reloading her shotgun. Balloon Boy, stepped over the sleeping body of Foxy, proceeded to open the cockpit door and drag the Puppet in with him, closing it shut once they were inside.

"What the, BB!" Mike exclaimed, rather surprised to see him and the Puppet.

"SHE NEEDS MEDICAL ATTENTION RIGHT NOW!" Balloon Boy yelled, pointing at the Puppet, who was withering in intense pain on the floor.

"I can't, I need to keep this thing stable or we'll fall out of the sky and if that happens, then she'll be beyond the need of medical treatment," Mike stated, his holding his head with worry as warning lights continued to flash red on the smoking control console.

"WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING TO HELP HER, SHE'S IN PURE AGONY!" Boy Balloon shouted.

"Give her some painkillers, they're on the top draw over by the corner, that'll hopefully ease the pain," Mike replied, pointing to a cabinet of drawers. Balloon Boy, raced over to the cabinet, pulled out the top draw and grabbed a box of painkillers.

He ran back to the Puppet, opened the box and placed a couple in her hand.

"Take them, they'll stop the pain for a while,' he said.

"Water...I need...water," the Puppet replied, her voice was shaky and faint.

"Here, use my water bottle," said Mike, passing a half empty water bottle to Balloon Boy.

He gave it to the Puppet, who proceeded to take the pills and then swallow them down with water.

"Thanks...BB...much...appreciated," she whispered, her voice ached with pain.

Gunfire rattled on outside, amidst the sound of Toy Bonnie shouting orders to the others.

"I can't...think...straight...the pain hurts...too much," the Puppet groaned.

"Just listen to me, Puppet, listen to my voice," Balloon Boy ordered.

He pushed his head against hers and covered her ears with his hands to block out the sounds of gunfire and the screams of endoskeletons.

"Do you like songs, Puppet, what's your favorite?" Balloon Boy asked.

"Twinkle...Twinkle...Little Star," the Puppet replied in a weak voice.

So, Balloon Boy sang.

"Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are."

"CHICA WATCH YOUR FLANKS!" Toy Bonnie shouted from outside.

"I'M TRYING!" She shouted back, amidst the hail of gunshots.

"Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky, when the blazing sun is gone, when the nothing shines upon," Balloon Boy continued to sing in a calm voice, gently rocking the Puppet back and forth.

"Then you show your little light, twinkle, twinkle all the night."

The Puppet started to slow down her breathing, her black eyes solely focused on BB's blue.

"Then the traveller in the dark, thanks you for your tiny spark, he could not see which way to go, if you did not twinkle so."

The endoskeletons outside were trying their best to smash through the cockpit windows, but Balloon Boy continued to sing to the Puppet.

"In the dark blue sky you keep, and often through my curtains peep, for you never shut your eye, 'till the sun is in the sky."

Then Balloon Boy, took hold of the Puppet's hands.

"As your bright and tiny spark, lights the traveller in the dark, though I know not what you are, twinkle, twinkle little star."

Balloon Boy, then kissed the Puppet softly on the head.

Warm feelings, long submerged awoke within her.

She felt nervous, as her cheeks went pink in color.

"Thank you...Balloon Boy," she smiled.

Balloon Boy smiled back and hugged her.

"I need to get Chica, your in pain and that bullet logged in her shoulder blade isn't helping," Balloon Boy stated, getting up.

"Please don't be long," the Puppet begged, her eyes reflecting her sadness.

"I won't be," he replied.

Mike just watched with a smile and raised eyebrows.

_"Why would the Purple Guy want to ruin this?" _He wondered turning around to see the endoskeletons still outside on the cockpit's windows.

They were all smiling with raised eyebrows at the pair, an unusual expression to be seen from a robot as emotionally dead as them. Had Vincent programmed them with an ironic setting.

"Oh, piss off, let them have their moment," he said sternly, finally switching on the cockpit wipers, which knocked all of them off, sending them to their deaths one thousand feet below. Balloon Boy slowly opened the cockpit door to see the Toys and Chica struggling to fight off another wave of endoskeletons and they looked more tougher than the last.

Toy Bonnie fired her last shot, as Chica moved to cover her, while Toy Bonnie reloaded with her last magazine. However, one endoskeleton leapt at Chica, pinning her against the wall, knocking the shotgun out of her hands.

A small sharp blade slid out of its hand.

"BON BON!" She screamed, making Toy Bonnie to turn, but she hadn't reloaded properly, so she couldn't do anything. The endoskeleton brought the blade back, aiming to catapult it straight into Chica's chest.

"FOXY!" Chica screamed as the endoskeleton's arm raced through the air, it's blade headed for her heart.

She closed for eyes, awaiting death's enteral embrace. The endoskeleton was two thirds of the way through its procedure, when it felt something latched into it's shoulder. It turned to come face to face with an enraged Foxy, now wide awake.

"HANDS OF MEE BOOTY!" He yelled, smashing the endoskeleton in the face with his hook, before ripping it in half with his other hand.

He threw it's remains towards the other endoskeletons. Picking up the endoskeleton's blade, Foxy proceeded to leap at the remaining endoskeletons who hadn't been destroyed by Toy Bonnie or Toy Chica.

"FUCK OFF, ALL OF YOU!" He shouted, slashing and tearing at the endoskeletons, who only registered an reddish blur coming towards them, before being dismantled and smashed to the four winds.

Toy Bonnie grabbed Chica and pulled her to safety.

"Are you ok?" She asked, giving Chica back her shotgun.

"Yeah, but Foxy...he's awake," Chica replied, her eyes locked on Foxy, as he craved a path through the endoskeleton hordes. "WALK THE PLANK, YOU WORTHLESS EXCUSES FOR MACHINES!" Foxy shouted, kicking one against the wall, which caused it to shatter upon impact. However, his newfound strength started to fade, as the endoskeletons gathered themselves together and started to force him back.

"LET THEM HAVE IT!" Toy Chica yelled, opening fire swiftly followed by Toy Bonnie and Chica. Foxy ducked as the shots raced over his head, hitting several endoskeletons as well as destroying many others. He crawled back to the other Fazbear members.

"FOXY!" Chica shouted, throwing her hands around his neck.

"Lassie, I've missed you dearly," he whispered.

"I've missed you too," Chica cried, her eyes watering. Then Chica felt something tap her leg, she and Foxy looked down to see Balloon Boy.

"Chica, the Puppet needs help, she's not in a good state," he said.

"Go lassie, give me your gun, I'll help the others hold them off, you help BB, I'll be fine," Foxy suggested, kissing Chica on the forehead. "Ok...be safe, come along BB," said Chica, giving Foxy her shotgun, before taking Balloon Boy by the hand. "She's in here," he said, opening the cockpit door. Upon entering the cockpit, Chica saw the Puppet lying on the floor, her face ached with pain.

"Balloon Boy," she cried, her eyes widen with happiness upon seeing him.

_"Wait, she's never called BB by his full name...and why does she look so happy to see him," _Chica thought.

Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, Chica knelt down to examine the Puppet's wound. She was bleeding rather badly from the shoulder.

"Alright, she's bleeding from the shoulder and in order to fix that, we need to extract the bullet, keeping it in there will only cause her further damage," Chica stated.

"So, take it out, you did that successfully with Foxy," Balloon Boy suggested, looking worried.

Chica simply shook her head.

"It isn't that simple, we'll need to operate on her, Foxy was different as it didn't involve bone, but with her it does."

"And worse still we can't do it here," said Mike, kneeling down for a close look at the wound. "She won't...die will she?" Balloon Boy asked, grabbing Chica, fear rang in his eyes. Chica and Mike cast worried glances at each other, this wasn't looking good.

"If the bullet isn't taken out and the wound isn't sealed, then she will get blood poisoning and if we don't cure that...then,"

Mike didn't finish his sentence for two reasons.

Firstly, he didn't want to hurt Balloon Boy's feelings.

But secondly, his walkie talkie just sparked back to life with mumbled static.

"Good, Mangle will have that second the propeller working," he said, getting up and pressing the walkie talkie's receiver button.

It was Mangle...but she wasn't talking about the propeller.

"MIKE, SOME WERID SHIT JUST HAPPENED, SOME GUY WITH GOLDEN BUNNY EARS HAS LEAPT OUT OF THE HATCH AND IS DESTROYING ENDOSKELETONS LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTRE, ITS UTTER CHAOS!" Mangle screamed from her end.

Mike's eyes widen in shock.

"What golden bunny?" he asked. . .

* * *

_A few minutes ago on the top deck, just before Foxy's re-awaking._

"Freddy...I'm waiting," said Vincent, watching Freddy mentally tear himself apart over what to do.

Kill Vincent and risk being killed by his endoskeletons along with everyone else, or turn and help Goldie and Bonnie, whilst being at risk from being killed by Vincent.

Freddy raised his pistol to shoot Vincent, who raised his rifle response.

"Come on Freddy," he urged, mocking him.

"Take the shot, kill the head and the rest of the body will die."

Goldie who along with Bonnie was nearing the end of the rope.

He looked up to see the rope was slowly breaking in two due his and Bonnie's combined weight.

"Shit!" he hissed.

With that he turned to look down at Bonnie, who was struggling to maintain her grip on his hand, undoubtedly due to the strain, her muscles were under.

"Bonnie, I'll drop, so you can pull yourself up."

Bonnie looked shocked that Goldie would even suggest such a thing. "NO, YOUR JUST AS MUCH A PART OF THIS FAMILY AS EVERYONE ELSE IS, INCLUDING SPRINGTRAP, NO ONE IS DYING TODAY!" she yelled.

_"Springtrap," _Goldie thought.

Bonnie, then looked down, everything below her looked very small with there being one thousand feet drop between her and the ground.

"Goldie, can I tell you something, it's really important?" She asked, her eyes rang with desperation.

"Er...are you sure, does it have to be right now?" He asked back, watching the rope strain under their combined weight.

"I'll regret it if I don't tell someone," Bonnie replied, her legs dangled in empty air below her.

"Ok what is it?" Goldie asked, trying his best to keep a steady grip.

"I'm in love with Freddy, I have been for several years," Bonnie shouted, her eyes were watering with the fear of her potential death, which now seemed closer than anything else.

"Oh that...," said Goldie calmly.

He went silent for a few seconds.

"I knew that already."

"You did?" Bonnie asked, clearly surprised.

"I always thought it was kinda of obvious, I'm just surprised that no one else has caught on," Goldie replied, acting very calm about the whole situation. Then the sound of the rope above them slowly tearing its self apart, brought them back to reality.

"Come on Freddy, kill that son of a bitch," Goldie muttered.

Freddy swiftly aimed his pistol at Vincent and fired.

Vincent dogged and fired back at Freddy.

He dogged the bullets and returned fire.

Vincent clicked his fingers twice.

The remaining endoskeletons split into two groups, one proceed to attack Toy Freddy and Mangle while the others went after Freddy.

"I would say you've bitten off more than you can chew there Freddy," Vincent laughed, as his endoskeletons surrounded Freddy from all sides.

With Freddy, Toy Freddy and Mangle all occupied, Vincent then turned and walked towards the mental strut, where the rope holding Goldie and Bonnie was tied to. He slowly pulled a knife out of his trouser pocket, his intentions were obvious. Upon reaching it, he looked down to see Goldie and Bonnie fighting to hold on. Their faces went ghostly white when they saw him.

"Hey Goldie, hi Bonnie, how's it's going, you know we don't talk much these days," Vincent remarked calmly, kneeling down.

He grabbed hold of the rope, shaking it about.

Bonnie nearly lost her grip on Goldie's hand, because of it.

"You know, I wonder if you'll both black out first, before you hit the ground...it'll spare you the agony of dying upon impact," Vincent stated, violently swinging the rope side to side. Freddy saw what he was going to do, he couldn't let it happen.

He slashed his way through the endoskeletons that surrounded him, cutting them down and forging a path towards Vincent. His pistol was out of ammo by this point, but that didn't matter since he was aiming stab Vincent right through the fucking neck with his sword.

However, Vincent turned and saw him, holding his knife close to the rope.

"Do something I don't like and I will cut this rope in two, trust me Freddy, I'm a man of my word," he stated, smiling as Freddy narrowed his eyes in anger.

_"One thing Fazbear, just do one little thing and your friends are history_ _._ _"_

Freddy raised his sword and lifted his foot up to step forward.

Vincent in response held his knife even closer to the rope.

Freddy placed his foot back down on the ground and lowered his sword.

They had reached an impasse.

"You know Freddy, you're not as energetic as I remember, did a certain night terror visit you last night, because I would say you look tired," Vincent giggled.

Freddy looked as if he was about to burst a blood vessel. Goldie, however overheard what Vincent said.

_"A certain night terror, is that why Freddy looked at me funny with those wide eyes," _he wondered.

"FREDDY HELP US!" Bonnie screamed, as she struggled to hold onto Goldie's hand.

"I'M COMING BONNIE, HOLD ON, I JUST NEED TO BRUTALIZE THIS CHILD MURDERER FIRST!" Freddy shouted back.

Vincent just laughed his head off.

"Charming Freddy, very first class, Fazbear Entertainment would approve."

He then started to cut into the rope with his knife.

"You aren't there for Bonnie, you aren't there for Chica, you couldn't even be there for dear old Foxy, what happened to you Freddy, it's such a shame really."

For a genuine moment, Vincent looked sad and disappointed.

"It's a shame to let others down."

But then his mad smile quickly returned.

"Oh well why dwell on past anyway, hey you know what, you're not the first Freddy to mess up, Goldie here just ignored his dear pal Springtrap's cries for help as a child was murdered outside Family Diner."

Freddy was just startled by this accusation.

Vincent continued.

"He just blanked him out completely, even as Springtrap underwent a complete mental breakdown, Goldie just didn't want to hear it, back then he was only about the job, isn't that right Goldie."

"HE'S LYING FREDDY, KILL HIM NOW!" Goldie shouted.

"Think about it Freddy, did Goldie ever mention Springtrap at all to you in the past, if he has only brought him up recently, just ask yourself this question...why only now, I mean he was his long time old friend, surely being a member of the family, you would have known about him, surely there must be some reason for that?" Vincent asked.

As much as Freddy wanted to gut Vincent, like a pig, his words seemed to unearthed long forgotten questions in his mind. Vincent noted that the fact Freddy wasn't attacking him outright, which meant that he was thinking his words over.

_"I'm not a total lair, I do have my graces," _he thought to himself.

"FREDDY, HE'S TRYING TO TRICK YOU, HE'S A LAIR, HE'S MURDERED CHILDREN FOR CHIRST SAKE!" Goldie shouted back.

"AND YOU GOLDIE ABANDONED SPRINGTRAP, YET YOU DENY THAT YOU EVER DID, SO WHOSE THE REAL LAIR!" Vincent yelled, glaring down at Goldie as he tried to pull himself and Bonnie up.

_"That's not true, that's not true, that's not true," _Goldie repeated in his mind, but the pang of guilt in his heart said otherwise.

Where he was in level with the airship, Goldie could see into the passenger compartment, looking directly at Springtrap.

He was still sitting in his seat, slumped forward, with his seat belt on and still unconscious.

_"Spring...forgive me, I was the fool, I didn't listen to you and I fear that I am about to pay the price for it," _Goldie thought, watching as waves upon waves of endoskeletons raced past Springtrap, they didn't even appear to notice him.

_"I am sorry Spring Bonnie," _Goldie wept internally.

_"I'm so sorry for everything..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you see everything is to play for and the past is heavily influencing it...  
Until next time, thanks for viewing. ;-)


	6. Facing the Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scars cut deep, but the mental scars always cut deeper than the physical ones.  
We are our own worse enemies...  
(This is a single chapter, no jumping around between different perspectives.)

* * *

** Chapter 6. **

** Facing the Nightmare. **

"_**They've promised that dreams come true…but they forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams too."**_

_ **Oscar Wilde** _

He'd had enough...watching this scene...watching a boy get murdered over and over and over again.

Springtrap hated it...so he had decided to end it...right now.

He walked through the backstage area, behind the stage curtain where Goldie was performing again for the children.

_"Now where is it, I know it's around here somewhere?"_ Springtrap wondered.

Finally, he found what he was looking for, the fire axe which hung on the wall at the very back of the diner. It was only meant to be used in fire emergencies, but because there had been no fires at the diner, it just hung there, covered in cobwebs and dust.

Springtrap pulled it off, blowing the cobwebs away.

_"Time to kill that child killing mother fucker!" _He thought.

He headed back to the backstage, standing just behind the curtains, he pulled them slightly apart and watched, waiting for the scene to repeat.

It did, as the black car pulled up once more outside the diner. Upon seeing it, Springtrap dashed out from his hiding place and raced towards the diner's front door.

Ignoring all the shocked gasps and shouts of the children and even that of Goldie's, Springtrap slammed the fire axe against the door's wooden and glass frame. It's glass windows shattered upon the axe's impact, as the door fell off its hinges.

The Purple Guy had just pulled his knife out, when Springtrap burst through the wreckage. Springtrap proceeded to grab the boy and pulled him behind him, the Purple Guy just looked shocked and bewildered at what was happening.

"YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU HEAR!" Springtrap snarled, brandishing his axe, with his eyes narrowed, giving his opponent a death stare.

The Purple Guy said nothing, as he attempted to slash Springtrap with his knife, aiming to rip his chest wide open. Springtrap merely sided stepped him, bringing the axe up and then bringing it down on the Purple Guy's head.

He shrieked momently, before falling down to the ground dead.

There...it was done.

Well it wasn't as Springtrap unleashed all of his anger, by striking repeated blows into the dead Purple Guy's body.

"THIS. IS. FOR. WRECKING. MY. LIFE. YOU. FUCKING. SON. OF. A. BITCH!" He shouted, spraying blood everywhere.

He paused to look back at the child, who was shaking, gripping his head with pure shock.

"Sorry you had to see that...are you ok?" He asked.

The boy merely nodded, his eyes fixated on the dead body.

_"Wait...why are the skies turning a stormy purple_?" Springtrap wondered, looking up.

Before the realisation could hit him like a lighting blot, the boy let out a scream.

"HE'S NOT DEAD!"

Springtrap was punched in the chest, knocking him backwards onto the ground, as the fire axe was torn out of his hands. The Purple Guy, laughing stood up, as blood proceed to gush out the wounds created by Springtrap's axe.

Springtrap and the child looked on in shock and horror, as the Purple Guy started to transform.

His clothes changed to match that of Springtrap's, his voice becoming a mix between Springtrap's and his own and his skin...his body changed shape to become the mirror image of him. Finally his eyes glowed a bright purple, completing the change in which the purple man was now the Springtrap that existed in Fazbear's Fright with all the traits of something utterly demonic.

Then Springtrap realized, whose's skull it was inside the other Spring-trap's mouth.

_"No, no, it can't be!" _He mentally screamed.

_"I'm back...I will always...come back,"_ the other Springtrap replied his voice echoed with age, as his eyes glowed an intense purple, whilst holding the fire axe in his hands. The boy turned and ran away from the scene, towards the open gates of Fazbear Fright, which had suddenly replaced Fredbear's Diner.

_"COME TO SPRING BONNIE BOY, DON'T WORRY I'M NOT GONNA HURT YOU, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"_ The other Springtrap shouted, running off after the boy.

"NO!" Springtrap screamed, getting up and chasing after his other self.

The boy ran through the gates, his feet hammering the ground, as the other Springtrap closed in behind him. Then the child tripped and fell, he only just turned round to see other Springtrap standing over him, smiling.

_"Sweet dreams kid," _he hissed, raising the fire axe high.

"MUMMY!" the child screamed, putting his hands up to protect himself.

Then the real Springtrap jumped on the other Springtrap's back, knocking him to the ground, making him drop the fire axe, which landed on the ground nearby.

"YOU WILL NEVER HURT HIM OR ANYONE ELSE AGAIN!" Springtrap shouted, repeatedly punching his other self in face, making sure that each blow was more agonising than the last.

But his other self, just kicked him off, like he was just a child's toy.

_"Your old Springtrap, I'm the newer version, I'm kid friendly and stronger." _the other Springtrap exclaimed, standing up.

He grabbed Springtrap by the neck, pulling him up, so they were eye to eye.

_"I am the future Springtrap, step aside for your betters," _he said, smiling.

"Everyone and everything has it's time," Springtrap replied. The other Springtrap just shrugged and rolled his eyes.

_"Yours is ending,"_ he laughed, before smacking Springtrap to the ground with his fist.

His eyes searched for the boy, upon spotting that he was near the theme park's roller-coaster ride, the other Springtrap took off, picking up the fire axe as he ran. Springtrap dazed, lifted up his head, to see the boy frozen in fear, as the other Springtrap approached him, holding the fire axe.

_"I can't let him win!" _He mentally screeched.

Springtrap picked himself up and ran as fast as he could towards the roller coaster.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" the child screamed, it sat down and wrapped its hands around it's knees as the other Springtrap approached.

_"Don't worry kid, before I do that, let's go for a ride, shall we," _the other Springtrap said smiling.

He grabbed the child by the arm and pushed him into the coaster vehicle. The child was shaking with fear, as the other Springtrap chained him to the seat, before pressing down on the go button, making the coaster vehicle move slowly forward up the ramp.

_"This'll be spectacular," _the other Springtrap stated, watching the child react nervously as the roll coaster vehicle built up speed, as it headed for the top of the ramp.

Springtrap reached the roller coaster just as the vehicle containing the child and his other self reached the halfway point. Seeing another vehicle stationary, Springtrap hopped into it, pressing the go button making it move forward.

"Come on, come on," he moaned, frustrated at the vehicle's slow speed.

As his vehicle headed up the ramp, his other self looked back.

_"Too late Springtrap, the child's mine for the taking," _he sneered, gripping the child by the shoulder, who jumped at his touch.

When Springtrap's vehicle was halfway up the ramp, the vehicle holding the child and other Springtrap had reached the top. _"GET READY FOR YOUR INSTINCTS TO KICK IN!" _The other Springtrap yelled, gripping the safety barrier with one hand, while holding onto the child's arm with the other.

The child screamed as the roller coaster rocked down the track, sparks went flying as metal scraped against metal. By this point Springtrap's vehicle had finally reached the top, it whooshed the down the track, following the other vehicle. Springtrap knew that he couldn't catch them, his weight alone wasn't enough to accelerate his vehicle down the track in order to catch up with other one. He looked back to see if he could find anything in the back of the vehicle.

Luckily he did, as on one of the back seats there was a pile of ropes.

Springtrap looked around him, the whole ride was overlooked by makeshift platforms which was used by workers to lower themselves onto the track to perform repairs if need be. He looked ahead at the course of the track, seeing how it was laid out.

Now he knew what he needed to do.

First, he tied a knot in one rope to create a loop which he threw out in the direction of one of the platforms. It successfully latched onto one of it's sturdy support beams.

Taking another piece of rope with him, Springtrap then jumped and swung himself towards it.

He crashed into its side and proceeded to climb up to the top of the platform. Leaving his first rope behind, he then proceeded to jump from one platform to the next. The main idea was that the platforms bypassed most of the track, going across it's centre, therefore Springtrap would be able to overtake his other self, before his vehicle would reach the end.

Speaking of which...

* * *

The other Springtrap, was enjoying listening to the child's terrified shrieks of terror as the track twisted around sharp corners and underwent sudden drops. He looked back to see how close Springtrap was...except Spring-trap wasn't in his vehicle.

_"What the, where is he?" _He asked, looking round to find Springtrap.

_"WHERE DID THAT BASTARD GO!" _The other Springtrap yelled, twisting his head round.

Upon reaching the required platform which overlooked part of the track, Springtrap readied himself, he tied his other rope around one of platform's supporting beams. He needed to get this right first time, he only had one shot.

Briefly looking ahead, Springtrap saw what lay at the end of the track.

A mass of spikes, all pointing towards any potential vehicle which came their way. Springtrap looked back, watching his other self's vehicle make it's way through the ride. He noticed that the child was chained to the safety bar, while his other self wasn't. Turning to look back at the mass of spikes at the end of the ride, Springtrap could only conclude that his other self would jump off as the vehicle slammed into the array of spikes, the child however would met a very painful end.

_"I'll make sure that it's him, who ends on those spikes," _Springtrap thought.

The sounds of ratting metal, brought him back to reality.

As the vehicle neared, Springtrap grabbed his second rope and jumped. The other Springtrap had no time to react, as he turned round to see Springtrap fly into him, knocking him out of the vehicle and onto the track.

Springtrap maintained his balance and as well as his grip on the rope, before turning to face the child.

"HELP ME!" He screamed, his eyes fixated on the array of spikes which awaited him at the end.

Springtrap broke the child's chains, grabbed him and jumped off the vehicle, just as it slammed into the mass of pikes, quickly followed by the other vehicle which caused a massive fiery explosion. Twisted metal bounced onto the track, as flames started to consume it, catching several platforms, setting them alight. They quickly crumbled as their support beams buckled and gave away under the intense heat.

Springtrap smacked into the side of the platform he had just used, by using his rope, he was able to pull himself and the boy up.

"Are you ok?" He asked, pulling the child to his feet.

The boy nodded, burying his head into Springtrap's chest as he hugged him.

* * *

Down below, the other Springtrap had recovered after being thrown onto the track. Groaning as his body ached, he looked around, fire and smoke was all he could see, numerous supporting platforms collapsed into burning rubble, as the fire spread across the entire ride.

The other Springtrap then saw the fire axe, lying on the track unscathed.

He rushed over and grabbed it, looking up he saw Springtrap and the child on top of the one of the makeshift platforms.

_"I'll make you suffer for destroying my masterpiece," _he growled, walking over to it's base. He started to climb, as the fire surrounded the platform from all sides.

"It'll be ok kid, just think of home," said Springtrap, holding the child tightly.

Then he heard intense breathing, Springtrap turned round and looked down to see the other Springtrap climbing up towards him, with the fire axe. He pushed the child behind him for protection, as the other Springtrap reached the top, with the fire behind him, he looked like a real monster, _a real living nightmare..._

"I see your still alive," Springtrap stated with narrowed eyes.

_"Likewise,"_ the other Springtrap replied, smiling, standing up straight, as the fire started to consume the bottom of the platform.

_"Do you have any last words to say, before I split your head in two and toss that little brat into the fire?" _ The other Springtrap asked in a smug tone, brandishing the fire axe in his hands.

"Yes I do and listen carefully, these may properly be the last words you'll ever hear," Springtrap replied, his tone was calm, yet wary. The other Springtrap chuckled, as the wood beneath them creaked amidst the rising flames.

_"Go on, 'Spring Bonnie'...I'm waiting," _he sneered, his eyes seemed to glow a more bright purple than before.

The flames however, appeared to reflect in Springtrap's eyes.

With a stern tone, Springtrap muttered his words.

"I hope you die in a fire."

The other Springtrap looked confused, his purple eyes widen in uncertainty.

But he didn't get to say anything, as the wooden floor beneath him collapsed.

Everything appeared to happen in slow motion, as the other Springtrap fell backwards with the fire axe still in his hands. He dropped it and try to grab Springtrap, but couldn't.

Springtrap just watched as his other self, screaming as he fell, disappeared into the ravenous flames. The look of complete terror on his face was one Springtrap wouldn't never forgot for as long as he lived.

_"I'll never be you, never," _he thought firmly. He heard his other self's screams of agony as the flames roared. The child had his ears covered, he didn't want to hear anything.

"Spring Bonnie, are we going to...die?" He asked, tears streamed down his face.

Springtrap hugged him, holding him tight, as the flames licked the wood around them. "Think of home, think of your family," he whispered, amidst the sounds of the platform's support beams giving away.

_"I wish I had a family, a real one," _he thought.

Then he heard the child cry out in excitement.

"BALLOONS, LOOK SPRING BONNIE, BALLOONS, A WHOLE PACK OF THEM!" The child shouted, pointing upwards.

Springtrap looked up, to see as the child said, a bunch of balloons floating in the air above them.

_"Won't they burst due to the flames?" _He mentally asked. The child jumped up and grabbed several and to Springtrap's complete surprise, he floated upwards, getting higher and higher.

"GRAB THE BALLOONS SPRING BONNIE, GRAB THE BALLOONS!" He child shouted pointing to the others, which floated just above Springtrap's head.

He grabbed them, only to find himself rising upwards, he watched as the platform beneath him collapsed, falling into the fire.

His other self was nowhere to be seen.

"FLY SPRING BONNIE, LET'S FLY!" the child exclaimed as the balloons carried them away from the roller coaster ride, which was quickly turning into a mass of twisted melted metal and burnt wood. _"Just like balloons, I soar on my own, free from the truth that only I and Goldie will know," _Springtrap thought, his words wouldn't make sense to any outsider, but he knew what he meant.

Then he found himself being lowered to ground in the centre of Fazbear's Fright. He waited until his feet was on the ground, before letting go of the balloons which remained stationary, floating but not moving.

The child landed beside him, smiling.

_"HURRAY SPRING BONNIE SAVED HIM!"_ A voice cried out.

Springtrap turned to see several children run out from nowhere and approach him.

Upon closer inspection, he could see that each child was unique in their appearance.

The one he saved, was still a boy, but was now dressed in overall black, save for his face which was white in colour with two purple lines running down from his eyes. His hair was black and his eyes also appeared to be black save for two white dots in their centre. A second child, another boy had brown hair and blue eyes, the third one, a girl had purplish hair and red eyes, the fourth, yet another little girl, possessed yellow hair and bright green eyes and finally, the fifth, a boy with reddish hair and hazel brown eyes.

_"Strange looking children," _Springtrap thought, taking a deep good look them individually.

The others were no different.

One, a boy had brown hair and green eyes; the second kid was a girl that had light blue hair and green eyes, the third another girl had yellowish hair and blue eyes, while the fourth, another boy held yellowish eyes, but whitish hair. But remaining two stood out the most, the first one, a girl wore a reddish blue hat and had blue eyes.

_"Hi,"_ she said smiling sweetly.

And finally, the second, being a young boy had golden hair and dark red eyes...strangely enough, he rather reminded Springtrap of Goldie.

_"You saved us, thank you,"_ said one child hugging him, the others followed suit.

Soon Springtrap was surrounded by all eleven children.

_"Now it's time to wake up and save your friends and Goldie,"_ said one, a boy, grabbing hold of a balloon, he smiled at its bright colour.

"Friends, Goldie?" Springtrap asked, looking confused. "_Save him, save them, for the Purple Man has come a knocking,"_ said another child, now a girl, floating up in the sky, whilst holding into her balloon.

_"Yes, save them all, save him from the Purple Man,"_ said another boy, taking hold of his balloon. "Whose they, I know about Goldie, but who are the others?" Springtrap asked, looking around for answers, as all eleven children proceeded to float up into the sky with their balloons.

_"Think of home, think of your family Spring Bonnie,"_ said the boy like Puppet, who Springtrap had saved.

"WHOSE THEY?" Springtrap asked.

_"Save him, save them Spring Bonnie,"_ the children collectively cried, disappearing into the distance.

"WAIT, WHY MUST I SAVE THEM, WHO ARE THEY?" Springtrap shouted, cupping his mouth with his hands.

_"HE'S COME BACK, HE ALWAYS COMES BACK AND HE'S NOT ALONE THIS TIME, YOU MUST SAVE YOUR FAMILY"_ the children shouted, as they soared above the clouds.

"But who is my family?" Springtrap asked, but they didn't answer him. _"You'll know them when you see them, they just need you to wake up, you've been asleep for a very long time," _said the child-like voices in his head.

"But how do I wake up...I thought I was awake," Springtrap stated. As if the entire world was answering his question, a sudden wave of dizziness passed through him, as his whole surroundings started to spin, getting faster and faster.

_"Wake, up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up," _the child-like voices chanted in his head.

Springtrap staggered and fell forward, as the world around him spun faster and faster.

_"The Springtrap has risen, but he is not alone, the Springtrap has risen, but he is not alone, the Springtrap has risen, but he is not alone, the Springtrap has risen, but this time he is not alone," _the voices sang in his head.

That was the last thing, Springtrap heard before blacking out completely.

"I...have...risen," he whispered, before drifting off into a deep sleep.

_Unknown to him, the world had changed so much since he was last awake. . ._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can all suspect what is about to happen next. . .  
Also, the ghost children speak in Italic as well, again it is with the intention of not getting characters mixed up with having the same dialogue style. 
> 
> Thanks for viewing. ;-)


	7. The Springtrap Has Risen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Events now take an unexpected turn...  
(Also, apologies for the confusion with the way I refer to the Puppet, sometimes it's 'the Puppet' or just 'Puppet', I'll try to stick to one in the future.)

* * *

** Chapter 7. **

** The Springtrap Has Risen. **

"**Leave me alone, I'm caught to the bone, the Springtrap has risen, God damn, he's not alone!"**

**I'm the Purple Guy by DaGames.**

"THERE'S MORE COMING THIS WAY!"

"OH SHIT, WE CAN'T HOLD THEM, WE DON'T HAVE ANY SPARE AMMO LEFT!"

"JUST HOW MANY OF THESE FUCKING THINGS ARE THERE?"

"MANGLE SHOULD HAVE THAT SECOND PROPELLER WORKING BY NOW!"

"QUICK FOXY, GET CHICA, WE NEED ALL THE HELP WE CAN GET!"

"ARGH, LET THEM COME, WHILE THERE'S STILL ONE FAZBEAR IN THE WORLD THAT STILL DRAWS BREATH!"

_"The Springtrap has risen and he is not alone."_

Springtrap's eyes shot open.

At first his vision was burled, hazy, everything appeared to melting into each other. His hearing was muffled, stifle, the sounds echoed in the way in which one would hear them underwater. Springtrap could make out several sounds, the sounds of feet running across the floor, the sounds of fires burning, the humming of electronics, the sounds of gunshots, and finally the unmistakable sounds of shouts and screams.

Springtrap raised his head, he could see burled shapes race past him, but as his vision cleared, he saw that they were metal like figures...metal skeletons in a sense. Looking ahead, he saw a group of people surrounding a door, the first looked similar to him, but was obviously a female, the second was clearly a male and had the appearance of a pirate, while the last one, another female just looked strange to him.

"FUCK IT, JUST KILL THEM, WE NEED TO BUY MIKE AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE!" One of the females shouted, firing her last shots, before switching to her knife.

"WHERE'S FREDDY, OR TOY FREDDY, OR GOLDIE IN FACT?" the male pirate one asked.

_"Goldie, he's here?"_ Springtrap mentally asked, his eyes scanning his area of vision.

"THEY'RE UP ON THE TOP DECK, TRYING TO STOP THE PURPLE GUY, MANGLE AND TOY FREDDY ARE TRYING TO FIX THE SECOND PROPELLER," the second female shouted.

She continued to shout over the ever-increasing chaos.

"APPARENTLY, THE PURPLE GUY FIRED A MISSLE AT IT!"

"HE HAS MISSILES NOW!" The male pirate exclaimed. "BONNIE IS UP THERE TOO!" The first female yelled, pointing to the metal ladder which lead up to the top deck and happened to be in the aisle behind Springtrap.

"Thanks for the directions," Springtrap whispered, grinning as he undid his seatbelt.

He then leapt out of his seat like a tiger, smashing into the metal figures, they didn't have a chance to scream or react as Springtrap ripped them apart.

"WHO THE FUCK IS THAT?" The second female screamed, pointing at the strange yellow human with bunny ears.

How quick they were to forget about bringing Springtrap with them.

"I DON'T KNOW, BUT HE'S ATTACKING ENDOSKELETONS, AND THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!" The first female screamed.

"COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE LASSIE!" The male pirate cried, slashing several endoskeletons at once, decapitating their heads clean off with his hook. Springtrap stomped and smashed entire groups of endoskeletons, all the while the group of strangers just stood there with their mouths wide open, watching as Springtrap just crushed endoskeleton after endoskeleton.

"He's good," the second female commented.

"Very good," replied the first female.

"Aye," was all the male pirate could say.

Springtrap, still ripping an endoskeleton apart approached them, splitting it in half.

He had never felt so powerful in his whole life, it must be the adrenaline kicking in.

"Give me your knife?" He asked, dropping what remained of the endoskeleton and holding his hand out to the first female.

"Sure," she said, her eyes rang with confusion, as she placed the knife in Springtrap's hand.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Thanks," Springtrap replied, gripping the knife tightly.

"It's Springtrap by the way."

He then ran off, abandoning the conversation as he headed towards the ladder, which led up to the top deck, brushing aside endoskeletons as if they were mere ants. He then leapt up the ladder, knocking the endoskeletons who were coming through out of his way and out into the bright summer sunlight.

To see and feel the warmth of the sun again after so long…felt good.

* * *

_1 minute earlier..._

Mangle was struggling to find the last wire that was needed to fully reconnect the propeller to the main power unit, everything else was in its place, she had even bent the propeller blades back to their proper shape. Toy Freddy continued to fight off hordes of endoskeletons, but he was now down to his last round of ammunition.

To save ammo, he had started to use his shotgun as a club and had successfully beaten several endoskeletons to death, but that still didn't seem to thin their ranks. They surrounded him, it was like having his back against the wall, as a horde of lifeless, grey eyes tested his resolve without rest.

"MANGLE YOU SAID YOU NEEDED TWO MINUTES, I'VE GIVEN YOU FOUR, NOW WHERE'S THAT FUCKING PROPELLER!" He shouted, trying to fight off several endoskeletons at once.

One was luckily enough to grab hold of the shotgun and began to wrestle with Toy Freddy for control of it. With just one endoskeleton tying him down, the others were free to rush at Mangle.

"Just...one...more...wire, I've nearly got it...I just can't see it," Mangle replied, her hands sorting through rows upon rows of copper wire.

"MANGLE, HURRY UP FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!" Toy Freddy yelled, trying to rip the shotgun out of the endoskeleton's grip.

Knowing the danger which Mangle was about to find herself in, he pulled sharply as he spun around on the spot. The move worked with the endoskeleton being pulled in a direction it didn't want to go…off the edge of the airship and into open space.

The force being created by the pull, made it let go of the shotgun, but the momentum remained regardless and the endoskeleton was sent falling to its death, one thousand feet below.

Toy Freddy quickly regained control of the shotgun.

_"Nice try,"_ he mentally sneered.

He turned only to get jumped by a whole pack of them, the shock and impact caused him to tumble backwards, off the side of the airship.

"MANGLE!" he screeched in pure panic and adrenaline induced fear.

Suddenly an endoskeleton arm came out of nowhere grabbed hold of his waist, before hoisting him back on board. He took the opportunity to fire a full blast of shotgun shrapnel at the endoskeletons on mass. It couldn't have worked out better than he had hoped, with the resulting blast ripping through more than twenty of them in one go.

Landing back on his own two feet, he spied a lone endoskeleton who had be able to sneak past his defence and was about to get the drop on Mangle as she was working. Within no time flat, he brought the shotgun to bear, swiftly bringing the barrel of the weapon down on the endoskeleton' head.

The impact travelled through its head, pushing it down onto the floor, crushing it beyond repair and destroying its central logic unit. Mangle, meanwhile had been none the wiser.

_"Shit...I know this wire is in here somewhere," _she mentally moaned, amidst the sounds of endoskeleton screams. Toy Freddy swiftly turned around and pointed the shotgun at the remaining endoskeletons.

"So…does anyone else want to be a hero?" he asked sarcastically, feeling a wave of exhaustion pass through him.

Surprisingly the endoskeletons actually backed off a bit, wary to approach him. Vincent meanwhile was slowly cutting into the rope which Goldie and Bonnie were holding into. Freddy was trying his best to stop him, but couldn't as he found himself struck between a group of endoskeletons and the deck's edge.

_"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" _He mentally screamed, panicking under the pressure.

"Just like I said in 1987, Freddy, you can't save them," Vincent stated, chuckling to himself.

Then several endoskeletons' screams were heard from the direction of hatch, followed by the sounds of metal being crudely bent. Freddy could just make out Toy Chica scream something about a golden bunny.

Then he saw why.

Several endoskeletons were thrown out of the hatch, all being flung to the ground as a tall human in a tattered golden suit with bunny ears leapt out of the chaos and landed nearby on his feet.

"WHO THE FUCK IS THAT!" Vincent and Freddy shouted in unison.

"I have risen," said Springtrap coldly, his grey greenish eyes narrowed as he approached Vincent, whose eyes now rang with fear and recognition.

"Wait, your-"

"Springtrap," said Freddy calmly, finishing Vincent's sentence for him.

Upon seeing his chance with Vincent now distracted, Freddy leapt at him, knocking him to the ground, with the knife falling out of his hands and landed nearby. However, the rope holding Goldie and Bonnie snapped.

"FREDDY!" Bonnie screamed, as she and Goldie started to fall through the air. Springtrap ran, ignoring Vincent and leapt forward with half of his body going over the side as he reached for the rope. He only just caught it, bringing Goldie and Bonnie's free fall to an abrupt halt

They both looked up to see...

"Spring?"

"Bonnie?"

"HANG ON, I'LL SWING YOU TWO UP, BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO GRAB ONTO MY OTHER HAND!" Springtrap shouted, tightening his grip as best as he could.

Goldie and Bonnie both nodded in agreement, anything solution would do to get them out of this mess. Springtrap then started to swing the rope back and forth, building up the momentum.

As he did that, Mangle found the last wire she needed.

"FINALLY!" She shouted, connecting it to the bundle of other wires, fully reconnecting the propeller back to the inbuilt power grid. There was an electric buzzing noise as the propeller started to spin again, building up speed. Compared to its counterpart, it was still clearly damaged, but at least it worked.

With the deed done, Mangle took over from Toy Freddy and started to smash the remaining endoskeletons with her endoskeleton arms. Knocking them aside or grabbing hold and throwing them off deck

"Go and help Freddy," she ordered, laying into every single endoskeleton in sight.

"I've got things covered from here."

Toy Freddy nodded before turning round and running towards Freddy, who was fighting Vincent.

"YOU DESERVE EVERYTHING THAT'S COMING FOR YOU, DO YOU HEAR, I WILL PERSONALLY MAKE YOU SUFFER FOR WHAT YOU DID TO US!" Freddy shouted, as he wrestled with Vincent, who just laughed back in response.

"Oh please, the amount of times I've heard that said to me...guess many times my enemies got back at me?"

He pulled Freddy in close enough to whisper in his ear.

"None, because they're all dead," before smacking Freddy square on in the face. He then pushed Freddy off him and got back on his feet, only to turn round and see Toy Freddy with his shotgun aimed at him and smiling rather viciously.

"It's time to die!"

But before Toy Freddy could actually fire, a lone endoskeleton jumped on his back, making him drop the shotgun.

It bounced on the ground at an angle, setting it off.

The bullet flew through the air, just clipping Springtrap's right shoulder. He looked back to see the Purple Man, making his escape, just as Freddy was picking himself.

Toy Freddy and Mangle were both were preoccupied with the few remaining endoskeletons to do anything else. Using all of his strength, he swung the rope to his left, bringing Goldie and Bonnie up close enough to grab his hand. He then pulled them up, just as Toy Freddy, destroyed the lone endoskeleton that was attacking him.

"HE'S ESCAPING!" Mangle shouted, pointing in the direction of the Purple Man, as he grabbed a rope and swung back towards his ship.

_"He who flees today, lives to fight another day_," Vincent mentally laughed, as he landed on the top deck of his airship.

"Wait here," Springtrap muttered, before taking off in the direction of the Purple Guy's airship.

"SPRINGTRAP, WAIT, HE'S DANGEROUS!" Goldie shouted, reaching out to stop Springtrap, but he was well out of his reach.

Meanwhile Freddy helped Bonnie up.

"Are you two alright?" He asked, throwing his arms around both of them.

"Yes, I'm fine, I'm not in any serious pain," Bonnie replied, hugging Freddy back.

"I have...metal pieces in my shoulders...I need to have them...extracted," Goldie stated, he struggled to wrap his arms around Freddy...the muscles in his shoulders ached, as intense pain shot up his neck. "FUCK!" He hissed, falling down onto his knees, whilst clutching himself in agony.

"Bonnie, take him down below, Mangle!" Freddy called.

Mangle, by this point had grabbed the very last endoskeleton and was about to throw it off the deck, when Freddy called her.

"Yes?" She asked, turning to face him.

"Go and bring Springtrap back, he might be strong, but not when he's on his own," Freddy ordered. Mangle nodded, she then smashed the endoskeleton's face in, before tossing it off the deck and turning her attention towards following Springtrap.

"What now, Freddy?" Toy Freddy asked, picking up his shotgun. "We need to do two things, first we need to get everyone back in the ship, and then make our way to Jeremy's," Freddy replied, turning to face his counterpart.

"Right, I'll go down then, here, you'll need this, it's still loaded," Toy Freddy stated, giving his shotgun to Freddy. Vincent, meanwhile was about to open the hatch, that led from the top deck down to the interior of his airship. However, when he turned to look back briefly at the other airship...he wished he hadn't.

The first thing which greeted his eyes was Springtrap, swinging across on a rope.

_"Crap, I knew I should have cut the rope, when I had the chance," _he thought, as Springtrap landed nearby with a thud.

"Hi there, Springtrap...or is it Spring Bonnie, I forget it's been how many years since I last saw you, mmm, let me think now, oh yes thirty-seven," Vincent laughed nervously as Springtrap approached him.

"Hello, Purple Man, I see you haven't changed a bit, despite thirty-seven years," Springtrap stated, towering over Vincent, with his eyes full of immense anger.

"Well, I did take a long break after 1987, actually I'm rather surprised to see you, I thought you were 'put down' as the phrase goes, following your mental breakdown, you see-"

He was cut off as Springtrap picked him up, holding him in the air roughly by the shoulders. "You killed a child, a poor innocent boy...I want to know why, before I 'put you down' and end your pathetic existence," said Springtrap, his tone was one of rage and sternness.

"Well I was driving by and he just looked so sad, so...I...decided to...put him...out of his...misery," Vincent stated, shrugging his shoulders.

Springtrap said nothing, he just looked blankly at Vincent, staring deep into his soul.

"Did that answer your question?" Vincent asked, trying to wiggle his hands free.

"Yes...it did...now die!" Springtrap hissed, grabbing Vincent by the throat.

"ORDER 5, ORDER 5!" Vincent chocked, trying to click his fingers to signal any nearby endoskeletons to come to his immediate rescue. "I want you to suffer first, for taking that child's life," Springtrap sneered, tightening his grip on Vincent's windpipe.

"He's dead...killing me...won't bring him...back," Vincent croaked, trying to loosen Springtrap's grip around his neck.

"I know that...but I won't let you kill another child, the world's a safer place without you!" Springtrap hissed. He slowly pulled the knife which Toy Bonnie had given him out of his pocket and raised it above Vincent aiming to plunge it straight into his neck and severe his juglar.

Yet unknown to Springtrap, the hatch door opened, and inside an endoskeleton with a pistol took aim.

"You know...Springtrap...you should really...check your corners...if not...you might...get exposed to the...unsuspecting," Vincent stated, struggling to breath, as Springtrap squeezed the life out of him. From where she was on the other airship, Mangle could see Springtrap chocking Vincent with the knife raised above him, but she could also see the endoskeleton in the hatchway, aiming directly at Springtrap with its pistol.

"SPRINGTRAP, TO YOUR RIGHT!" She shouted.

Springtrap, turned to see the endoskeleton, it fired.

He stepped backwards, the bullet gazing his left arm, making him drop Vincent, who instantly proceeded to gasp for breath.

_"It's only a flesh wound," _Springtrap thought, shrugging off the pain.

He turned and with one swift motion he jammed the knife right into endoskeleton's head, destroying its central logical unit...effectively killing it. He then grabbed the lifeless endoskeleton, lifted it up, turned and threw it at one of the four propellers. The impact destroyed both the endoskeleton and the propeller, sending pieces of twisted metal flying across the deck.

"SPRINGTRAP, WE HAVE TO GO!" Mangle shouted, as the ground beneath her shook.

Mike's airship, now with both propellers working, was trying to pull itself away from Vincent's, but it was struggling to do so as Vincent's harpoons were keeping it firmly in place.

They had the potential to rip away parts of the ship, in the process of Mike's airship ever breaking free.

Springtrap, really wanted to smash Vincent's face in, as did so many others, but he knew that wouldn't happen today. Mike's airship was pulling further away, straining the harpoon ropes, if he didn't go now, he would be left stranded on Vincent's airship with an army of endoskeletons.

He was strong, but he wasn't invincible.

Turning in Mangle's direction he ran, grabbing a rope before swinging across the already widening gap. Vincent, grabbed the pistol which had previously belonged to the endoskeleton, now destroyed beyond all recognition.

He targeted the rope Springtrap was using, aiming to send him to his death by means of falling. He fired, the bullet rushed through the air, it succeeded in cutting the rope in two. Springtrap fell, only for Mangle to reach out with her extended endoskeleton arms and grab him, before pulling him back up.

"Come on, everyone else is inside," she said, dragging him back over the edge.

"Thank you," Springtrap replied, getting up on his own two feet.

Vincent now aimed at Mangle, he pulled the trigger, but it didn't fire.

"FUCK, IT HAD TO BECOME JAMMED AT THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT!" He shouted in deep frustration, proceeding to open the gun's barrel. Its inner springs had become entangled with each other, jamming the fringing mechanism.

"So convenient for her," he muttered, snapping the gun barrel shut, right now he had other priorities.

Mangle climbed down the hatchway ladder, quickly followed by Springtrap. He stopped briefly and looked back at the other airship.

Vincent was doing the exact same thing. For a moment, they both locked eyes with each other, starting one another down.

But in the end, Springtrap sighed and climbed down the ladder, sealing the hatch door shut.

* * *

Vincent, climbed down his own ladder into the main compartment, to see several endoskeletons all looking at him for instructions.

_"What now sir?" _one asked.

"You tell the pilot to disengage the harpoon ropes, we don't wish to be dragged along by the other airship, but don't follow them, we are to remain stationary," Vincent ordered. The endoskeleton nodded, before turning round and rushing off down the corridor towards the cockpit.

"You three, get up there and repair that fourth propeller, in fact check the other three, I think another one is about to blow due to close proximity damage."

A sudden explosion above them shook the ship rather violently, confirming his fears.

_"That bloodily Springtrap, I'll make him pay for this," _Vincent mentally cursed, gritting his teeth.

"Everyone else suit up and get ready, this isn't over yet!" he stated. All the other endoskeletons nodded, then proceeded to carry out his instructions of repairing the airship.

Vincent, stepped down off the ladder and headed towards the cockpit.

Once inside, he saw two endoskeletons pressing various buttons and pulling on multiple levers.

_"Disengaging harpoon ropes...now,"_ one of them stated, pressing several buttons in a specific pattern.

There was an electric humming noise, as the harpoon launchers cut the ropes which attached them to the harpoons, which jutted out of the side of Mike's airship. Upon their separation, Mike's airship, although badly damaged, suddenly gained a boost in power and started to out distance Vincent's airship.

"You can run...for now, but you cannot hide," Vincent whispered, watching as the other airship got smaller and smaller as the distance between them increased.

This was an outcome which he hadn't planned for.

Luckily for him and unfortunately for the Fazbears ,he was a master of comprise. He pulled up his sleeve to look at his watch, the same kind of watch which he had given to Nightmare Freddy.

_"I'll text Nightmare Freddy in two, no make that three hours, if they're heading to Jeremy's then that's where they'll be."_

Then an idea popped into his head. He smiled, his eyes gleaming with its potential prospect, sure it was a random thought, but if what Nightmare Freddy had said was correct then it had the chance to succeed.

_"Families are connected by trust and if that trust is broken, then there's no more family, I'll get Nightmare Freddy to give them something...'special'...something that they won't forget," _he thought, as the idea festered in his mind.

He pulled down his sleeve, turned and headed off down the corridor. As part the ship's interior design, the endoskeletons had built him his own private bedroom, it was small though due to the importance of other things. It was very basic in its layout and what it possessed, but it'll do.

Laying down on the bed, Vincent set his watch an alarm to wake him up in three hours, he needed to sleep.

"Fighting is exhausting work...never intended to be a fighter."

He then chuckled to himself.

"Oh well, despite that unexpected intervention, if their airship were to fall out of the sky, then that'll cut my work short," he muttered, laying back against the pillows.

_"If only though," _he wondered, feeling the power of sleep tug at his worn out mind.

_"If...only."_

_But if the Fazbears were to die, he would rather have them all die at his hands, no one else's…not even God's._

* * *

Springtrap finished climbing down the ladder, upon touching the ground, he turned round...to find everyone else staring at him in curiosity.

Warning lights continued to flash from the cockpit, as another male stepped out. He appeared to be out of place when compared to everyone else…too normal.

"Oh...who's this?" He asked, pointing directly at Springtrap, clearly he saw him as a newcomer. One of the males…Freddy, who had been hugging Bonnie stood up from their shared seat and stepped forward. Springtrap instantly noticed his black dinner suit, black top hat, bowtie and...bear ears which stuck out of the sides of his head.

"Hi there...Springtrap...I'm Freddy, this here is Bonnie."

"Thanks for saving me," she said, smiling, meeting Springtrap in the eye.

"Your very much welcome," he replied, smiling back, noticing that she had purplish bunny ears jutting out of the top of her head, adding to that of her purple reddish hair.

"I'm Chica," said one, pointing to herself, instantly Springtrap took note of her bright blonde hair and warming smile.

"Aye matey, I'm Foxy," said the pirate, waving his hook as a form of greeting, he wore what appeared to be an old pirate's costume along with an eye patch to match. Plus his ears matched the shape of a real fox, both being triangle in design and red.

"We're the Toys, I'm Toy Freddy," said another male, he looked just like Freddy expected his hair was of a lighter brown and his bow tie was red, not black.

Although he too had bear ears.

"I'm Toy Bonnie, it's a pleasure to meet you Springtrap," said Toy Bonnie, she smiled, her light blue hair catching the sunlight that shone through the destroyed windows. Like Bonnie, she too had bunny ears sticking out of the top of her head, expect they were a light blue.

"I'm Toy Chica, are you ok?" She asked, looking rather concerned, yet again she closely resembled Chica, expect she was slightly shorter in height and her blondish hair was short in length.

"Yes...I'm fine," Springtrap asked, sitting down, he suddenly felt exhausted.

He heard a sound above him, looking up he saw the one they called Mangle, scuttling about.

"Hi...I'm Toy Foxy, but everyone else calls me Mangle," she said, smiling in a pleasing manner.

"Hello there, Mangle," Springtrap replied, tilting his head to get a better view of her.

"You can crawl on the ceiling, I see?"

"Yeah, endoskeleton arms, quite handy in getting around," she replied, swinging from one place to the next.

Springtrap then noticed a small boy, with a reddish blue cap, a child no less.

"Hello...I'm Balloon Boy, but everyone just calls me BB," he said, pointing to himself.

_"Odd name," _Springtrap thought, why was a child on an airship with several adults?

"There is also a girl called Puppet by the way, but she's was wounded, so she's in the cockpit lying down," Balloon Boy stated, he looked sad as he said it, his eyes were now glued to the floor.

"And this is Mike Schmidt, he's the pilot and created this airship," Freddy stated, gesturing towards the figure in question.

"Co created, lets not forgot Jeremy's contribution," the figure replied chuckled.

"Although I was able to fly this thing, so I guess I can receive more credit for that."

Springtrap turned to examine Mike in closer detail.

_"As I thought...very out of place when compared to the others," _Springtrap thought, he didn't appear to wear anything which matched the others in terms of dress sense.

No bear, bunny or fox ears to speak of.

Freddy then cleared his throat, as if to make an announcement.

"And of course, without further delay, you already know Goldie, aka Golden Freddy," he said, stepping aside to reveal Goldie sitting in a seat, as Toy Bonnie examined the wounds on his shoulders.

Upon seeing his old friend, Springtrap instantly got up and walked over.

Goldie himself, looked shocked to see him.

"Spring...is it really you?" He asked, reaching out with one of his hands.

Springtrap held it, shaking it.

"Yes, it's me Fredbear...Spring Bonnie, I've come back," Springtrap replied, he looked down at Goldie, as feelings of nostalgia washed over him.

"But for now, I can just call you Goldie, I suppose the nickname matches your clothing after all."

Goldie chuckled.

"You've only just realised that now."

But still to see Springtrap standing right before him, eyes wide open was quite a shock for him.

"Well...welcome back," which was all Goldie could say.

It was as if they had only last spoken yesterday. The sound of Mike clearing his throat, however caught everyone's attention.

"I would like to thank you personally Springtrap...for saving us out there, we were literally at the end of our rope," he said, walking forward to shake Springtrap's hand.

He had a firm, but sincere grip.

"You're welcome Mike, but why are you all on an airship, why isn't the Purple Guy in jail, he's killed a child," Springtrap stated, looking around to survey his surroundings. Clearly, he wanted answers, as well as a catch up on all that's happened since the late nineteen seventies.

"We are trying to leave our old lives behind, Springtrap, trying to wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start, as to why the Purple Guy isn't in jail, well the fact is that there just isn't enough evidence to have him put behind bars or strap him in the electric chair," Toy Freddy stated, his eyes narrowed at the last part of his sentence, stating a strong desire to see justice done.

"WHAT, THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Springtrap shouted, his eyes narrowed in anger.

"We all know that, he has wrecked and ruined so many lives, mainly ours," Toy Freddy replied, clicking his tongue in frustration.

"Spring," said Goldie looking up at Springtrap.

"He didn't just kill one child, he's killed eleven in total between 1978 and 1987."

"Eleven, he's murdered eleven children and still no one has done anything to stop him," Springtrap stated, his hands turned into fists, it was clear he was getting angry.

He just couldn't believe in what he was hearing.

"I'm afraid so Spring, it breaks my heart to hear it too, but he's just very good at covering his tracks," Goldie replied solemnly.

"He always has been."

With the help of Toy Bonnie, he was able stand up straight.

"But right now, we need to focus on getting to Chicago first, the sooner we're there the better, plus I'll be able to explain everything to you then," said Goldie, slowly unfolding Springtrap's fists, trying to calm him down.

"Can you focus your mind on other things until we get there?" He asked.

Springtrap turned to face him.

"Perhaps, if something which threatens my existence were to come up, apart from that, my head is swarming with questions," he replied.

"I'm actually glad you mentioned that, because I have good and bad news," said Mike, rubbing his chin. Everyone else turned in his direction, putting him on the spot.

"The good news is that Chicago is only 9 miles away, the bad news however, is that we only have enough fuel left to fly for 6 miles straight, we lost a considerable amount of fuel during the fight," he stated, looking rather uneasy.

"One of the harpoons must have hit the fuel tank, until now we didn't know that we're losing fuel."

"But, how will we get to Jeremy's if we don't have enough fuel?" Chica asked, clinging onto Foxy for comfort. Mike scratched the back of his head, looking even more nervous.

"Yeah about that...we're gonna have to crash land the ship-"

"WHAT, WE'LL DIE!" Bonnie shouted her eyes filling with fear.

"If I'm able to land the ship successful, we'll live, if not then you can all haunt me forever in the afterlife," Mike replied, holding up his hands to keep certain people clam.

"Oh, I'll promise you that," Freddy commented, his eyes gleamed with mischief.

"Thanks Freddy, I appreciate that, but until then I need everyone to follow my instructions if we are to survive, first can Chica and Toy Chica take the Puppet somewhere else, she can't be in the cockpit," Mike ordered, pointing in its direction.

"Right, we'll put her in the mid-section of the ship, that's usually the safest part onboard," said Toy Chica, walking forward.

Mike then turned to face Freddy and Toy Freddy.

"Good, Toy Freddy and Freddy, I need you two to unload the storage compartment, keep any aid knits you find, as well as a few weapons, but besides that throw everything else out, we need to reduce our weight, it'll ensure a smoother landing."

"I see...your logic," Toy Freddy replied, scratching his head.

"Makes sense to me," Freddy answered.

"Good, Mangle," Mike called, looking up

"Yes?" she asked, turning down to face him.

"Go outside and remove those harpoons, we can't be catching anything as we descend, if they do, then we'll be torn to shreds, this ship is as damaged enough as it'll ever be," Mike stated, looking around the cluttered living quarters. It looked as if a hurricane had swept through, this airship would properly never fly again upon landing.

"Right, I'll be back soon," Mangle replied, heading towards the hatch ladder.

"Bonnie and Toy Bonnie, I need you two monitor everyone in here, because I'll be in the cockpit, preparing the ship for landing."

The two Bonnies nodded.

"Wait, about me, Goldie and...sorry what was your name again?" Springtrap asked, turning to face Balloon Boy.

"Balloon Boy, but you can call me BB," Balloon Boy answered.

"I don't mind either way."

"Thanks, so what about me, Goldie and BB?" Springtrap asked.

"Well...there isn't really anything for BB to do, Goldie's still wounded in his shoulder muscles, so Springtrap, I know you've just been through a lot recently, but can you please remove these dead endoskeletons?" Mike asked, pointing to piles upon piles of destroyed endoskeleton parts that littered the ship's interior.

"Of course, it'll take my mind off things," Springtrap replied, satisfied that he was finally doing something after being asleep for so long.

"That's great, I'll start the descent now," Mike stated, glad that at least some order could be restored. He turned and quickly headed off towards the cockpit, while everyone else set about their individual tasks. "Come on dear, we'll take you somewhere safe and comfortable," said Toy Chica, as she and Chica slowly picked up the Puppet and carried her out of the cockpit, making sure not to cause her any more pain.

"Where's...Balloon Boy?" She asked weakly, her white dots for eyes flickered about in all directions.

"He's still here, do you want me to go and get him for you?" Chica asked.

"Yes...please," the Puppet pleaded, her eyes had the look of a desperate person.

They carried her down the aisle, placing her down near Goldie.

"Better?" Toy Chica asked.

"Yes...thank you," the Puppet replied, she smiled, that was some good news. "Goldie, you keep her company, I'll go and get BB," said Chica, turning to face him. "Now I have to babysit?" Goldie asked, somewhat annoyed and yet surprised at the idea.

"Only until I get BB, tell her about your glory days," Chica suggested, before turning round and heading in search of Balloon Boy.

"I'm gonna go and see if anyone else needs help," said Toy Chica. She patted Goldie lightly on the head, before turning away and walking off down the aisle, humming to herself.

"Glory days...right...where do I start...was it 1975 or 1974, I forget," Goldie muttered, scratching his head, as he try to recall his earliest memories.

"Well...I was known as Fredbear back in my old days, but I had Springtrap, otherwise known back then as Spring Bonnie."

He sighed, as he relived old times. "Those were good days, me and Spring performing for the kids, everyday we brought out a new act...a new song, I felt that it would go on forever."

Then his expression suddenly darken, something the Puppet instantly noticed.

"But it didn't…did it?" The Puppet asked. "It didn't...personally I would describe it as a train wreck...sudden, unexpected and very traumatic," Goldie stated, his voice had suddenly become very quiet.

"The day it happened...when everything just stopped, I remember it well...it was 1978."

The Puppet just stared at Goldie, she felt nervous as her breathing increased, it was as if something personal about her was about to be revealed.

"I was playing and serving some of our special cake to the children...Spring was playing his guitar...then it happened."

Goldie casted his eyes downward.

"A child...an innocent boy was killed...stabbed to death right outside the diner, by you know who, I didn't see it...but Spring did, he was pounding against the main door, begging the man to stop, wailing his heart out...I didn't help him, I just kept on performing."

His eyes flickered over to Springtrap who was picking up the remains of endoskeletons and throwing them up the hatch onto the top deck where he would later go up and proceed to toss them off the ship.

"They had to restrain Spring...said he was causing a scene, I just kept on dancing and singing, even as they dragged him right past me, he called out to me to help him...I did nothing, I didn't even say anything as they dragged him backstage," Goldie continued.

His eyes were watering.

"Soon, the police came, they closed the place down for a while, as an investigation got underway. During that time, me and Spring were confined to our rooms, all day and night, he kept on hammering his hands against the wall, calling out for me to answer him...I didn't, I just ignored him."

The Puppet continued to look at him, blank faced, trying not to show any emotion.

"When the place did re-opened...it wasn't the same, fewer people came, then they nearly stopped coming altogether...Spring rarely came out of his room, I did ask the staff about it, but they told me that Spring wasn't mentally fit to come out...so it was just me...I did everything."

He wiped away the tears that were forming under his dark red eyes.

"Did I worry about Spring, of course I did, but I didn't let it show, I couldn't break down like he did, not in front of the children."

"What...finally caused...the place...to close?" The Puppet asked, her voice was still weak.

"In early 1979, I think it was late February, the staff had finally convinced Spring to come out of his room to perform...we were actually going to be shut down in March, it was meant to be our last show, our big finale."

"So, what happened?" The Puppet asked, her eyes remained emotionless, but inside she was crying.

Goldie rubbed his eyes clean before continuing.

"Well the show started ok, we sang our usual songs, did our acts, like the old times, but Spring just wasn't with it."

Goldie breathed in deep.

"But everything went downhill, when we were passing out prize plushies to the children who had won a series of contests, Spring was handing out plushies of himself, when a child he had just given a plushie to dropped it...he just snapped...he fell to his knees and started screaming about the murdered child, about the murderer and how he could prove who did it...right in front of the children."

"Then he turned to me, he grabbed me by the shoulders and begged me to believe him, saying how family members stick together, he said how he trusted me over everything."

"But," said the Puppet, she could predict what was coming again.

"I...I just turned away...turned my back on him, he screamed my name as the staff dragged him away, the people were leaving the diner in droves with their children, who were crying as they were dragged to their cars...soon the whole diner was empty...abandoned with me, just standing there on the stage, all the while Spring was being restrained backstage...it was our last day as performers...the last day Fredbear's Family Diner opened its doors."

"What happened to you two?" The Puppet asked, she could feel her body become cold.

"We were isolated, confined to our rooms...a few weeks later, we were taken to another place...it was called Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria...the two of us lived there...for a couple of years...all the time workmen were coming in and preparing the place for its grand opening."

"How was Spring?" The Puppet asked, her voice was getting shaky, as the cold fluster pass through her.

"Well actually, I was the only one of the two that was conscious, Spring following his breakdown at Fredbear's Family Diner had been put into a medically induced coma...he was just too broken to perform."

Goldie paused, trying to gather his thoughts.

"But soon I discovered that I wasn't gonna be a performer...instead, I was to be kept backstage as they brought in four new ones, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy."

"So, that's was how it was for the next couple of years...I was confined to backstage, but I taught the new ones all I knew, they never woke up Spring...kept him down in the basement...in the dark. I hoped that one day, him and me would be re-installed, I had also hoped that the taint of Fredbear's Family Diner wouldn't follow us."

"But it did," the Puppet stated, she already knew about the next unfortunate turn of events..

"Yes...it did...in an even worse fashion than what occurred in 1978..."

Goldie sighed before continuing.

"It was the 26th of June 1983, five kids were killed in one of the back rooms, the Purple guy or Vincent as we later found out wore one of those fake suits...Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were all affected...they struggled to understand what was happening as people ran from the Pizzeria in droves, screaming, carrying their children in their arms, as crowds of people flood out into the streets."

"I remember Freddy, reaching out to pat a little girl on the head, when her mother grabbed her, smacking Freddy away with her handbag, screaming how she didn't want her child to be killed by a children's mascot and that they were never coming back."

Goldie, buried his head in his hands.

"He was heartbroken...he just couldn't understand what was going on...he was young then...mentally though...physically he's never changed, like I've always looked this way since 1974...haven't aged a day as it would appear."

"And the murders continued into 1987, with the Toys," said the Puppet, this part she already knew.

"Yes, but by then I had gotten use to the Fazbear business going under, the others took some time to adjust...but it was the Toys who bore the full broadside of responsibility, even though they included you, Puppet did nothing wrong."

"As you remember you, BB and the Toys were going to be 'put down' but we got you all out and hid you in the old Pizzeria, hiding you away from the staff."

"I deeply thank you for doing that, I'm sure Balloon Boy and the Toys do as well," Puppet said, sounding very grateful.

"We are forever in your debt."

She reached out and took hold of Goldie's hand squeezing it.

He squeezed back.

"But should you be happy, Springtrap is here, awake and he doesn't appear to be suffering from any mental breakdowns," the Puppet stated, turning to watch Springtrap carry out his tasks.

"I know I should be...but I fear-"

"You fear that he'll bring everything back up...your scared that he won't forgive you?" The Puppet asked.

Goldie was physically shaking as she spoke her words.

"Yes," it was barely a whisper.

"I know it sounds like I was being completely selfish and cold, but I had my reasons, back at Fredbear's Diner, I just couldn't bring myself to terms with what had just happened, I really wanted things to go back to what they were before that day, I didn't want to comfort reality...unlike Spring," said Goldie, trying to maintain a straight face.

"It does come over as very cold," said the Puppet, but she continued to hold Goldie's hand.

"I know it does, I didn't tell anyone though...I felt so guilty afterwards, I just couldn't tell the others especially Freddy, I couldn't let the darkness of the past ruin his life."

"You lied to us about your own origins in order to protect us," the Puppet stated.

Goldie nodded, his body was still shaking.

"I've lied to everyone, it hurts to lie, but I did it to ensure that they were safe from the past."

"What about Springtrap?" The Puppet asked.

"I did try to get Spring back, but I couldn't, the door to the basement was locked at all times and I just couldn't find a way of opening it," Goldie answered.

"For many years, I just sat there in back room, listening to Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy perform, I thought over my mistakes, slowly welcoming the cold reality of my situation that I was now forgotten, abandoned, but worse still, that I had properly lost the closest person I could call family."

The Puppet smiled a sad smile.

"I wished above anything that someone would open that door, but they didn't...until about several weeks ago."

This caused the Puppet's eyes to gleam with interest.

"To be precise it was a couple of weeks ago, I woken up in the back room and found that the door to the basement was wide open. I entered...went down and found him, sitting there against the wall...asleep."

Goldie appeared to smile.

"I ran up and hugged him, then I noticed that he wouldn't wake up, he was still in his coma, I try to enter his mind, but couldn't as it was locked out to me."

He turned to face the Puppet.

"So, what could I do...Springtrap wasn't responding, I knew that with the basement door now open, the others would soon find out...so that's why I told everyone that I had found another person from Fredbear's Family Diner in the basement and that upon closer inspection. I remembered who he was, and that he and I had actually performed together."

"So...for thirty...seven years...you've worn...a chain...around your neck," the Puppet stated, she couldn't say much as the pain in her shoulder was starting to flare up again.

"I know that he'll bring it up and that I will have to face the fire, he'll hate me for what I did as will the others."

"Goldie...at first you came over as heartless and cold, but now...I see why and I understand your position, you messed up...and was trying...to make things right...I don't hate you...although I am shocked to hear what you and Spring have gone through."

"You won't tell anyone, will you?" Goldie asked, his eyes widen in fear of the Puppet's reaction.

"No... it's up to you when you wish to tell the others...just don't except them to take things lying down," the Puppet replied.

"I know...I will come clean with everyone, especially Spring," said Goldie, his eyes wandered over to where Springtrap was working.

"You're a good person Goldie, deep down you mean well," replied the Puppet smiling. Goldie smiled back, her words helped to soften his self-doubt.

"Just one more question though, but how did Springtrap get his name?"

She slowly moved herself upright, even though the pain continued to ripple away from her shoulder. "He was called SpringBonnie beforehand."

Goldie sighed, trying to recall the inner details, before replying. "It was a nickname, the staff started to refer to him as Springtrap, because he was effectively trapped inside his own mind, hence the 'trap' part and overtime it stuck, becoming mainstream."

It was then Chica returned, holding the hand of Balloon Boy.

"Hello Puppet, how are you feeling?" he asked, smiling at her. Puppet, however could not find the strength to smile as the pain began to flare up again, more intensely this time.

"Not all that good...I can talk, but the pain...is really...hard to ignore."

"Sorry I took so long, I couldn't find him anywhere, until I went up to the top deck to find him risking his own life in helping Mangle, dislodge the harpoons," Chica stated with a tone of annoyance heavy in her voice.

"But I'm here now, still alive and kicking," Balloon Boy retorted sarcastically, dismissing Chica's concern, as he sat down next to the Puppet.

"Well I'll be elsewhere," said Goldie smiling, although he had just unveiled his life's story before the Puppet, she hadn't hated him for it, she could see why, he had lied. It made him feel comfortable that someone understood and it gave him hope that the others would understand as well.

Goldie got up from his seat and left, heading towards the cockpit.

_However, there was one aspect of his past which he hadn't told her, something not even Springtrap knew about…for everyone's safety somethings are best left forgotten…_

"So, I'll leave you guys to it," said Chica hugging them both in a loving embrace being extra carefully not to hurt Puppet. She softly whispered in Balloon Boy's ear.

"Scream, if she...gets worse."

Balloon Boy slowly nodded, he fully understood. Chica smiled, before turning round and walking off down the aisle to find Foxy.

"So, the pain is getting worse?" Balloon Boy asked, turning to face the Puppet.

She slowly nodded.

"I can ask you something?" She asked, turning to face him.

"Sure," Balloon Boy replied smiling. The Puppet's white eyes darted around, checking to see if anyone was watching, before she spoke.

"Do you like me?"

Balloon Boy tilted his head.

"Yes...I do like you," he answered.

"In what sort of way...?" She asked

"What do you mean?" He asked, returning the question.

He looked confused,

"Do you 'like' me or...'like like' me?" She asked, emphasising the word like.

"Ohhh...I see what you mean," said Balloon Boy, starting to sound nervous.

The Puppet scanned his body language.

_"Is he...blushing?" _She thought.

"Err...I...I think...no I mean...I...really...like you," Balloon Boy answered, struggling to get his words in order.

"It's ok Balloon Boy, I think I can guess what your trying to say," The Puppet replied, smiling, she held a mischievous look in her eyes.

Balloon Boy nervously smiled back. Then suddenly, the Puppet hissed in pain, clutching her shoulder tightly, the pain felt like fire which flowed underneath her skin.

"PUPPET!" Balloon Boy shouted, grabbing her hand. "I'm fine...it's just...a flare up," the Puppet stated, although it was clear she was in agony.

"CHICA!" Balloon Boy screamed, he wasn't taking any chances. There were sounds of feet hammering the floor, as Chica ran down the aisle towards them, with Foxy following, but jogging, as it still hurt to run.

"What's the matter?" Chica asked, just as Foxy caught up with her.

"She's in pain again, and I think it's worse than before," Balloon Boy stated. His eyes turning to face the Puppet, who was gripping her shoulder amidst her groans.

"She'll need pain killers no doubt again," said Chica.

"It is bad?" Foxy asked, he of course knew very little about the Puppet's situation.

"Yes, I'll go and get some more painkillers, Foxy, you keep them company, I'll be back soon," said Chica, before running off towards the cockpit.

Upon entering the cockpit, she found Mike, managing the controls and trying to steer what was otherwise a coffin with propellers. It was in that bad, that should one look at it, you would believe that it could hardly fly at all.

"Mike, where's the extra pain killers?" She asked, "Oh, they're on the top drawer of that cabinet over there," Mike answered, pointing to a cabinet.

"By the way, we have about 3 miles of fuel left, we're still in descent, I've also just texted Jeremy to inform of our position and current situation, he'll meet us at the crash site," he stated, keeping his eyes on to flight course and the map.

"He did know that we were coming beforehand?" Chica asked, opening the top drawer.

"Yes, he did," Mike answered.

"He's got the house ready and everything, although it would be all for nothing if I end up getting us killed upon landing."

"Right, just warm us all a minute before the fuel runs out, ok?" Chica asked, turning and walking out of the cockpit.

"Sure, I'll don't know if we'll fall forward or just drop out of the sky, so be ready for anything," Mike said, checking the fuel readings.

_"4% left, this'll be close," _he thought nervously.

Chica meanwhile returned to Balloon Boy, the Puppet and Foxy with the pain killers.

"Here take these, they'll make you feel a little better," she said, placing them in the Puppet's hand.

"It'll numb the pain."

"Thanks..." the Puppet answered, she then swallowed them down, without the need for water.

"Lassie, I'll go and see if I can help anyone else," Foxy said. looking around.

"Ok...just don't go far, we only have about 3 miles of fuel left and Mike doesn't know what the airship will do when the fuel goes." Chica replied, stroking the Puppet's hair.

Foxy laughed.

"Don't worry lassie, I won't be far," he answered, turning round and heading towards where Springtrap was working.

Springtrap was tossing dead endoskeletons up the hatchway, when he heard Foxy approach.

"Do you need a hand? Foxy asked, eyeing his handiwork. Springtrap stopped what he was doing for a moment to think.

"Yes...can you go up there so I can toss these things up and then you can start throwing them off the roof, it'll reduced the work load by half," he replied.

Foxy nodded in his response.

"Ok, but we need to hurry quickly, Mike only has enough fuel for three miles," he stated, starting to climb up the ladder. Meanwhile Freddy and Toy Freddy were sorting out the storage compartment, which was as a result of the previous battle, a complete and utter wreck.

"There's not much to salvage, presides a few aid knits...I don't see any weapons though," said Freddy, picking up several suitcases, which spilled out their contents as their locks had been damaged due to their impact with the floor.

"Yeah...this is all useless apart from the aid knits, I suggest we just leave this mess, there's no point in trying to fix it," Toy Freddy replied.

"It'll take too long to remove all of this, we can't use the top deck hatch, it's being used by Springtrap and the entrance hatch is at the far end of the ship, plus our time is limited," Freddy stated, picking up the aid knits.

Toy Freddy nodded in agreement.

"Let's take what we can and leave."

Together, they left the storage compartment, it was sad to leave their stuff behind, but everything was largely wrecked.

So many memories would be left behind.

"You know Freddy, being a leader isn't all that bad, I'll admit it was difficult to began with, especially with Mangle, although at times it's her whose bossing me around," Toy Freddy stated.

"After a while, I have learnt the key to leadership."

Freddy turned to face him, wondering what his answer was.

"Having a plan, but when I need guidance, it's you I look up to you as someone to whom I can follow," Toy Freddy finished. Freddy was literally taken back by Toy Freddy's words.

"Well...I was taught by Goldie, so I would pass on what I know to you...I'm sorry about what happened to your Pizzeria," Freddy replied, putting his hand on his counterpart's shoulder.

"Yeah...it was meant to be safer and more fun for the children...but even with all that brand new technology...that bastard got through and took five more lives," he sighed, his voice being a mix of anger and sadness.

"Vincent was always the deceitful one, looking back its hard to tell when he was being genuine."

Movement caught their eyes as Mangle crawled past one of the nearby windows, still dislodging the remaining harpoons.

"I still remember the infamous bite, he did something which caused Mangle to react in an aggressive way towards a member of staff," said Toy Freddy, lowering his head in sadness.

"It wasn't Mangle's fault, he did something to her, she would never lash out at anyone, even when she's moody."

"Hey...I know what it's like to lose almost everything you love and hold dear...I was devastated by what happened in nineteen eighty three, like you were four years later," Freddy stated, his eyes also going dim.

"It still feels like a stab in the heart even decades later."

Toy Freddy continued to look sad, but his eyes turned to meet Freddy's.

"But I always lived in the hope that one day, we'll be able to reverse all of that and better still perhaps reopen Fazbear's Pizzeria," said Freddy, smiling, the dream was there, alive and kicking.

Toy Freddy smiled back in response, he strongly desired the same thing.

"Hopefully...I would love to see that, but while the Purple Man still lives, he'll remain a constant threat," he stated.

"Not if we kill him first he won't," Freddy replied grinning.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Goldie, casually talking to Bonnie. He said something which made Bonnie laugh, when she laughed it was electrifying, like music to his ears. Pity…she rarely laughed these days, in the past she had a light hearted demeanour but certain events had repressed that side of her. Yet upon seeing his older counterpart and mentor, old long forgotten questions, unearthed themselves in Freddy's mind, troubling him.

_"I have questions, Goldie and you hold the answers."_

Not further up the aisle, Springtrap with Foxy's assistance was almost finished doing his job of clearing away the remains of destroyed endoskeletons. He could the sounds of talking and turned to see Goldie talking with Bonnie, they appeared to be laughing while in conversation.

_"I have questions, Goldie and only you can answer them," _he thought, he too had questions…questions which burned deep into his mind, producing a deadly mix of emotions.

"_I've been waiting long enough. . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tensions lie beneath the surface, bubbling away like an old wound.  
No one is truly innocent in this story, it varies depending on your perspective.  
They maybe out of Vincent's reach, but he's isn't the only one on their tail as you all know... ;-)


	8. Arrival at Jeremy's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By now the plot has been firmly established, this chapter is kind of a transfer from one scene to the next, if you get my meaning.  
They're not out of the woods yet...  
Also this chapter features the song Can't Hide by ChaoticCanineCulture.

Chapter 8.

Arrival at Jeremy's.

"_**Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny."**_

_ **CS Lewis** _

Mike could see the outlines of Chicago's skyscrapers in the far distance.

"Let's see, visibility is good, maneuverability is still with us...and fuel is at 1%, crap."

He pressed on the intercom, now was a good time to use it.

"Mangle to the cockpit please," he ordered, his voice echoing throughout the speakers. Within a matter of seconds, Mangle swiftly appeared beside Mike, despite the work she had been enduring, she hadn't broken a sweat.

"I've already finished removing the harpoons, also Springtrap and Foxy have done their job and the hatch is now sealed shut," she said.

"Good, now strapped yourself in, we're about to land, oh, can you tell everyone else to strap themselves in too please," Mike asked, pressing a series of buttons.

Mangle pressed down on the intercom

"Attention fellow passengers, please return to your seats and strap yourselves in...'if you wanna live'," she ordered.

"Why did you say the last part in a deep voice?" Mike asked.

"It's makes them move quicker, if you foreshadow their impending doom," Mangle replied.

_"Right," _Mike thought, rolling his eyes.

Then the warning lights flashed red, as the propellers started to wind down.

"Get ready," Mike whispered.

Everyone else was in their seats, strapping themselves in.

The fuel dial reached zero...the propellers stopped spinning, slowly grinding to a halt. The airship appeared to glide.

"Well...now to just guide this thing down to a place that's suitable for landing," Mike stated, looking relived that his worst fears hadn't come true.

Suddenly the airship dived, nose first, getting faster and faster, as it rolled upside down, spiraling towards the ground. "CRAP, I KNEW THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A PERFECT LANDING!" Mike screamed, struggling to control the now barely flyable airship.

"Mike, do you know that in 95% of all air crashes the pilot dies," Mangle stated. Mike looked at her, shocked by the situation in which Mangle had decided to share that 'valuable' piece of information.

"DO YOU THINK THAT FUCKING HELPS!" He shouted.

"It highlights the seriousness of your position," Mangle replies.

"AND FALLING OUT OF THE FUCKING SKY DOESN'T, HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A THING CALLED SOCIAL TAC!" Mike shouted back, trying to turn the airship upright and bring it out of its free fall. "Sorry, it was something I read about," Mangle replied, scratching her head.

Mike just groaned.

"Just tell me how far are we from the ground?" he asked, trying to regain control over the airship.

"About 700 feet, but we dropping too fast to land, we need to lose weight and fast!" Mangle replied, looking at the radar altimeter.

"What's even worse is that this thing could tear itself apart, everything is shaking," Mike stated, briefly looking round to see the entire cockpit rattling, as the sounds of metal bending echoed throughout the ship's interior. "MIKE, YOU BETTER LAND THIS THING IN ONE PIECE, OR MY DEAD SOUL WILL POSSESS SOMETHING AND HAUNT YOU WITH IT!" Freddy shouted, trying to be heard over the sound of gushing wind.

_"Thanks for the encouragement Freddy, you always say the right things," _Mike thought.

"We're at 600 feet," said Mangle counting down.

Then a loud metallic snap was heard above them, followed by the sounds of metal groaning and grinding, tearing itself apart. One of the propellers, the damaged one tore its self away from the airship, in the act of doing so it banged into the second propeller, dragging that along with it into the waiting jaws of destruction.

"Great, now we've lost both propellers," Mangle stated, she was starting to panic.

"Oh well, we were out of fuel anyway," Mike replied, shrugging off her concern as he turned the airship upright with the use of the wheel.

They were now 500 feet from the ground, he just needed to release the landing gear. Mike pulled on the required lever, causing the landing gear to assemble, it's wheels unfolding like butterfly wings. Meanwhile in the passenger compartment, Toy Bonnie was finding it thrilling, yet at the same time scary.

Springtrap and Goldie were sitting next to each other, somewhat unfazed by the whole ordeal, watching the airship tear itself apart around them. Others however were taking the opportunity to confess their secrets to each other in case they didn't survive the outcome.

"Bonnie, Chica, Foxy," I just want you all to know that you were all one in million friends, I'm glad to have known and performed beside you all in the last thirty years."

They all genuinely seemed taken back by that with Bonne's eyes filling with tears of affection.

"Awww, Freddy, you can tell me anything," she said sweetly, moving closer to hug him.

"Bonnie, I broke your guitar," Freddy stated plainly.

Bonnie's face instantly darken, the smile completely vanished.

"YOU WHAT!" She screamed in anger, even though she was sitting next to him.

"I tried to use it, but it wouldn't work so I threw it against the wall," Freddy confessed, unveiling his guilt.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU FOR THIS!" Bonnie shouted, proceeding to smack Freddy on the head repeatedly, but was being blocked by his arms.

Yet she was a capable fighter and she wasn't giving up easily. "I was able to put it back to together and it still works as well as the day it was made!" Freddy protested, trying to keep the enraged Bonnie at bay despite her best efforts. Meanwhile several seats forward, a much different conversation was taking place.

"Toy Chica, I took your cupcake and hid it in the office, it was a bit of fun that's all," Toy Bonnie confessed, turning to face Toy Chica, who looked completely surprised.

"That's it...that's not much of a confession," she replied plainly.

"I actually expected you to confess your untold undying love for Toy Freddy, now would be the time."

Toy Bonnie blushed bright pink in the face, worse still Toy Freddy was sitting right next to her within earshot. "Toy Chica, that's nuts, why would I love Toy Freddy?" Toy Bonnie giggled, tightening her grip on her seat to hide her obvious nervousness.

"You girls do know I'm right next to you," Toy Freddy calmly stated, turning his head in their direction. "We know, we know," Toy Bonnie replied, her blush growing even bigger, this was getting out of hand.

"Well you always smile at him for a start," Toy Chica muttered, laying out her evidence. "People always smile at their friends Toy Chica," Toy Bonnie answered, trying to keep herself together. Yet Toy Chica shook her head, making her bright blonde hair swing from side to side.

"But you write songs for him, you draw pictures of him, you imagine yourself in a white dress in a church and at night you call out for him in your sleep-"

Toy Bonnie clamped her hand around Toy Chica's mouth, yet she kept on talking. Toy Bonnie turned to look at Toy Freddy, fully expecting to see him shocked and confused.

But on the contrary, Toy Freddy had his hands clamped on his ears.

"It's ok, I didn't hear a word she said, besides Toy Chica kind of has a habit of pulling random things out of the air, like the time she thought Mangle was a secret agent working for Jeremy," he said smiling, dismissing Toy Chica's words.

Toy Bonnie nodded, glad that Toy Freddy had decided to spare her further embarrassment, her inner fears vanished.

_"But does he love me?" _She thought, because what Toy Chica had said was true…well most of it. She turned to face Toy Chica, seeing that the latter had finally stopped talking, she removed her hand from her mouth.

Then she remembered Toy Chica's secret crush.

Time to turn the guns on her for once.

"So…what's your confession, who's the special someone?" She asked, now smiling smugly as verbally cornered the girl.

Now it was Toy Chica's turn to feel nervous, put she kept a strong face.

"I'll only say one thing and that's he has a heart of gold," she replied stubbornly.

"Well..." Toy Bonnie giggled, mischief once again sparkled in her warm green eyes.

"That only leaves two people."

Foxy, meanwhile was gripping Chica's hand as the latter leaned on him for comfort amidst the unfolding chaos. "So, lassie, how was everyone else, did anything interesting happen while I was out?" he asked, turning to face her, eye to eye. Chica smiled, it was great to see him again, alive and well, she had made no secret of her feelings for him and he had responded in kind.

"Well..." she began, trying to take her mind off the fact that the airship was spiraling towards its destruction. Balloon Boy was trying to keep Puppet warm and wrapping her in his blanket.

"How's the pain Puppet?" He asked, concern rising in his eyes as the airship rocked from side to side as it fell out of the sky. "I'm fine...Balloon Boy...just fine," Puppet replied, her teeth were chattering, she suddenly felt cold. Balloon Boy proceeded to move Puppet aside and climbed into the same seat, strapping the seatbelt around both of them. He then hugged her tightly, wrapping his arms around her thin bone like body. He absorbed her embrace as her long jet-black hair fell over his head.

"What...are...you...doing?" Puppet asked, with her voice becoming a whisper.

"Giving you my body warmth," Balloon Boy replied, whispering back.

She looked so brittle in that battered state, she could break like glass. Slowly Puppet smiled, with eyes lighting up with emotion. "You...really...care...don't...you?" She asked, with her mind casting back to earlier years, reviewing the interactions they shared together.

"Yes...I care an unlawful lot about you," Balloon Boy replied, smiling back, his smile was so bright and endearing. Puppet then sighed, closing her eyes, before reopening them again. Her expression, made BB raise his eyebrows in wonder.

"Something wrong, do you need more pain killers?" he asked.

Puppet shook her head.

"No, it's not that, it's…"

She looked up to meet him in the eye.

"I want to apologies for the way I've treated you these past few decades, in truth I ignored you."

"You were trying to be a friend and maybe more than that, but I want you to know that I appreciate your attempts and I am sorry for giving you the cold shoulder."

Balloon Boy hugged her even tighter with his arms now around her neck as their heads rested against each other. Jet black interlocking with light brown, baby blue pupils staring lovingly back into bright white dots.

"I forgive you completely…"

Further up the aisle from his seat, Springtrap watched their little moment, in his heart he longed for something similar to happen to him. Spending thirty-seven years in a dream like state, had been at times unbearably lonely, to the point which he had lost all sense of time. He was about to say something to Goldie, when a massive metallic snapping sound echoed throughout the passenger compartment.

There was a loud groaning noise, the same sound which metal makes when it is being bent and distorted out of its natural shape. Everyone looked back in time to see the storage compartment break off completely from the rest of the airship, letting air in and creating a powerful pressurizing draft.

"OH FUCK, MIKE, WE'VE JUST LOST THE STORAGE COMPARTMENT!" Foxy shouted, gripping onto Chica as anything in the passenger compartment which wasn't tied down was swiftly sucked outside. Chairs, guns, first aid knits, any endoskeleton remains and any personal items, you name it was gone within a matter of mini seconds. The storage compartment without any power of its own, just fell out of the sky like a lead balloon, bringing a monstrous trail of debris behind it.

Thank God it wasn't falling onto a residential area. To Mike and Mangle however, the loss of the storage compartment was the weight reduction they needed.

"Perfect, now to bring the nose up and let gravity do its work," said Mike, pulling up on the throttle.

The airship now brought out its dive, continued to glide through air, getting closer and closer to the ground.

"EVERYONE BRACE NOW!" Mike shouted, pulling the throttle up.

The airship's landing gear touched the ground...only to have itself torn clean off by the combined shock of hitting the ground and the airship's speed. The gun turret suffered no less, being wrenched from its holding and burying itself into the ground upon impact.

"SHIT, WE'LL BE TORN TO SHREDS!" Mangle screamed, curling herself up into a ball for protection.

_"Not if the ship slows down, or doesn't hit a barn-"_

Then Mike saw an abandoned barn up ahead as the airship ploughed through fields of corn and barely.

_"Oh Jesus, I just had to say it," _he thought, as the airship craved itself a path through field after field after never-ending corn.

The airship slammed into the barn, causing it to collapse into a pile of broken painted wood.

_"Ok we've survived that, now if the ship would just slow down and-"_

Then the airship skidded across the ground, digging into the dirt, before the continuous impact began to slow it down amidst a field of corn, which was now pretty much crushed. Upon finally stopping, having been skidding for about a mile, gravity and the heavy damage taken to the ship's exterior structure throughout the whole flight caused it to collapse, leaving a barren, open, twisted, barely standing wreck which was once an airship.

One could describe it as the remains of the ill-fated Hindenburg airship, minus the fireball which had infamously engulfed it.

Mike undid his seatbelt and stood up straight.

"Well Mangle who says a night guard can fly," he said with an air of smugness, as he turned and opened the door to the passenger compartment.

Both Mike and Mangle found the others all clutching onto their seats, so tightly that their skin had gone white. They were all breathing deeply with wide eye stares, unaware that the worst had passed.

"Relax Freddy, you'll live," Mike laughed heartily patting Freddy on the shoulder as he walked by.

Freddy didn't respond, but continued to stare forward, not reacting to the world around him. Foxy couldn't get out of his seat as Chica had wrapped herself around him and wouldn't move.

The Toys were in a slightly better state...with the exception of Toy Chica who was gripping Toy Bonnie's hand tightly to the point it had gone white from the lack of blood circulation.

Toy Freddy had to use his strength to separate the two. The Puppet and Balloon Boy were ok as they could be, with Balloon Boy having shielded the Puppet from the worst of the ordeal. Springtrap and Goldie, were unscratched and somewhat unnaturally relaxed to say the least.

"We're both fine, as are the others...not the calmest of landings, but we are alive none the less, thanks Mike," Goldie commented, tipping his hat to the former night guard.

Mike nodded in response, he grinned.

"Well being a mechanic has its uses."

"It's a good thing you're a pilot," Goldie stated, also smiling, clearly pleased with Mike's level of skill.

Mike's smile however dropped.

"When did I say that I was a pilot, I never went to flight school."

Now it was Goldie's turn to stop smiling.

"Wait, you never had proper training!" He was exclaimed.

Mike was just surprised by Goldie's reaction.

"Well, learning on your own was hard and granted I don't about every flight manoeuvre, but it worked didn't it."

"We could have died, had you got into a situation which you weren't prepared for."

Then Springtrap rose up between them.

"Gentleman," he began in a calm and sarcastic manner.

"Whilst your debate is 'undeniably exciting', my thoughts turn to the whereabouts of the storage compartment?"

"Well, best guess, it's hurtling down towards the earth, should land somewhere nearby."

Then there was a loud mechanical boom from somewhere very close by, which set off a tremor traveling through the earth, it was enough to make anyone nearby stumble momentarily.

"That'll be it," Mike stated.

"And the propellers?" Goldie asked, his tone was one of deep foreboding.

Not a second too soon came two distinct shattering sounds, no doubt it was the propellers, Luckily both of them had no fuel, otherwise there would have been an almighty fiery explosion. Freddy then rose up from his seat, as did Bonnie, while Foxy was still struggling to escape from Chica's iron like grip.

"Lassie, you can let go now, the danger has passed," he said, trying to pull her off him.

Freddy turned to face Mike and Goldie.

"Where's Jeremy?" He asked.

"Should be nearby, he's properly seen us land and is heading towards us right now," Mike replied. Then a honking noise was heard outside, instantly Mike's face lit up with joy.

"That'll be him."

Springtrap was the first to emerge from the twisted wreckage, his untidy appearance earned him a confused look from Jeremy, who had just parked nearby in his van.

"JEREMY!" Mike cried, upon seeing the familiar vehicle.

Jeremy stepped out and walked towards the group.

"MIKE, HOW ARE YOU?" He shouted in joy throwing his arms around his old friend. Jeremy was in his mid-thirties, with a similar slim build to Mike, but had green eyes and light brownish hair, whereas Mike had blue eyes and whose hair held a darker shade of brown.

"Great Jeremy just great, we've had a rough flight, we just need to rest before I can tell you the whole story, but it'll shock you," Mike replied, patting his friend on the back. Jeremy then stepped back to see the others, he instantly recognised the Toys who were now making their way out of the wreckage. Mangle upon seeing Jeremy, instantly ran up and hugged him tightly, so much that she could even lift him up off his feet momentarily.

"JEREMY, I'VE MISSED YOU SOOOO MUCH!" She shouted with joy.

"Thanks...Mangle," Jeremy responded, trying vanquished his inner fears which originated from his night shifts. He patted her softly on the head.

"Hi Jeremy, you remember me?" Freddy asked, stepping forward with Bonnie.

Jeremy grinned and nodded.

"Sure, how could anyone forget you Freddy and the same thing for you too Bonnie, your childhood icons," Jeremy stated, shaking Freddy's and Bonnie's hand. He then leaned out and look behind them.

"Where's Chica and Foxy?" he asked.

"They still inside, Chica still frozen to her seat, the landing was rather rough," Bonnie answered.

"And of course, I remember you four very well, the supposed new and improved Fazbear Gang," said Jeremy turning to face the Toys, as they wandered up to join the conversation.

"We're more qualified and talented, then they'll ever be," Toy Freddy replied with a tone of mocked anger, pointing at his older counterparts.

"That'll be the day when pigs fly," Toy Chica sarcastically yelled back. Then Jeremy turned to face Springtrap and Goldie.

"Goldie, how are you, who is the other guy?" he asked, studying the newcomer with polite interest.

"I'm fine Jeremy, you're looking well," Goldie replied smiling. He then stepped aside to allow Springtrap to introduce himself.

"I'm Springtrap, his bandmate," the other Bonnie lookalike answered.

Jeremy gave him a puzzled look.

"SpringBonnie."

"Haven't heard of him."

"I play the banjo."

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"Fredbear's Family Diner."

Jeremy paused to think before answering.

"No sorry," he said, causing a sad Springtrap to lower his head.

"Oh well, I was in a deep coma for the last thirty seven years, that's why no ones' heard of me."

"I see your point…Springtrap was it, you've been out for a long time...well come on, my place is three miles away at best, you'll all be able eat and rest there, I imagine you lot haven't eaten since you left Fazbear's Pizzeria," Jeremy stated, his eyes looking at everyone present.

Several people nodded, while patting their stomachs.

"Right then, everyone get in the back of Jeremy's-"

Before Mike could finish his sentence, a high pitch scream was heard from within the wreckage. Moments later, Foxy emerged with a clearly distressed Chica and Balloon Boy in toe. In Foxy's arms, he carried the Puppet...eyes closed and wasn't responding to anything.

"CAPTAIN, THE PUPPET!" He shouted, presenting the Puppet to Freddy and Mike. Freddy quickly put his fingers on the Puppet's neck...he felt a pulse...but it was very faint.

"She's still alive, but only just," he said.

"Quick get her in the back, I have medical supplies at my house, we'll take a shortcut, it'll cut the journey time in half," Jeremy replied, opening up the back doors of his van.

Foxy leapt inside and laid the Puppet down carefully, as the others clambered in behind him. Jeremy took the driver's seat, as Mike took the passenger. Jamming his key into the ignition, Jeremy pressed his feet down on the accelerator, making the car rush forward.

"Quick, give me a scalpel, we must remove the bullet, or she'll die," said Toy Bonnie trying to open up the Puppet's dress.

Her dress as it appeared to be some sort of soft, leathery body overall, although she course wore clothes underneath. "Here, but the bullet is embedded into the bone, it'll be tough to remove," Chica replied, passing her the scalpel. "It's worth a shot," Mangle stated, crawling around the van's ceiling, to get a better view of the situation.

"We'll reach my place in about 15 minutes at our current speed," Jeremy shouted, as the car started to race down the country track towards the line of houses which marked the start of Chicago's outer limits.

"Just try not to get us all killed on the way there if you could Jeremy, that would be nice," Mike stated, with a hint of humour. "Sorry Mike, needs must...by the way could you bail me out of prison if I do get arrested for this, about $200" Jeremy asked, as he turned a sharp corner.

"WHAT, I DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY ON ME," Mike shouted in protest.

"Well you better start looking for help wanted signs as a backup if we do crash," Jeremy replied, twisting the steering wheel.

He of course was being sarcastic, but Mike didn't exactly see the funny side. Between the two of them, Jeremy was more a relaxed kind of guy, whereas Mike was more serious in his outlook about things.

"Come on Puppet stay with me, we need you to be awake right now, Toy Freddy keep her airways open," Toy Bonnie ordered, slowly cutting into the Puppet's pale white skin to make an incursion. "Keep it open, someone keep it open for Christ's sake, or I can't get the fucking bullet out," Toy Bonnie stressed, trying to pinpoint which part of the shoulder blade she should operate on.

Freddy examined the first of three aid knits.

"There's no clamps, THERE'S NO CLAMPS!" He yelled.

Goldie checked the other two...it bore the same result.

"THERE'S NO CLAMPS IN EITHER OF THEM!" He shouted, throwing the box's contents out onto the floor.

"WE NEED THAT BULLET OUT NOW OR SHE'LL DIE!" Chica screamed.

"SHE'LL DIE!" Balloon Boy screeched, before exploding into an uncontrollable sob, Chica and Mangle had to comfort him, trying to calm him down, to give Toy Bonnie room to focus.

"Allow me," said Springtrap, reaching forward, he pulled on the skin, widening the breach already made.

"Thanks," Toy Bonnie replied, lowering the blade into the wound.

"It's at the top of the shoulder blade, near where it connects to the collar bone, high caution is advised as there is a lot of nerve tissue," Springtrap stated, watching the scalpel's movements. "Just hold the skin back please...I think I can see the bullet...Jesus that's deep...alright I need the tweezers?" Toy Bonnie asked, trying to keep the knife steady.

Foxy responded by placing a set of tweezers in her hands.

"Cheers," she replied, smiling briefly at him.

She then slowly lowered the tweezers into the wound, being carefully not to touch anything else. _"Slowly...it's here I know it...almost...dam it this is thing is deep...wait...I think...oh god she'll be in agony if she wakes up right now." _Toy Bonnie thought, as she panicked internally.

The tweezers clamped around the bullet...or at least the half of it that stuck out. Toy Bonnie pulled with a steady pressure and the bullet slowly compiled with her movements, shifting out of the bone. Upon becoming completely free, Toy Bonnie slowly pulled the bullet out, it was coated in thick blood and tissue.

"Shit..." Springtrap whispered, but his tone was undeniably that of fear.

"What?" Mangle asked, ignoring Balloon Boy's sobs to ask the question. Springtrap had his hand on the Puppet's throat, feeling for her pulse.

"I think...I think we're losing her," Springtrap answered. He continued to search for her pulse, pulling in a major vein, to get a fair reading.

"She's going, her pulse, it's very weak," he said, trying to determine how long she had left.

"OH FUCK, QUICK OPEN HER AIRWAYS, FREDDY PUSH DOWN ON HER CHEST NOW!" Toy Chica ordered.

"I DON'T KNOW CPR!" Freddy yelled, holding his hands up in the air.

"THAT'S CHICA'S THING!"

"NO, SHE CAN'T DIE, SHE JUST CAN'T!" Balloon Boy screamed, pushing both Chica and Mangle aside and grasping into the Puppet, like his life depended on it.

"Don't die...I never got to know your other name...you know the one that begins with M...Marionette was it?" He asked, holding her...she appeared lifeless with her unopened eyes. She moved like a lifeless doll, when Balloon Boy had hold of her, even though she was still breathing faintly. "Please don't leave me, don't leave us...I can finally answer your question from earlier, I do 'like like' you Puppet, a lot, an awful lot."

He then pressed his head against hers, hugging her evermore tightly.

_"I love you Mari...don't go," _he whispered as rivers of tears began to roll down his face.

Mangle slowly pulled the sobbing child away, allowing Toy Bonnie the space to give her mouth to mouth resuscitation, while Freddy to push down on her chest. "Bonnie, disinfect the wound and bind it up please if you can?" Freddy asked, without taking his eyes of the Puppet, whose eyes remained shut.

Bonnie nodded, before getting out the required the items from one of the three aid knits they'd brought with them.

"Come on Puppet, don't die on us right now, you want to live and we know it," said Freddy, trying to ensure that the Puppet's heart maintained a regular beat.

"Come on, you want to see justice done right, just as much as we do."

"What do we do?" Toy Freddy asked, as Goldie only watched beside him a cold silence.

"Pray laddie, just pray to any god," Foxy added, his concern was rising as the Puppet continued to remain motionless.

"Can she hear us?" Mangle asked, lowering herself down from the van's inner ceiling.

"Well, when you're dying, your hearing is the last sense that leaves you," Toy Chica commented, searching throughout the other aid knits to find anything of use.

* * *

"**Bring you down here in the dead of night…"****  
**

**"Keep you working, try to survive."** **  
**

**"We are secretly watching you too."** **  
**

**"Trying our best to get at you…"** **  
**

**"RUN!"**

Indeed, Toy Chica was right, for the Puppet could hear them, very clearly in fact..._but she couldn't wake up._

She was falling down, down into the never-ending darkness of what one could amuse to be death. She was frightened, unsure of her surroundings and filled with dread of what could await in here.

"Where am I, what is going on!" she asked herself, as she panicked internally.

Then without warning she landed on what felt like a cold hard floor, the sensation sent shivers up her spine. In fact, she landed in a seated position, feeling her backside make contact with the ice-cold floor. She could see nothing...hear nothing...only feel with her fingers the cold smoothness of the floor that she sat on.

"Where am I?" She asked, her eyes trying to make some sense of her surroundings.

Then as if her question was being answered, everything was lit up with a bright light, like a massive spotlight. Once the brightness faded, her surroundings were the least suspecting. It was a long stone hall lined with lampposts and what appeared to be statues stationed on either side.

"Strange...I've never seen this place before," she muttered, pushing herself off the ground to stand up straight. Internally she could guess that this place was not real, that she was in some sort of dream like state and her subconscious had created this world.

She decided to explore, whilst she had the opportunity, proceeding to walk around, inspecting the statues. Upon closer inspection, she could see that they were motionless life-like versions of her friends all of them...even Springtrap was there, standing on the opposite side to Goldie

Walking along, she saw Freddy and Bonnie on one side, while Chica and Foxy where on the other, all eyes closed and not moving. Yet they were kept in a group, in fact all the Fazbears were isolated into groups, Originals, Toys and the first generation, that being Goldie and Springtrap.

To the Puppet, this felt very creepy especially when she passed them, _were they really watching her...or were they merely pretending to be asleep?_

Was there anything threatening in this world, or was it completely abandoned save for her. She knew enough about the mental world, that when in a dream, the feeling of the subconscious influences what is, the environment, people, all of it was created and sustained by the emotional state of the subconscious.

Further down, she saw the statues of the Toys in the same pattern, with Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie on one side, and Toy Chica and Mangle being stationed on the other. The only difference, was that there was a Balloon Boy statue next to Mangle.

"Balloon Boy," Puppet enquired in a tone of excitement and joy, quickly walking towards the life-like statue. She leaned in closer, inspecting BB's facial features.

"Cute blue eyes, small hands, loose brown hair, and an adorable little nose," she said, smiling as she straightened the statue's hat so it fitted his head.

"Not to mentioned, an unforgettable smile," she muttered, as she stared longingly at the BB lookalike.

Since their moment on the airship, something had awakened within her, a strong desire for companionship. Turning away from the Balloon Boy statue, she continued to walk down the hall, noting the statues of both Goldie and Springtrap in greater detail.

In stark contrast, Goldie looked well dressed and came over as charismatic like a modern gentleman, whereas Springtrap looked shabby and his demeanour suggested that he was somewhat rough around the edges. But she only registered them briefly, as her eyes caught something else of interest at the far end of the hall. Leaving the statues of Goldie and Springtrap behind, she walked cautiously towards her new interest warry of any new developments.

Ahead of her were four figures...obliviously by their shape and size, they were more statues. However, unlike all the others, they were covered up by white sheets with a sign in front, saying, 'Do not touch, beware may cause injury if provoked!'

"Strange...what are these?" Puppet asked herself, but of course no reply came and she herself, didn't know the answer.

She walked up, staring at the statues, wondering what lay underneath the covers. Slowly she reached out and took hold of one of the covers, preparing to pull it off and see what lay beneath.

_"I wouldn't do that if I were you...'marionette'," _a soft, charismatic voice whispered behind her. Instantly Puppet turned round on the spot and saw nothing.

"Whose there?" she asked out loud.

"Show yourself…now!"

Then the lights died, plunging the entire hall into complete darkness.

Puppet's fears levels began to rise.

However, what happened next made them skyrocket to critical.

_"Is that you...Puppet?" _A cold smooth voice asked, followed by a soft chuckle..._it was coming from one of the four statues._

She dropped the sheets and ran, with her feet pounding the polish stone floor. She ended up duckling behind the Springtrap statue. The atmosphere in the room had suddenly changed. Puppet hugged her knees with her hands, as she sat on the floor, trying to make herself as small as possible.

Not to mention, she was trying to stay quiet.

She heard footsteps nearby in the pitch darkness..._one of the sheet covered statues was moving._

Her feelings of insecurity only continued to rise, reaching new heights.

_"Puppet...Ohhh Puppet...the joy of creation...the bringer of life...hello...are you hiding...pity...we could be friends," _the voice called.

The Puppet's ears pricked at the voice's familiarity, it was youthful, cheerful, although there was an obvious sinister dark undertone to it.

_"Freddy?" _she thought, it sounded so much like him.

The footsteps bounced off the surrounding walls, but their loudness strongly indicated to the Puppet that her intruder was close by.

"**You can run."****  
**

**"You can't hide."** **  
**

**"We'll always seek."** **  
**

**"We'll always find."** **  
**

**"You can run, but you can't hide."** **  
**

**"We'll always seek."** **  
**

**"We'll always find."** **  
**

**"You can run."** **  
**

**"You can try."** **  
**

**"You can run, but you can't hide."** **  
**

**"You can run, you can try."** **  
**

**"You can run, but you can't hide!"**

_"I know your here Puppet...I can sense you...are you hiding...tsh, tsh, tsh...hiding behind statues is not very lady-like...come on, come on out and meet me in the open?" _The voice asked.

_"No," _the Puppet thought, keeping herself as still as it was humanly possible.

_"Not playing fair...oh well...I guess I have no other choice,"_ the voice answered, although the Puppet didn't answer back.

Several loud smashes and chaotic bangs was heard on the opposite side to where the Puppet was hiding.

The sounds of several things being hit and broken filled the stale air. Then suddenly a statue head was thrown over her head, impacting against the opposing wall which faced Puppet, before it landed on the floor with a deafening clang. It was Foxy's head, only now it was deeply scarred and bashed. The eyes had been grouched out and one of his ears had been torn off, yet the entire thing was made of solid stone.

_"What the!" _The Puppet mentally screamed, covering her mouth with her hands.

The noises continued, as she stared at the mangled head.

_"Are you ready for Freddy?"_ The voice asked politely, amidst the sounds of statues being toppled and smashed.

The momentum of their impact upon hitting the floor, travelled far, as Puppet could feel the multiple vibrations.

_"I said 'are you ready for Freddy', Puppet?"_ The voice asked again, now sounding angry, as it tossed a now headless Toy Bonnie statue against the Golden Freddy statue. The resulting impact broke both statues with the Toy Bonnie statue being broken in two at the waist, before fracturing into even more pieces. The Golden Freddy statue cracked at the waist, with the top half toppling over backwards, leaving a half a body left on its stand.

_"I SAID ARE YOU READY FOR FREDDY, PUPPET!"_ The voice screamed in a rage, so loud that forced the Puppet covered her ears.

She now faced two clear choices, either stay here or run and try to find a way out of this place. Laughter filled the air as the voice's owner now appeared being enjoying its orgy of destruction.

"_Why are you turning this into a challenge, I will find you Puppet, I do control this place after all,"_ it announced with a firm tone of determination.

"**They're laughing while finding."****  
**

**"I'm hiding, I'm trying."** **  
**

**"I feel like she's lying."** **  
**

**"I feel like I'm dying."** **  
**

**"She's guiding me quietly…"** **  
**

**"Instructing me blindly."** **  
**

**"Afraid of what might be..."** **  
**

**"I feel like I'm dying."**

"**Hide!"**

More statues were being broken and then tossed about the room as if they were nothing more than toys. Fractured chunks of painted stone hit the ground and cracked into even more pieces upon impact.

A loud groan of immense frustration came from somewhere nearby.

_"PUPPET, I KNOW YOUR IN HERE SOMEWHERE!"_ The voice shouted, picking up the Balloon Boy statue.

It threw the statue at the opposing statue of Springtrap, knocking it over backwards. Puppet could sense the inevitable and rolled out of the way and just in time as the statue smacked into the ground, shattering upon impact. The Puppet gasped in her fright, as she instinctively ducked behind another as of yet undestroyed statue.

She had wanted to turn in the direction of the newcomer and see their face, but she didn't as it would reveal her location.Upon hearing her gasp, two dark red eyes which shone like rubies, turned to face her, but nothing, but empty space.

The eyes aggressively darted about in the dark, hunting for any possible hiding spots.

"**I hear a sound."****  
**

**"It's properly just a mouse."** **  
**

**"I see them in the dark."** **  
**

**"I only saw a spark."** **  
**

**"I know there's someone there."** **  
**

**"Not as far as I'm aware."** **  
**

**"Why don't you believe me?"** **  
**

**"Maybe you're right."** **  
**

**"It's just another night."** **  
**

**"But I heard a creak."** **  
**

**"Just go back to sleep."** **  
**

**"I'm always quick to rage."** **  
**

**"So go back to your stage. . ."  
**

Puppet looked about, best guess she was hiding behind the Bonnie statue, she could try to make some form of distraction as so to create some distance between her and the 'thing' hunting her. She was sitting on the floor with her back hugging the stone base of the statue, her mind was racing, what this a dream, a nightmare?

Had she merely past out from her injuries, due to potential blood loss?  
Or was this death and the thing chasing her was the grim reaper himself, coming to claim her soul?

The sounds of heavy footsteps nearby, caused her to break her chain of thoughts, she wanted to escape…but how?

There was no sense of an exit in here, plus it was far too dark make anything out properly, unless you were right up close. Yet still she wanted to get anything from whoever it was that was hounding her.

"_Puppet…"_ the voice called again, this time it was much more relaxed.

"_You that there isn't a way out of here, I can offer you the path to freedom, but first you must come out and answer my questions."_

"_I don't desire to harm you, but your attempts at hiding are eroding my patience."_

There was a subtle growl, before the figure continued.

"_So, it's best that we get this over and done with."_

There was a loud solid smack, the Puppet couldn't see what it was, but the figure had just smashed its fist into the Chica statue, cracking her chest inwards.

"_I'm serious."_

For a while there was nothing but silence as the figure awaited the Puppet's reply, but it never came. Venting its frustration, the figure's grabbed hold of Chica's head and with one ferocious yank, it came free of its stone neck. Then it was sent hurling across the room, by passing the head of the Bonnie's statue by a few inches as it impacted into the wall and then under its own weight fell to the floor.

The sound and the shock, made Puppet gasp in fright, she covered her mouth, but it was done.

The figure's eyes widen with immediate recognition as it zeroed in on its target.

"**Wait…Now I hear it!"**

"**RUN!"**

Instantly it swept over to the source of the Puppet's gasp, moving around the Bonnie statue to the back, its dark red eyes filled with joy and celebration of having finally found her.

This little game of cat and mouse had gone on for long enough.

"**What's that sound?"****  
**

**"I know someone's there."** **  
**

**"Hiding in the shadows, thinking I was unaware."** **  
**

**"Well..."** **  
**

**"Who's that I see?"** **  
**

**The Birthday-Boy-To-Be?"** **  
**

**"Let's invite him over."** **  
**

**"Hurry up before he's bolder."** **  
**

**"Oh Bon-Bon!"** **  
**

**"Let's make this fun!"** **  
**

**"You can't deter me this time, no I'm done!"** **  
**

**"I won't go back to my stage."** **  
**

**"It's my new trend."** **  
**

**"Well, let's say hi to the new friend!"**

Puppet was not there though, even in the pitch dark, it could see that she wasn't there, only empty space. Anger filled the figure's veins, quickly becoming a tidal wave of emotion. Yet it didn't overreact, calming itself down and keeping its anger in check. Time for a change in tactics, intimidation was clearly not working. Judging with the aspect of realism, she couldn't have reached the other side without it seeing her, so she must have moved further up the hall.

Puppet meanwhile was running for her life, or rather she was quickly tiptoeing her way to safety, trying to avoid giving away her location by making a sound. She knew that the figure was somewhere behind her in the dark, no doubt searching for her in vain. Yet at the same time, there was no obvious escape route, no exit sign. She could barely see anything in front of her, her vision was extremely limited to that of her personal space, so she needed to rely on hearing more than ever.

"Where's the exit, where is the exit…where is that God dam exit?"

She knew that the figure would be following her, tracking her movements. Isolated in the dark and being chased was feeding her fears, impacting her ability to think clearly. Pity…because if she could think clearly then she might had reached the conclusion that she was walking straight into a solid stone wall. The sudden impact of walking into face first resulted in her groaning in pain, it was instinctive, she couldn't control it.

"Ahh...bloody hell."

She stumbled backwards…only to come into physical contact with someone. Instantly she frozen, as claws came out from behind and grabbed hold of her shoulders, digging in. She looked up to be met by a pair of smug dark red eyes which widen in recognition.

"**I knew I was right…to think I would find you over here."**

She began to struggle, but the figure only further strengthens its hold on her, refusing to let her go.**  
**

**"Well isn't it intriguing that…"**

"_If you continue to struggle, then you should fear the conquences,"_ the figure hissed aggressively as it turned the Puppet round to face it properly.

**"You seem to be just…a little bit weary of Bon-Bon and me."**

It pushed Puppet harshly against the wall, pinning her in place and ensuring that she couldn't break free**.****  
**

**"Well there's no need..."** **  
**

**"We know you want to deactivate us, but we just can't let that happen."**

"LET ME GO!" Puppet screamed, trying to break free with all her might, if only she could get the opportunity to unleash her strings.**  
**

**"Every night always it never changes."**

But the figure was equally determined not to let that happen, further pushing her into the wall, eroding her ability to move.**  
**

**"But we can make accidents happen. . ."**

_"Please stop, my little one, I only want to talk to you," _it said, leaning into her, quickly closing the gap between them.

"LET ME GO NOW!" Puppet yelled, thrashing about to break free, loosening the figure's grip. However, it only replied by grasping Puppet by the arms and then sharply twisting them, sending a wave of pain through her bones as they began to buckle.

Was this figure's strength capable of breaking human bones?

_"So, breakable as I thought, like a real-life puppet," _the figure muttered, observing her attempts to break free of its grip.

Puppet's eyes narrowed at that comment, it struck deep.

"How dare you!" she hissed in a hurt and vengeful tone. Suddenly one of her arms broke free and she took the opportunity to unleash her strings.

A black string surged out from under her sleeve and with quick speed, it lashed fiercely against the figure's face. It would appear to have hit home as the figure's eyes changed their position, jerking sharply to the right.

She expected it to growl like the animal that it was, but instead it chuckled warmly as if in delight.

"_That's a bad girl!"_

"**We can make accidents happen. . ."**

Puppet brought her free arm round, ready to strike, but the stranger merely bashed it aside, like a fly.

Then it hit her hard in the stomach, with its fist impacting her like a shock wave which rippled throughout her lower body. It was so hard that she could feel her inner organs being jolted about. She lurched forward only to then have both of her legs kicked out from underneath her, making her fall to the floor and land on her side.

The figure stomped its foot on her side, pinning her in place.

_"Puppet," _it cooed softly.

"_I have a few questions for you, so forget fighting back."_

Yet despite her injuries, Puppet was not subdued, verbally slashing back in rage.

"JUST WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOUR NOT FREDDY, NOR TOY FREDDY OR GOLDIE, YET YOU SOUND SO MUCH LIKE THEM!" she answered back, still trying to wiggle free. The figure laughed at her, humoured by the Puppet's words.

_"Well done my dear, bravo to you indeed, I must say that I greatly admire your fighting spirit."_

It then removed its foot, giving Puppet the freedom to move. She slowly sat upright, to attack the figure again would only provoke a more aggressive response.

So she might as well as talk...to buy time.

"_I come from a much older time...but my origins aside, you are a knowledgeable one and you hold answers to questions that I need answering,"_ the figure stated, stressing the last part as determination rang in its eyes.

"I'm not telling you anything monster," the Puppet replied, resting her back against the wall.

"My lips are sealed shut."

The figure sighed.

_"Pity...it was the least painful option you could have chosen, oh well the other alternative is much more fun."_

Then a hand or rather a claw came out of the dark and grabbed Puppet by the neck, hoisting her up off the floor.

"_Fun for me, not for you though."_

It's dark red eyes widen with delight, giving off the impression that the figure was smiling.

"_Because while you lips maybe sealed, your mind however is not."_

"Don't touch me demon, or I'll strangle you in self-defense!" Puppet screamed, unveiling her strings, which appeared out of her hands.

The figure continued to hold her in place, perhaps it didn't think she would go ahead with her threat, after her recent defeat.

"I MEAN IT FALSE FREDDY, I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!" She shouted, an inner fire burned in her eyes, making the white dots shine like sapphires.

But the figure merely dismissed her aggressive stance.

_"Oh yes you are...your trembling inside, even in the darkness I can see your body is shaking...your scared Puppet, just like when you first met Vincent outside FredBear's Family Diner."_

The Puppet froze, the fire inside her died down.

"What...?" She asked.

_"Oh please, don't act dumb...You know how it felt to have Vincent's knife plunge into your flesh, as your heart gives out and you die alone in the amidst of pain and fear...all alone, without your family and now look at you...a mere Puppet girl...with strings."_

The Puppet looked shocked, in disbelief.

"_Or was that the memories of the child who was killed by Vincent and his memories have become interlocked with yours..?"_ the figure wondered out loud.

Yet, Puppet was just confused with the figure's words, it didn't make sense.

_"How can it know...I've never met this person before, the voice is new to me," _she thought.

The figure then laughed, appearing to throw their head back.

_"There are strings on you, but no strings on me...at least not anymore,"_ it said, towering over Puppet, whose eyes sank down to the floor.

"Who are you?" She whispered, trembling all over.

"At least answer me that question."

The figure leaned in, so close that their lips almost made contract, but in doing, it fully revealed itself.

_"I am Nightmare Freddy and I'm here to do the devil's work..."_

And boy did he look the part of a monster, mirroring a strong familiarity with Freddy Fazbear himself.

"**We can make accidents happen. . ."**

He stroked her chin with his claw like hands as he smiled victoriously.

_"So…beautiful, the reason to why I know so much about you Puppet, is because rather recently I had a little chat with a certain prominent member of your family...I'm very surprised they hasn't told you about me...or what I'm capable of...a fatal move to make, if I might add,"_ said he stated grinning, as the Puppet cowered under his touch.

He then sharply moved his hand up and proceeded to grab hold of her hair.

_"Let me make this simple for you Puppet, if you die in here, you will die in real life...so tell me, what is the location of the Fazbear family?"_

He then loosened his grip on her hair.

"_I will let you go afterwards...unharmed."_

Yet his eyes narrowed as his expression became frightfully stern.

"_However, I will hurt you if you lie to me or try to fight back,"_ he stressed the last few words for effect.

"I'll never tell you anything monster, you'll have to kill me instead!" the Puppet replied, finding her inner strength, she couldn't betray her family, she never would.

Nightmare Freddy's smile grew.

"_Tempting, very tempting." _

His smile then vanished and he appeared to shake his head as if he was sad somehow.

_"So, tragic for such a little thing like you...oh well..."_

Then within a second, the sad expression vanished to be replaced by a look of frustration and anger. His dark red eyes started to glow, as gripped her hair ever more tightly. while he raised his other razor-sharp claw to strike her.

_"Either way I'm getting my questions answered, one way or another,"_ he snared, narrowing his eyes as he towered over her.

"_A little beating can go a long way into getting a confession out of you."_

"**We can make accidents happen."**

The Puppet tired her best to cover herself with her hands for protection, truth was she didn't really want to die. Her mind immediately casted to that of the Fazbears, all loving and embracing.

The family whom in her mind, she 'betrayed' only to be forgiven for everything.

_"I love you all." _

Her thoughts shifted onto Balloon Boy, the happy smiling child, the one who had sang to her on the airship when she was struggling to cope with her wounds. The one who had tried to be by her side since the beginning and she had completely ignored his countless attempts to help her. So many times, he had approached her, offering her his advice or mere presence as a form of comfort when times were tough. Yet he was just a child and yes while she herself was also a child, mentally she far older than she physically appeared.

Why…was it out of pride, or was it that she didn't even notice his advances, being too occupied with exposing Vincent.

"_BB, I'm sorry for ignoring you…for all these years," _she mentally confessed as Nightmare Freddy gloated in triumphant delight.

"**We can make accidents happen..."**

Then...the complete unexpected happened.

There was a massive blast at the far end of the hall, as a doorway exploded its way into existence, opening up and allowing mass volumes of white light to pour in.

_"What the?" _Nightmare Freddy asked, rather shocked to what he had just witnessed.

It was clear that this new development was not of his own making.

_"Come on Puppet, we know you want to live," _a female voice called from the door.

_"Come home lassie, we need you," _another voice cried, this one being that of a male.

"Bonnie, Foxy, is that you?" Puppet asked, their voices sounded rather faint and distinct. Yet you make out the determined tone in which they spoke.

_"Come home Mari...I want to care for you, I want to get to know you better," _a childlike voice cried_._

"Balloon Boy, I hear you!" The Puppet shouted, with desperation, she had never been so happy to hear his voice.

_"Wait you're a...couple?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, sounding very confused.

Despite his well-found ability to read people, this idea pricked his immoral interest.

He then shook his head.

_"Never mind, your time's up,"_ he growled, bringing his claw down. The Puppet within an instant, broke free of his grip and dogged his attack before rolling away between his legs. Once she was completely free, she made a dash for the glowing door of freedom and safety.

_"COME BACK PUPPET!'" _Nightmare Freddy yelled, turning round and chasing after her. The Puppet ignored him, running towards the doorway, which glowed with a bright, white light.

_"I love you Mari!" _Balloon Boy's shouted, his voice filling up the entire hall.

In all fairness, Puppet was not entirely sure of her feelings towards BB, but his feelings for her were genuine. Perhaps being close to someone wouldn't be too bad after all…she wouldn't be alone anymore.

"I LOVE YOU TOO BALLOON BOY, AND I'M COMING HOME!" she shouted, reaching out with her hands, as she neared the door...freedom was beckoning her.

Then an intense pain shot up through her leg, she screamed as she was instantly pulled down to the floor with a thud. She turned round to see a small Freddy head had clamped into her leg, with its sharp teeth digging deep into her skin. Its appearance strongly suggested that it was snake like, it bore a strong resemblance to Nightmare Freddy, but being a much smaller version of him with jagged teeth, brown reddish hair and dark red eyes to match.

A small wire draped out of the rear of its head, leading back towards...Nightmare Freddy, who had the wire connected inside his suit. He waggled his finger at her, smiling mischievously.

_"That's a bad little puppet, running away from her owner," _he said, with his dark red eyes gleaming.

"YOU DON'T OWN ME!" The Puppet shouted, trying to pull herself through the doorway.

Nightmare Freddy chuckled in response.

_"Oh, I will do when I'm done with you, believe me," _he stated, narrowing his eyes, whilst still smiling.

He then shot another Freddy head from his other hand which clamped onto the Puppet's other leg. The Puppet screamed in sheer agony, as the pain spread throughout her lower body.

_"Come to me Puppet,"_ Nightmare Freddy said, pulling on the wires, trying to drag the Puppet back and away from the door.

The Puppet tried her best to pull herself through the doorway. The teeth of the Freddy heads were tearing into her skin, and each time Nightmare Freddy pulled, they pulled the skin back, layer after layer after layer. Those Freddy heads ripped into the leg muscle and nerves, immobilising all other bodily senses. The pain was beyond anything she had experienced before, it was all she could feel.

"FUCK...YOU!" She screamed, gripping onto the doorway with all her might.

More voices rang out from beyond the door.

_"She's breathing, we have a chance," _said Toy Chica.

_"Quick someone get the oxygen mask now," _Mangle cried.

_"Foxy sing to her, it might help her wake up," _Goldie ordered.

"Must...break...free," Puppet hissed, trying to hold onto the doorway.

She knew that if she let go for even a second, Nightmare Freddy would win.

_"Oh, I've got no strings to hold me down...I don't know what comes next," _Foxy stated, clearly singing a song from Disney's Pinocchio.

_"Good God man, you're a children's entertainer...does anyone know any songs from the Nutcracker...that was a thing, right?" _Springtrap asked curiously.

Nightmare Freddy laughed, throwing his head back.

_"Oh charming, he's so far behind in what's popular isn't he that Springtrap, the same thing could be said of Foxy." _

His dark red eyes gleamed, as he unbuttoned his shirt to reveal his upper bare chest.

_"Anyway...one more should do it," _he said, as a third Freddy head tore its way out of his skin, breaking through and revealing its bloodthirsty array of sharp, jagged teeth.

The Puppet's eyes widen as the Freddy head eyed her like the way a lion does to a zebra.

_"No please...no more!" _she mentally screamed, this would be the absolute end of her.

_"Sleep tight!" _Nightmare Freddy said, grinning like an utter sadist.

The Freddy head burst out of its holding and flew straight towards the Puppet with its mouth wide open, aiming to bite deep into her skull.

"NO!"

Then just as the Freddy head was about to sink its fangs into her head, a glowing white arm suddenly came in from the left, knocking it aside, sending it flying into the nearby wall with a deafening smack.

"Huh?" She said completely in shock and she wasn't the only one as Nightmare Freddy looked equally surprised.

Then several white shapes flowed out of the doorway, forming into the transparent shapes of children...eleven children to precise.

_"WHAT IN THE NAME OF FREDBEAR ARE THOSE THINGS!"_ Nightmare Freddy screamed, not in fear, but in frustration. Eight of the children flew around the Nightmare, blinding him temporarily and forcing him to shift his attention away from the Puppet.

One child approached her, holding out its hand.

_"Go, we'll hold him off for as long as we can, go run, they are waiting for you," _it said, its voice strongly matched that of a female as two other children pulled the Freddy heads off Puppet's legs.

They proceeded to snap them into two, removing the head from the body, then throwing them onto the floor and stomping on them.

"Thank you," Puppet replied, lifting herself up, leaning on the doorway for support as the pain continued to surge is way throughout her lower body. The child smiled, patting the Puppet on the head, like a mother would do to a child.

_"Now go, for the Purple Man has come a knocking,"_ it warned, before turning round and joining the others in disabling Nightmare Freddy. The Puppet limped through the doorway and fell forward into the white heavenly glow, vanishing completely from sight.

This act infuriated Nightmare Freddy.

_"NOOOOO!" _he violently yelled, striking out at the ghosts which surrounded him, they wisely dogged his incoming blows. The spirits then broke off and raced into the doorway, which was now quickly disappearing as the walls closed in on it. Nightmare Freddy try to follow them but the doorway closed shut, becoming a solid wall, which collided rather sharply with his fist.

_"NO, NO, NO, NOOOOO, DAM THAT FUCKING BITICH, DAM HER TO HELL!" _He screamed, hammering his fists against the wall. Things were going his way until those ghosts turned up, where from he didn't know. Mentally he restrained himself, there was nothing to achieve by overreacting, his target was gone as were his hopes for gaining information.

He clicked his fingers...from across the vast room, wherever they were, the Freddy heads mysteriously repaired themselves back together, before slithering back and leaping into his suit and skin. They sought the warm refuge which only his presence could provide.

In truth they shouldn't be snakes, but the process in which he was brought into this world had unexpectedly morphed them. He wondered if any of the other Nightmares had encountered similar issues.

_"I'll make her pay for escaping me," _he hissed, clutching his claws into fists.

"_Next time, I won't be so overconfident, I made the mistake of not counting for an outside intervention."_

He looked around the room, even in the pitch blackness he could easily see the three remaining statues isolated at the far end, still covered in white sheets. He walked over to them, bypassing the rubble created by his breaking of the Fazbear statues, the edges of his suit flowed over smashed heads and fractured arms.

Upon reaching his destination, he grabbed a firm hold of the white sheet, before pulling them away, revealing what lay underneath. Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica and Nightmare Foxy all stood still...as if they were dormant. Even they were just more statues which had been painted to look lifelike, Nightmare Freddy felt them to be the real deal.

_"Where are you guys?" _he asked, circling them, running his hand across their hair in a rather affectionate manner.

_"Why am I the only one awake, why aren't you here with me, Vincent did bring the four of us into this world, why has he not awaken you yet?" _

Nightmare Freddy rubbed his head and sighed as he straightened his tattered top hat.

_"I need to send a message to Freddy and the other Fazbears, something along the lines of, 'if one can do this much damage, then just imagine what four can do,"_ he said, voicing his thoughts out loud. With that idea in mind, he turned and gazed across the rest of the room, looking at the broken statues of the Fazabear Family. His dark red eyes narrowed as he lined up his list of potential targets.

_"To have the desired effect, I need to 'target' someone...someone close to Freddy."_

Then he saw the ideal target.

He clapped his hands in delight as he walked forward with a spring in his step.

_"Of course, how could I forget 'her'."_

Upon reaching it, he reached down, picking up the statue head and held it in his hands at eye level.

_"You will do nicely...it's always nice to rock the boat in any potential relationship."_

He then threw the statue head against the wall with all his might, causing it to shatter into hundreds of pieces, laughing his head off, as he started to laugh, his laugh turning quite sinister as it echoed off the surrounding walls.

Laughing still and sounding like a full-blown madman, Nightmare Freddy closed his eyes and faded away...his laughter fading away with him as the entire scene slowly evaporated itself from existence.

* * *

Back in Jeremy's van, the Puppet suddenly to shock of everyone rose up, opened her eyes and started to breathe once more.

"SHE'S AWAKE!" Toy Bonnie shouted, causing everyone to cheer.

"It's ok dear, just breathe, just breathe slowly, in and out, there, feeling better?" Chica asked, holding the Puppet by the shoulders.

The Puppet nodded, as she began to gasp for breath, allowing air to fill her lungs. Then suddenly she screeched in absolute agony, gripping her legs, which the others only just noticed were bleeding rather heavily, being mangled and torn open.

They also bore the heavy indications of bite marks.

"JESUS, WHERE DID THOSE THINGS COME FROM?" Freddy asked, deeply alarmed by their appearance.

"Quick someone pour the disinfection on now," Mangle ordered.

"It looks as if someone...has bitten her...but who?" Springtrap asked, but no one was listening to his question, they were all too busy into trying to fix Puppet's wounds. Toy Chica began to pour the disinfection on the leg wounds, causing the Puppet to scream out in pain, as her flesh reacted fiercely with the medical liquid. She reacted physically, forcing Toy Freddy and Foxy to restrain her and keep still as the others did their work.

"Someone get me the sleeping gas, there's a small canister in the second box...I think?" Springtrap asked.

"I need to tell you all something-"

But no one was paying any real attention to the Puppet's words.

"Thanks, Foxy, alright this'll put you to sleep, while your body heals, it's quicker that way," said Springtrap, opening up the Puppet's mouth and spraying in the sleeping gas.

But she strongly resisted.

"NO, I HAD A DREAM...I WAS ATTACKED BY A GUY CALLED NIGHTMARE FREDDY!"

But the others were more focused on restraining her, than on what she was saying. To be fair, in the chaos, they all thought that she unaware of her surroundings.

"HE'S COMING FOR US...TO KILL...US...he wants...to know...where...we...all...are," the Puppet said, slowly falling backwards as the sleeping gas took hold of her mind, soon she was fast asleep.

"There rest easy now...no more bad dreams," Toy Bonnie said, laying the Puppet down on the ground, while Foxy started to wrap several bandages around her bleeding legs.

"Guys, how's the Puppet?" Mike asked, turning round from the front passenger seat, he had heard the screaming.

"She's fine...just resting...we'll monitor her occasionally, but she will heal, her arm needs to be in a sling for a while though," Chica replied.

"Hurray!" Balloon Boy shouted, punching his fist into the air.

"We'll be at my place in about ten minutes," Jeremy stated, turning a street corner.

"Everyone just sit back and relax now, oh by the way, Jeremy says he's prepared pizza for you lot," Mike announced, smiling as he revealed a little surprise. There was an enormous cheer of approval from the back at the announcement that they were going to be feed.

"Pizza?" Springtrap asked, he had never tried it before.

Everyone else just turned to look at him in utter confusion.

"Man, you are old, aren't you," Toy Freddy commented heartily, which earned him a death's glare from Springtrap.

"Not old enough to not be able to kill," he muttered sternly under his breath.

"Well, I say we just sit back and relax like Mike says," Goldie said joyfully, resting his back against the wall.

Everyone else followed suit.

* * *

Within ten minutes, they reached Jeremy's home.

He pulled into the driveway and turned off the ignition, before undoing his seatbelt and climbing out.

"Well that wasn't so bad was it Mike?" He asked with a hint of smugness.

"No...apart from a few street corners, it wasn't so bad after all," Mike replied, scratching his head as he climbed out.

"Well here we are, home sweet home," said Jeremy, pointing to his house as everyone else climbed out of the back of the van.

"Nice...is it really that big?" Chica asked, looking at the multiple storey house.

"Why would you need all that space, if your the only one living in it?" Toy Chica asked, stretching her arms.

"Well for two reasons really, one I did have a huge family back in my youth and second I can't be bothered to move out, so I just stayed here," Jeremy replied. He turned to look back at the Fazbear family in its entirety.

"One, two, three, four, twelve of you and Mike included."

He scratched the back of neck.

"We may struggle for space, but we'll manage I hope."

Jeremy pulled the keys to his van out of his pocket and pressed them, making the van's headlights blinked once to signal that the van's doors were locked.

"Well come in then, I'll get the pizza ready, I brought in several variations in case you were bored of the classical Margherita," he said smiling, pulling out his house keys.

He twisted the keys in the lock.

_"Just don't eat me out of house and home though," _he thought, opening the front door and stepping inside.

The others followed him inside, edger to seek a well-earned period of rest after all the recent chaos they had just been forced to endure. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares can reach far and wide, but they are not invincible.  
I was inspired to write the airship crash scene when I watched Madagascar 2, in which they crashed their makeshift airplane. ;-)  
Please review to let me know what you guys think.


	9. Mistrust, Tensions And Foreboding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is as the title says...I'll say no more.  
Just to add for now there won't much in the way of songs being added in the first several chapters, more focus on setting the scene and developing the characters, although at some point there will be a shift.

** Chapter 9. **

** Mistrust, Tensions And Foreboding. **

_ **"Trust dies…but mistrust blooms."** _

_ ** Sophocles ** _

Eight hours later. . .

The Puppet was sleeping softly on the couch in Jeremy's living room, this time she appeared to be undisturbed, whatever had been troubling her had departed her mind. Meanwhile everyone else was tucking into several different variations of pizza in Jeremy's dining room.

Though they had arrived at Jeremy's house around 12 o'clock, they had spent much time getting settled into the various rooms, which they were would be sleeping in.

And to be fair, it had taken Jeremy, a good long while to prepare pizzas for thirteen people, including himself. Thank God, he had thought ahead with their anticipated appetites, otherwise he would have run out of at least a week's worth of food before day three.

"The old Margherita classic was great, but this seafood pizza is fantastic," Mangle commented, biting off slice after slice.

"It's says on the box it's called a Napolitana, why I do not know" said Bonnie, who was eating a Funghi.

"Makes sense to me though," said Foxy who eating a Peperoni.

Goldie was obviously enjoying his Marinara, Springtrap however just stared into his Hawaii, confused by its texture and appearance...to him it was just alien.

"What's wrong Spring, aren't you hungry?" Goldie asked, turning to face him.

Springtrap shook his head.

"No, it's not that, it's...what is this?" He asked, picking up a slice.

"It's just mozzarella cheese, ham and pineapple, that's all," Goldie replied.

"Pineapple...who would want to add pineapple in pizza, ham maybe, but still pineapple," Springtrap exclaimed.

"Just take a bite...you'll never know if you don't try," said Goldie. Springtrap closed his eyes and bit into the pizza slice. Several flavors entered his mouth, the sweetness of the cooked pineapple, the cured taste of ham, followed swiftly by the overpowering taste of grilled mozzarella.

"Well?" Goldie asked, watching Springtrap's expression.

"It's good, very good, a perfect combination of flavors," Springtrap replied, smiling, before taking another slice. Goldie just rolled his eyes, mentally laughing inside.

_"Honestly Spring, you just need to take a step forward every once in a while." _

"What's a Quattro Formaggi?" BB asked, who was the only one eating a Margherita.

"Says here it's tomato sauce, with four assorted cheeses, mozzarella, parmesan cheese, blue cheese, and goat cheese," Mike answered, reading the ingredients on the box.

"So how was your flight here then?" Jeremy asked, slicing off bits of his Capricciosa pizza.

"Apart from the obvious crash landing, did you have to crash it Mike, we worked years on that thing, getting to actually fly was the hardest part."

Everyone stopped in mid motion, the room went deathly silent, wide eyes glancing at one another. "Did I…touch on something sensitive?" Jeremy asked, looking around the table, he was surprised that his words had caused such a reaction.

Freddy cleared his throat and spoke.

"No... Jeremy, you didn't, we just...went through an awful lot to get there, if you hadn't guess by now we nearly lost someone as a result of it," he said, tilting his head to the living room, where the Puppet lay fast asleep.

Mike then spoke next.

"Basically Jeremy, long story cut short, Purple Guy or 'Vincent Afton' which is his name by the way, I think it's time to drop the term 'Purple Guy, we all know who he is."

He continued.

"Anyway, Vincent attacked us as we were leaving the Pizzeria, we escaped, but Foxy was injured in the process," he leaned back in his chair.

"We flew through the night towards Chicago, but in the morning and believe me when I say this, we were attacked again by Vincent...with his own airship...and an army of endoskeletons...it was a hard-fought battle, 'but in the end the pilot, aka me, held things together, as everyone else struggled'." Mike finished with an amused look on his face, he knew how the others would react and they did without fail.

"THAT'S COMPLETE AND UTTER RUBBISH MIKE!" Mangle shouted, standing up tall, her endoskeleton arms rose above her head, making those sitting nearby move away quickly.

She closed her eyes and restrained herself, before continuing.

"If I haven't fixed that second propeller, we wouldn't be here," she stressed.

"Actually, if I wasn't there to stop the PG's endoskeletons from attacking you Mangle, the propeller wouldn't be fixed and 'we wouldn't be here'," said Toy Freddy, folding his arms. "He does have a point there, Mangle," Chica commented, supporting the Toy's motion.

"Actually...I think we all owe it to Springtrap, he saved Goldie and Bonnie, destroyed most of PG's endoskeletons and chased him back to his own airship, before making him beat a hasty retreat when we were all on the back foot," said Balloon Boy, sounding rather mature for his age. Everyone turned to look at Springtrap, who felt rather nervous with everyone staring at him.

"Yes, your quite right BB, we do all owe it to Springtrap, we wouldn't be here, if he hadn't intervened," Mike stated.

"Jeremy if you want to credit anyone here, credit Springtrap, he's a real-life saver."

He then turned back to face Jeremy, eyes locked as the man listened intendedly. "So, as I was saying, Vincent attacked us, but with our combined efforts and Springtrap's unexpected yet timely intervention we defeated him...or rather drove him off, however my airship had taken serious damage so we had to crash land as you know and well that's it," he said, finishing his story.

"So now what, you are all here and in one piece?" Jeremy asked.

"This is the grand plan still in action, despite the unexpected return of Vincent?"

"Well, like we always said, it was kind of mixed, while we do want to travel and see the world," Freddy began, being the de-facto leader, he felt that it was his role to speak for all of them.

"We equally do long to restart the Fazbear chain, it was our collective dream," he said smiling at the possibility of the last thought becoming a reality.

"We have mentioned it in previous years, even though it is an unlikely possibility."

He then sighed as cold hard reality filtered into his mind.

"Too much has happened in the public eye for it to be merely swept under the carpet."

"Although…" he smiled.

"It would be nice to return to the good old days."

Both Mike and Jeremy went pale white in the face at the idea of returning to 'good old days'.

They had long known that it was the Fazbears' ultimate dream to restore what they had lost, but their collective experiences as night guards had left them mentally rattled. Even the mere mention of the business being brought back, cast their minds back to uneasy times. "Don't worry, we won't try to stuff you two into Fazbear suits, or hound you every night...maybe every Wednesday though," Freddy stated, adding a bit of humour to the last part.

"No more popping up outside my door?" Mike asked sternly.

"Yes, no more," Bonnie answered, folding her arms.

"No more teleporting into my office?"

Everyone turned to look at Goldie, who smiled rather weakly.

"Yes, I'll stop that," he answered quickly.

"No more twitching heads or demonic sounds?"

"Yeah, we'll try to stop that," the Originals all answered, nodding their heads in a collective response.

"No more running down the hall and banging on the office door?"

"Aye laddie no more," Foxy replied, swinging his hook about.

"Not flashing eyes and playing music outside when the power goes off?"

"Well...no I'll stop that...except for Halloween," said Freddy smiling.

"No more crawling through the vents, or attacking me in the office?" Jeremy asked, eyeing everyone suspiciously. "Yes, we'll stop doing that...apart from Halloween," Toy Bonnie answered.

"What about hanging on the celling?" Mangle asked. "No more repeat of that please for the love of God?" Jeremy stated, holding his head in his hands. Mangle nodded in response, for her it was sad to see that those events still influenced him.

"No more stealing my flashlight batteries?"

Jeremy looked straight at Balloon Boy, who sank deep into his chair. "I'll stop, honest," he squeaked, now feeling quite small.

"No more jumping out of the music box and scaring me to death?"

"If the Puppet was here, she'll properly agree to stop," Toy Freddy replied, speaking on the Puppet's behalf.

"And finally, no more attacking me in the shape of a giant golden head or teleporting into my office," said Jeremy, looking directly at Goldie, who only sank into his seat, much to Springtrap's amusement.

"Yes, I'll stop doing that, I promise, full stop," he answered.

"Well with that all settled, should you successfully restart the Fazbear chain we'll be your night guards then," said Mike, as colour returned to his face.

Jeremy nodded in support of the idea.

"If you promise to stop, then we'll repay you the favor of having sheltered you and all your little secrets."

His eyes then briefly flickered over to the oven's digital clock, which now read as 8 pm. "Jesus is that the time already and the sun is only just setting, man the day has just flown by," he said, catching everyone else's attention.

Balloon Boy then yawned, followed by Bonnie, Foxy and Toy Chica.

"You guys tired?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, it's been a long day," Mike replied, he yawned whilst stretching his arms.

"Yes, a good long sleep would be nice," said Freddy, yawning. "We'll figure out our next move tomorrow," Goldie stated, standing up, pushing his chair back in the process.

"He's right, we must best get some sleep while we are here," Foxy added, stretching his arms. "Help me clean all this up first and then you can sleep, I'll be able to serve breakfast much faster tomorrow if the kitchen is clean," Jeremy asked.

Everyone else groaned as they stood up, but helped anyway.

* * *

Sometime around 9 pm, they all retired to bed, edger to get some well desired rest.

Balloon Boy had insisted on being with the Puppet, so he got to slept on the couch opposite to her in the living room. This did however deprive anyone the opportunity of coming down in the morning, hoping to use the TV.

Freddy and Bonnie would be sharing a room, as would Foxy and Chica. It was the same arrangements for Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie, as well as for Mangle and Toy Chica. Goldie and Springtrap would be sleeping up in the loft, where there was a single double bed, whilst Mike and Jeremy had their own respected rooms.

Freddy was sitting on the bed in the night clothes, which Jeremy had provided for him and the others, when Bonnie walked in, having got changed in the floor's bathroom. In the moonlight, she looked beautiful, although Bonnie had never considered herself to be a girly girl, but she did have a softer side.

Her purplish hair gleamed as it became caught in the moonlight's reflections.

Her eyes, a deep reddish purple appeared to glow, amplifying her beauty.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, her eyes narrowed at Freddy's love struck gaze.

"Is something wrong?"

Freddy couldn't initially engineer a proper response.

"I, I, I, I think you look beautiful in the moonlight...it really catches your hair," Freddy replied sounding rather nervous.

Bonnie soften her gaze, as she climbed into bed.

"Thank you, it was…a nice thing of you to say," she said, although she kept her head down as she spoke, not wanting to reveal her embarrassment.

"You don't wiggle do you?" She asked, settling down under the covers.

"No, I don't," Freddy replied, laying his head down on the pillow.

"You should know, we all generally sleep side by side anyway," he muttered.

"Good, because it's annoying," said Bonnie, rolling over to face the window.

"Oh yeah, that needs the curtains pulling over it," she said, getting up and walking over to the window. Upon pulling the curtains over the window, the room was plunged into darkness. Bonnie then got back into bed, pulling the covers over her once more.

For a moment, they just lay there, not really sleeping, they both had too many thoughts running about inside their heads.

"Bonnie...are you awake?" Freddy asked, his eyes darted about in the pitch blackness.

"Yes...what is it Freddy?" She asked back.

"I was wondering."

Freddy rolled over to face her.

"Have I changed?" He asked, his light blue eyes glowed in the darkness. Bonnie thought for a moment before answering.

"Physically no, mentally yes, but then that was always going happen to you, me included."

"How have I changed?" Freddy asked, his eyes set about searching hers for answers, clearly he felt insecure. "If you're worried about what P.G said on the airship about you not being so energetic, he's dead wrong, you're not feeble and won't become so anytime soon," Bonnie replied.

"But…" she paused before continuing.

"You have become more noticeably stressed in recent years, you don't appear to be as happy as you used to be and I'm afraid to be blunt, but I fear your becoming more pessimistic, not optimistic."

"Oh," was all Freddy could say, sitting up straight.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings Freddy, it's just-"

"It's ok Bonnie, it's ok, I'm glad I spoke to someone about it, I also know why...these past few years, trying to keep everything running has tired me out, I get so stressed at times, I don't want to lose our home, our family, it's only thing that keeps me going."

Freddy closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "I just wish things would go back to way they were, I feel so undervalued, like no one remembers us, like we came and went without a moment's notice," he said, obviously looking for nostalgia.

"Oh Freddy," Bonnie replied in a sad tone, leaning against him.

"I wish for that to happen too, remember the early days, when the kids would gather around us and they would dance and sing in tune with our songs?"

"Yeah," said Freddy, the corners of his mouth lifted upwards into a smile.

"Remember me playing my guitar, Foxy and his pirate act, Chica showing off her cupcake and you singing into your microphone, while Goldie would watch from the parts and service room. Remember how he would smile...do you know why he smiled?" Bonnie asked.

Freddy laughed.

"Because he was proud of us," he answered.

"Yes, because he was proud of us, of all four of us, of what we had achieved. The Toys see us as role models, I see it in Toy Bonnie's eyes, in Toy Chica's eyes, in Mangle's eyes and in Toy Freddy's eyes when he looks at you, they believe in us, you don't have feel like you've become worthless, just because the Pizzeria has gone under," Bonnie replied, her eyes gleamed as she spoke.

"What are you trying to say?" Freddy asked, turning to face her. Bonnie shook her head and rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Your still valued Freddy, I value you, Chica does, Foxy does, as do the Toys, BB, the Puppet, Goldie, Mike and Jeremy, and in time, Springtrap will see you in the same light as well."

"The kids whom you entertained are properly adults by now, but they'll remember you, the impact you made on their lives, you aren't forgotten Freddy...you never will be, even if the Fazbear chain has ended, it's just another stage in our lives, heck it maybe not even be the end of the business."

Freddy smiled.

"I know Bonnie, thank you, I feel much better," he replied, he hugged her, much to her surprise.

"Do you remember our first Christmas as a family?" He asked, as he withdrew from the hug.

"You mean when Foxy almost burnt down the whole Pizzeria when he try to make pizza, yeah, it was a good thing Chica knew where the fire extinguisher was," Bonnie replied, she giggled as the memory replayed in her head.

"You gave me a rose, didn't you and I gave you a snowdrop," she said.

"It was my favourite flower back then...still is really, now that I think about it," Freddy replied.

"Remember when we would sneak out of the Pizzeria in the winter to play in the snow, Goldie would never approve."

Bonnie laughed, clearly amused.

"But then he would get stuck in and throw snowballs at us, the hyper-critic that he was."

"He was just trying to be a father figure for us, we were like teenagers back then, I do miss those days, when we knew nothing about the pain of hardship or loss," Freddy sighed.

"Good and bad have their endings, but we must take them as they come," said Bonnie, holding his hand.

"I know...this isn't end for us...just a low point in our lives, you can't go any further than rock bottom," Freddy stated, his fingers entwinde with Bonnie's. His light blue eyes met her pinkish red, in the darkness they were alone. Bonnie acting under pure instincts tilted her head and leaned in, Freddy did likewise. They could feel each other's breath against their skin as their lips narrowed the gap between them.

"HOOOOO!"

The hooting of an owl outside, caused the couple to jump back, ruining the mood between them. They both blushed bright red, upon realising that they were in each other's arms, suddenly everything felt awkward.

Neither one of them said anything, as they moved to their respected edge of the bed, before rolling over, still blushing.

_"That bloodily owl, I was about to make my dreams into a reality," _Freddy thought, tightening his fists in frustration.

_"Gee that was very cliche, I was so close to confessing my feelings then," _Bonnie mentally moaned, she signed and closed her eyes and try to sleep, hoping that the special moment she and Freddy had just shared would continue uninterrupted in her dreams...Freddy equally hoped for the same thing.

* * *

Across Jeremy's house, everyone settled down for the night, telling each other of pass memories or simply falling asleep due to sheer exhaustion. In the loft, which was just situated under the roof, Springtrap and Goldie lay back onto their pillows, pulling the covers over them.

"Don't confuse me for a woman in the middle of the night and start stroking me in your sleep," Springtrap stated, moving towards his edge of the bed.

"Oh, get real Spring, why would I confuse you for a woman, your clearly a man?" Goldie asked.

"It's just precautions Goldie," Springtrap replied.

"Spring, do me a favour and stop worrying, I would never do that to you, it's just irrational," said Goldie, shaking his head, to which Springtrap replied with. "Your right, I'm being irrational, sorry...I've been out for thirty-seven years...I've missed so much, I can't even remember what happened prior to my deep sleep."

Goldie's heart stopped, he froze.

"You don't remember...anything...anything at all?" He asked looking rather nervous, something Springtrap mentally noted.

"I remember several things like us performing on stage...and that the Purple Man killed a child...but that's it," he said.

Goldie, sighed and relaxed, again Springtrap took note of this.

"Well hopefully you can fill in those gaps Goldie, I would like to know how I ended up in a coma, I mean it's not like something bad happened to me like say...a mental breakdown."

Goldie body suddenly stiffed, so Springtrap chose his next words carefully. "Or perhaps, I merely passed out in my room and just wouldn't wake up," he said smiling.

Goldie smiled back, although it was a weak smile. "Whether you believe it or not, that is actually what happen, it was easy to tell the kids though, they understood, it was quite a big shock though," Goldie replied, although he looked uneasy.

Springtrap laughed.

"Really...I must have been exhausted from working twenty four seven."

"Yeah you were, you wouldn't stop," Goldie laughed back.

On the surface Springtrap was happily interacting with Goldie, but underneath the mask he'd put on, he was fuming with rage. He was merely testing Goldie, to see how honest he would be and he wasn't happy with the results. He knew the real reason why he fell into a deep coma, Springtrap remembered everything, the murder, the dropping of the plushie and Goldie's refusal to acknowledge his cries.

_"Your lying to me Goldie...why!" _he mentally shouted.

Springtrap opened up his arms.

"Come here," he said.

Goldie leaned forward and hugged his old-time friend.

"I've missed you Spring Bonnie," he said, warping his arms around his neck

"I've missed you too Goldie," Springtrap replied.

However, Goldie didn't see his smile turn into a frown.

_"So why aren't you telling me the truth Goldie...I have a right to know, considering what I've just been through for the past three and half decades."_

They both redrew from the embrace, Springtrap immediately replaced his frown with a fake smile.

"Well I'll see you in the morning then Fredbear, sleep well," he said, rolling onto his side, so his back was facing Goldie.

"Sleep well Spring Bonnie, see you at breakfast...pleasant dreams," Goldie replied.

_"Yeah...like that'll happen," _Springtrap thought, his eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists.

_"I think we should have a little talk Goldie, just you and me...I have questions and you hold the answers...I gave you the chance to be honest with me...but now you leave me with no other option, but one and it ain't pretty...direct confrontation."_

* * *

Meanwhile downstairs in the living room, Balloon Boy was covering the Puppet in a blanket.

She looked so cute, when she was asleep.

"Good night Mari, sweet dreams," Balloon Boy said, before leaning down and softly kissing her on the forehead.

"I'll see you tomorrow, sleep well."

He climbed onto the couch opposite and pulled the blanket over him. In the pitch darkness, his blue eyes focused on the sleeping figure of the Puppet.

_"I'll protect you Mari...I swear it, we are all family here and that's what's kept us going, it's unbreakable," _he thought.

What Balloon Boy didn't know was that nothing within the entire universe was invincible, families can be broken...and they can stay broken forever. Balloon Boy himself had seen that happen to this family and at the time, it looked as if things would never change back to what they once were.

Yet even though they all pulled together in the end, the risk of things being different had been great, and it never left their minds…

_Even now the possibility remained, admittedly it was faint and small…but it could always rise again…_

* * *

Back at the Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, within an old, abandoned and decayed room, hidden well from any prying eyes, Nightmare Freddy sat on a table with his eyes closed.

He was breathing in and out slowly, mentally preparing himself for what was to come. He was currently thinking of what he would do to his next victim and this time, he would leave a mark, a tear in the seam of the Fazbear Family. He was also waiting for Vincent's reply, he had sent him a text explaining his plans and was asking what his were.

Until he received that reply, he would stay where he was.

For some unexplained reason, the watch tracker, wouldn't show the location of the Fazbear family anymore. According to him, it's readings had vanished rather abruptly sometime around eleven am and Nightmare Freddy didn't know why.

Hence why he'd asked the Puppet that very question earlier on.

In reality, and unknown to him, they had actually crash landed their airship, which meant that the tracking device Vincent had attached to the ship had been destroyed along with everything else. He opened his eyes and looked at his chains which bound him to the wooden table on which he sat.

By tomorrow morning, they would be broken and he would finally be set free. He could then chase his victims down, something which he longed for deeply. A smile crept its way onto his face, oh how he longed for such freedom, to be and act under his own terms. He hated being chained up like a rapid attack dog, it was mentally frustrating and sapped away at his patience which was quite limited.

He was a man of action, not inaction, he wanted to act now and rip into his opponents and tear them apart, one by one.

The mental images of such events could only momentarily satisfy his bloodlust for so long. His mind then turned to pondering on what the world was like outside. In truth, he hadn't seen the outside world with his own eyes, he had seen pictures of the world, he knew enough about humanity, their history and culture to blend in.

He was thinking on the idea of what it would be like to see a natural park, when Vincent's text came through.

At long last a response, it read:

"Fantastic idea, NF, I was about to suggest the very same thing myself, great minds do think alike."

"I've encountered the others near Chicago, they took quite a beating and I would have won, if Springtrap hadn't awoken, don't underestimate him at any cost should you meet him."

The message continued.

"I'm heading south west, to one of the old abandoned Pizzerias, I thought it was best that we gather some reinforcements, needless to say you can properly guess who they are."

Nightmare Freddy texted back.

"My family?"

Within seconds of sending it, he received Vincent's reply.

"Yes...your family, are you heading to Chicago, when those chain deactivate, because that's where Freddy and others are?"

Nightmare Freddy sent his response, answering Vincent's question.

"Yes, I'll meet up with you soon, we'll make further plans then, now I'm off to wreak havoc...but this time, I'm not fooling around!"

Vincent merely sent him a smiley face as a sign of agreement.

_"Mmm...how amusing,'_ Nightmare Freddy stated in a rather unnatural monotone voice, which for him was unusual.

He turned his watch off and slowly laid back on the table, like one would do in bed. Now as he understood it, Freddy shouldn't have told anyone about his encounter, so the others wouldn't be expecting him. In fairness, he wondered if he had made a serious strategic error in attacking Puppet and then allowing her to escape.

There was the high chance that she told the others about him and that Freddy would join in with his experience on the matter.

Had he given away the element of surprise after working so hard to maintain it?

As he allowed sleep to overcome his mind, the walls of his confinement faded away as did the entire pizzeria, until he was floating above the earth in the cold darkness of space. Even if one half of the world, consisting of Europe, Africa and the Middle East was lit up by the sun, he could see very clearly the earth's main colours of green, blue, yellow, white and brown.

The other half of the earth mainly North and South America, including some parts of the Far East were in complete darkness, but Nightmare Freddy could see millions upon millions of little lights. It wasn't light pollution, but the dreams of people, for as each one fell asleep, a little light appeared above their head to indicate that they were dreaming.

Nightmare Freddy could enter those dreams and he could control them, something he loved, the addictive feeling of power. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely as the common phrase goes.

He zoomed in on North America, as he got closer he could hear voices, the voices of dreamers ranging from newborns to the elderly.

_"Now where are they, Vincent mentioned a place called 'Chicago'," _he muttered flying across the North American countryside. He needed to hear familiar voices to pinpoint their location, so he halted and listened, stretching out his hearing range. At first it was just whispers, but he instantly recognized them..._Freddy and the Puppet, _the voices were coming from the same direction.

Swiftly he followed the sounds, tracking their trail and heading north, flying past numerous cities and towns which lit themselves up like the sun…until he at last reached a large shining city with tall skyscrapers situated on the shores of a deep blue lake.

_"So...this is Chicago, looks classy," _He stated, admiring its decorative and beautiful crafted layout.

Sensing that he was close the source, he flew through the streets avoiding lines of cars, buses, lorries and groups of partying citizens, following the voices which were now more clear and vocal. Even in the dead of night, like all American cities, Chicago it would appear never sleeps. Moving away from the city centre, Nightmare Freddy followed the trail of voices to the leafy outer suburbs.

And then he found their place of origin...a big family house in the middle of a street.

"_I've found you,"_ he smirked.

He zoomed in and flew straight through the wall, spotting the Puppet and Balloon Boy asleep on the two living room couches.

_"Oh, how sweet, young love," _he chucked.

"_However, you're in luck Puppet, for you__ are__ not my target this evening."_

He then flew up two floors and appeared in the loft.

There lay Goldie and Springtrap sleeping.

_"So...your Springtrap, thee Spring Bonnie, and your Golden Freddy..._ _or should I say Fredbear..._ _old relies of a long forgotten era."_

Nightmare Freddy laughed, as he hovered around the bed. He could laugh, no one could hear him, see him, smell him, taste him or touch him…he was a ghost, the unseen.

They couldn't even sense his presence.

_"I wonder what secrets you two hold...I would really like to know,"_ he said smugly, floating above the pair. He moved to tap them both on the head, only for his hand to go straight through them. He giggled, as he slapped them repeatedly across the face, but nothing happened.

_"I might as well as use this opportunity," _he thought.

"_Even if it won't exactly happen in real life."_

He imagined that he was holding a knife and was slowly dragging it across their chests. He carefully craved the letter N into Springtrap's and the letter F into Goldie's…his initials.

_"Beautiful, if only it was real," _he thought, watching them sleep soundly.

"_Then again they would be in a lot of pain."_

He then dropped down to the first floor and walked along the floor boards, entering one of the nearby bedrooms.

Freddy's and Bonnie's room to be precise.

Seeing Freddy and Bonnie asleep together, caused his eyes to glow with interest, this was an incredible sight to behold.

_"Oh my God...what have we here," _he said humorously, floating over towards the sleeping couple. He lowered himself so he was only inches away from Freddy.

_"Hello there,...Freddy, do they know about me...what are you dreaming of...is it about Bonnie?"_

He then shifted over to Bonnie, so he was now floating just above her.

_"My dear Bonnie, so gentle, so beautiful, so enchanting,"_ he said, stroking her hair.

_"I could have you, give you what you've always strongly desired."_

He ran his hand down her neck and chest, but stopped before reaching her breasts.

_"Do you know anything about me, Bonnie?"_ He asked plainly, but of course he got no answer. He knew he had a job to do, but since he was here anyway, he might as well tired his luck and see if he could make any headway.

Freddy snored and rolled over so he was facing Bonnie.

"_What a sloth,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, rolling his eyes in disproval, Bonnie meanwhile was sleeping like an angel with her purplish red hair sprawled out across the pillow she rested on.

"_You don't snore do you, a good trait to have when in bed."_

Freddy then snored again, this time it was even louder, enough to make Bonnie stir.

"_WILL YOU BE QUIET FREDDY; SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!"_ Nightmare Freddy yelled at the top of his voice, but of course, nobody could hear him in this state.

"_Noisy idiot,"_ he cursed under his breath, although again there was no reason to whisper. Then Bonnie appeared to mumble something in her sleep. It was faint and not fully formed words, but it sounded like.

'Bear…fluffy bear…want bear...'

It was also then that Nightmare Freddy spotted something which he had previously missed. In the space separating the two sleeping Fazbears were their hands, which were interlocked with each other.

They were holding hands in their sleep, were they even aware of it?

Bonnie continued to slur in her sleep, obviously she could talk whilst sleeping.

'Freddy…want Freddy…adorable Freddy.'

Nightmare Freddy only rolled his eyes.

"_Oh God help her,"_ he thought, mocking pity. He then closed his eyes, and mentally thought back, so far given how everyone was, it would appear that no one was expecting a random attack to emerge from their dreams. So therefore, from that understanding, Nightmare Freddy could only reach one logical conclusion.

_There were no defenses to stop him from doing what he wanted, because they didn't know he existed._

_Had his gamble been right, it had to be!_

He smirked a devil's grim as he slowly turned to face Freddy.

_"Well Freddy Fazbear, you've made the biggest mistake you'll ever regret, the Puppet knew nothing about my existence when I first meet her, so I guess that you didn't tell anyone about our little chat."_

He laughed, but again no one would hear him, not in this state of existence.

"_Therefore, I'll also guess she didn't get the chance to tell anyone, as I sense no barriers between me and your dreams...so I will make you realize the full consequences of your inactions."_

He moved his hand down towards Bonnie's neck, he grasped it, or he made it look as if he was grasping it, as his hand through just go straight through her.

"_You thought you beat me…no…instead I beat you…and I could just take her life right now, would you even notice?"_ he asked, not expecting an answer. He removed his hand from Bonnie's neck, before setting himself down at floor level and walked straight out of the door and into the hall.

_"Now where is 'her' room?"_ He mentally asked himself, searching the hallway for the right door. He saw in one room, Toy Bonnie sleeping besides Toy Freddy, with Toy Chica and Mangle next door in their room also asleep.

_"Tempting, really tempting but no, I'll follow through with my original idea," _he muttered. He walked down the hall and passed through the door which stood at its end.

It just so happened to be Foxy's and Chica's room.

_"Perfectly, she will do nicely," _he growled seductively, floating up to the ceiling and hovering over the sleeping couple. _"Time to do what I came for," _he stated, as he lowered himself down until he passed through Chica's body and entered her dream.

_"It's time to shine!" _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll bet that most of you thought he was going after Bonnie.  
Am I right?  
Thanks for reading and please review. :-)


	10. A Devil This Way Comes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite proud of this chapter. :-)  
Once again, there is a song to this chapter (Villain by Theory of a Deadman) and I think it sums up Nightmare Freddy's character quite nicely.  
Dreams are unguarded sanctums. . .  
Edit: Made some changes to the layout of the song in this chapter to ensure that it is easier to read.

** Chapter 10. **

** A Devil This Way Comes. **

"_**Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil."**_

_ **Proverb** _

**Villain by Theory of a Deadman.**

Pink petals thrown by members of the audience covered the polished stone floor of the church, as Chica and Foxy made their way down the aisle towards the altar. Chica was happy, this was her perfect dream, marrying the man she had always loved and who loved her back. Her white dress flowed behind her as her bridesmaids, Toy Chica and Bonnie held it up. At the altar, the priest waited with Foxy's best man Freddy, while Balloon Boy stood next to him, carrying the rings on a pillow as it was due custom.

Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Mangle, the Puppet, Goldie, Springtrap, Mike and Jeremy were all spread out amongst the audience who were all formally dressed for the occasion.

When Chica and Foxy reached the altar, the audience seated themselves as the priest called an end to the clapping. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today before the sight of God, the Spirit and of the Holy Ghost to witness the joining of these two loving Christians." The priest's charismatic voice echoed off the craved stone pillars that supported the church's vaulted roof.

"If there is anyone who believes that these two should not be wed, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."

No one spoke, much to Chica's and Foxy's relief.

The priest smiled at the silence which filled the church, it was a good omen. "Very well then, do you, Foxy Fazbear, take Chica Fazbear to be your lawfully wedded wife and to fill her life with joy and happiness until death do you part?" He asked.

Foxy turned to face Chica, he smiled.

"I do," he said.

He then turned to Balloon Boy and picked up one of the two rings, slowly sliding it onto Chica's finger, her fourth finger to be accurate. "I promise to love her and to care for her until my last dying breath," he vowed. "And do you, Chica Fazbear, take Foxy Fazbear to be your lawfully wedded husband and fill his life with happiness and joy until death do you part?" The priest asked, putting the same question before Chica.

"I do," Chica replied smiling.

She then took the other ring from Balloon Boy, and slotted it carefully onto Foxy's fourth finger. "I promise to love him and to support him until my last dying breath," she vowed.

"Then it is with great pleasure that I announced you husband and wife!" The priest exclaimed, as the audience rose up, clapping and cheering.

"Of course, you may kiss the bride."

Foxy lifted the veil from Chica's head and kissed her on the lips, much to the joy and excitement of the crowd.

She wanted this moment to last forever.

Slowly the clapping and optimistic cheers died down..._all except for one_.

**xxxx**

"_**All day, all night, I've been thinkin why feelin' wrong feels so right."**_

"_**And I know, yeah, I try, to turn myself around but I know what I like."**_

"_**I ain't nice, no I'm quite a dick, I'm the bad guy who's makin' you sick…"**_

**xxxx**

It was a long slow clap, being drawn out for dramatic effect. Everyone turned in confusion to see a lone figure standing at the church entrance, clapping.

It was a male with dark red eyes, brown reddish hair, a tattered suit, a withered top hat and bow tie, sharp teeth and claws and last of all…a psychotic smile. He slowly raised his hands above his head, increasing the frequency of his clapping, until stopping and then withdrawing his hands by his side. He stepped forward, the impact of his foot with the polished stone floor sent out a deep foreboding echo.

_"Bravo,"_ he began, sounding, rather cheerful, yet there was a sinister undertone to it.

"_My best wishes to the happy couple,"_ he said walking forward, casting a long dark shadow over the floor. His eyes locked with Chica's, there was something very unsettling about them.

"_I'm sure this day__…__will be remembered for a very long time." _However, the figure's attention swiftly turned to the priest. _"Father I need this woman, I wish to use her as a means for teaching someone a lesson, a very important lesson if I might add__.__"_

The priest who was clearly shocked by a stranger making such a demand stepped forward between Foxy and Chica. "Sir, this is a wedding, you cannot just interrupt the ceremony, you aren't on the guest list, I must ask of you to leave please," he stated, but the figure kept on walking down the aisle, taking no heed to the priest's words.

_"Father, I must have her, she is central to my aims today,"_ the figure stressed, there was a strong sense of urgency in his voice as his hands turned into fists.

"No, your aims are ridiculous, you must leave, or we'll call security to have you taken out, if you do not comply," the priest answered, his voice now stern.

The figure just shook his head.

_"Father if you don't give her to me, then I'll smash your small pathetic head against the altar and then we'll see if there really is a God in this world,"_ he replied, his tone was now one of annoyance and threats. The priest held out his small wooden cross to the figure's face, whose eyes narrowed in response at the sight of the thing. It was as if he hated the object with a passion.

"Be gone from the house of God and leave us in peace, or you'll be thrown out!" the priest stressed, his voice filled with vigour and determination. The figure just rolled his eyes and rubbed his hands, appearing to go into deep thought, all signs of anger left his face. _"You know, I was hoping to make this less messy than usually, but you leave me with no choice but to..."_

He then thrusted his hand out towards the priest, who for some unknown reason was suddenly sent flying backwards with tremendous speed, smacking his head against the stone altar...he died instantly.

_"Kill you,"_ the figure answered, finishing his sentence.

**xxxx**

"_**It's easy for me, I've got no shame… I'M IN IT FOR THE MONEY AND FRAMEEEEE!" **_

"_**Everybody wants to be like me."**_

"_**The villain is the one that you came to see."**_

"_**Sick of all the good guys savin' the day."**_

"_**Cause the villain always wins when the hero's away..."**_

**xxxx**

Many members of the audience screamed and started running out of the church as fast as they could. Other Fazabear family members instantly ran towards the figure hoping to restrain him. The figure merely chuckled at the scene of chaos. "_Everyone, everyone, please stay in your seats." _The figure locked his eyes with Chica and smiled.

"_The show will begin momentarily."_

He snapped his fingers and with the blink of an eye everyone froze, all sounds ceased to be.

Only Chica could move.

The figure turned to see Springtrap frozen in midair about to pounce on him, seeing the Fazbear's determined expression made him smile even more. _"How heroic and yet in vain,"_ he said amusedly. Slowly he stretched his arms out, as he did everyone faded away, starting with the ones closest to him, spreading out across the whole church, until it was just him and Chica who remained. _"I hate to ruin your big day __my __dear, but I need you for something, an example really__nothing more," _the figure muttered, approaching the bride to be.

Chica backed away, who was this Freddy lookalike? "Who are you, what did you do to them?" She asked, frantically looking around the deserted church. _"Me...I'm Nightmare Freddy, destroyer of dreams and bringer of nightmares, your Chica, once a children's entertainer, now...nothing,"_ he replied.

He walked around Chica in circles, admiring her appearance. _"My my, don't you look stunning, like a ripe fruit, so adorable that I could eat __you,"_ he pointed to his sharp teeth.

_"I just might._"

"Where's Foxy and the others?" Chica asked, carefully watching his movements. _"They weren't real Chica, you knew that already, you on the other hand are real and that's what matters,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered. "What do you want with me?" Chica asked, stepping backwards._"I wish to use you as an example Chica, Freddy has made a terrible mistake and your about to pay the full price for it,"_ Freddy Nightmare replied, narrowing his eyes and smiling as he watched her pale faced reaction.

"What mistake and what has Freddy got to do with the likes of you?" Chica asked, her eyes narrowed, but she was clearly scared by her new visitor.

_"Freddy never told you about my little visit last night, I met him, scanned his mind, it was quite painful for him as I forced my way into every part of his consciousness," _Nightmare Freddy stated, replaying the scene in his head. "_He thinks I'm dead, but I only made it look like that."_

He pointed at himself, grinning.

"_I'm still here."_

"No...he didn't, Freddy didn't say anything of a sort," Chica answered, lowering her head. _"But why does that matter though?" _She thought.

_"The reason why it matters Chica,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered, causing Chica to jump in complete surprise.

Nightmare Freddy continued.

_"Is because due to Freddy not telling 'anyone', and I will stressed that point dramatically, is that there are no barriers between me and your dreams and there's nothing to stop me for beating you senseless if I wanted to,"_ he smiled, watching his words sink in. "You…tortured Freddy," Chica mumbled in her shock, now she was really scared of this person, it was evident in her body language. _"Yes, it had to be done, part of the whole process really, I would have done the same to the Puppet, had she not escaped my grasp,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied.

As he spoke, two Freddy heads slithered out of his sleeves and slid across the floor. They appeared to look and act like snakes with their long spinal bodies twisting and turning as they craved a path for themselves over the polished stone. Their eyes displayed the same colour as those of their master and their jagged teeth appeared to be just as deadly.

_"But she didn't escape uninjured, if you haven't noticed already."_

Then Chica remembered when they were all in Jeremy's van, that the Puppet rose up and started screaming about a person called Nightmare Freddy.

This was thee Nightmare Freddy, the Puppet hadn't been hallucinating at all. Then she saw the Freddy heads sliding across the floor, instantly she focused on their sharp teeth and remembered the savage bite marks on the Puppet's legs. She jumped backwards in shock as the full realisation of her current position hit her like a lighting blot.

"You did that to her, you-"

_"Yes, it was me, but she had it coming,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, he turned to look at the painted glass windows which lined the Church's interior. "_I've always underestimated the beauty of stained glass until now,"_ he thought, admiring the colorful patterns. "You're a monster!" Chica exclaimed, backing even further away. Upon being insulted Nightmare Freddy turned round only now there was a cold, predator look in his eyes, the youthful smile was gone.

**xxxx**

"_**There's days when I wanna give in, but it's hard to be a saint when you're full of sin."**_

"_**Why would I ever think of goin' back."**_

"_**WHEN IT FEELS SO FUCKIN' GOOD TO BE BAD!"**_

"_**Everybody wants to be like me."**_

"_**The villain is the one that you came to see."**_

"_**Sick of all the good guys savin' the day."**_

"_**Cause the villain always wins when the hero's away."**_

**xxxx**

_"People may call me many things Chica, the devil, the boogeyman, the term monster is just one of them."_

He smiled, only now this one was cold and serious.

"_May I show you why?"_

"NO, YOU CAN'T!" Chica shouted, turning around and running towards the church entrance. But Nightmare Freddy merely shook his head in joyous amusement.

_"Oh Chica!"_ He called, his voice echoing through the entire church, bouncing off its stone walls.

_"There's nowhere to hide inside a bad dream."_

**xxxx**

"_**I know that secretly…everybody's rootin' for me."**_

**xxxx**

But Chica kept on running, lifting her wedding dress up so she could run easier. She was near the church entrance when Nightmare Freddy clicked his fingers. The great oak doors slammed shut, before Chica could reach them and proceeded to locked themselves close.

"NO!" She shouted, grabbing the handle and trying to pull the doors open, they rattled, but they wouldn't give.

Nightmare Freddy clicked his fingers again and this time all the doors and windows in the church slammed shut one by one, locking themselves with a massive clang, which bounced off the stone walls. With no sunlight getting in through the windows, the whole church quickly descended into darkness. When Chica looked back, all she could see in the pitch blackness was the bright red glow of Nightmare Freddy's eyes. _"You can't hide from me Chica, I will have you soon enough," _his voice echoed around the church.

Chica pressed her back up against the door, breathing rather quickly as her fears overran her mind. "This is just a dream, this is just a dream," she whispered to herself, trying to stem the rising tide of panic that was set to explode from her chest like a fireball as large as the sun.

"You can't die in a dream."

Then the red light which emitted from Nightmare Freddy's eyes vanished. _"Where is he, where is he?" _She mentally screamed, searching for anything dark red. Then the church was lit up again by stands of candles which stood in the corners of the church. But they were only generating a dim light, leaving most of the church shrouded in darkness. Nightmare Freddy reappeared, except he appeared to be closer to her than previously.

Then the candles went out again, plunging the whole church into only sound Chica could hear, was that of her own breathing. The candles relit themselves again and Nightmare Freddy reappeared, only to be a little bit closer than he was before.

Then it struck Chica what he was doing, back in 1987, when she and others were hunting Jeremy, he would use his flashlight to light up the hallway. Every time he did, they would freeze in place and then once the light went out, they would move about before the next flash came on.

The candles burst into flames again and Nightmare Freddy once more reappeared, now he was halfway down the aisle.

Only now the pace quicken, the candles went out, but only to come back on again and Nightmare Freddy looked more and more demonic with every reappearance, getting steadily closer.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Chica screamed, she tried to pull the church doors open again, but still they would only rattle. Nightmare Freddy continued to reappear again and again, his smile getting wider and wider each time he rematerialized.

Then he vanished altogether.

Chica looked around, trying to make out her surroundings in the pitch darkness. A song started to play, or rather a tune which Chica instantly recognized.

_"Freddy's Toreador March!"_ she thought, panicking internally.

There...only a few meters away from her was Nightmare Freddy, except his dark red eyes, were now flashing a bright white. Then the song ended, as did Nightmare Freddy's flashing eyes.

An uneasy deathly silence settled in Chica's eyes darted around in the pitch blackness, looking for him.

_"Where is he?" _she mentally asked.

Her question was answered when Nightmare Freddy reappeared right in front of her and screamed, except his scream sounded more demonic then it did human.

**xxxx**

**"Everybody wants to be like me."**

**"The villain is the one that you came to see."**

**"Sick of all the good guys savin' the day."**

**"** _**BECAUSE THE VILLAN IS HERE TO STAY!" ** _

**xxxx**

The sudden shock caused Chica to jump back, banging her head against the wooden door frame and bruising it as she fell to the floor, gripping her chest in absolute fright. Nightmare Freddy just laughed, finding her reaction to be very amusing. _"Oh, what joy, shall we begin Chica?" _He asked, holding out his hand. "Fuck...you!" She shouted, amidst her gasps for breath.

_"Oh dear, that's not very lady-like...but then you don't really get a choice in the matter,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied modestly. He reached down, grabbed Chica by the throat, pulled her up and then shoved her against the door. He then leaned in, until they were inches apart. _Now listen to me very careful Chica...I have a message that I would like you to pass onto Freddy and the others."_

His dark red eyes glowed brightly in the dark.

Chica could feel something slitter up her leg, it hissed, paralysing her body with fear. _"Don't mind my Freddy heads, they won't bite unless I tell them to,"_ Nightmare Freddy remarked, he stroked her cheek causing her to shiver. _"Tell Freddy and the others that if one, aka me can do this much damage, then just imagine what four can do, got it?"_ He asked firmly.

Chica slowly nodded her head. _"Good girl,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, clearly humored.

"_You know how to be behave when it is required."_

Chica, then felt another Freddy head slide onto her shoulder, she could see its sharp fangs catch the reddish glow of Nightmare Freddy's eyes. She tried her best not to scream, but needless to say she was on the verge of failing to keep her nerves under control.

"Why are you so mean?" she whispered.

Nightmare Freddy grinned, somehow delighted that she had asked him such a question.

**xxxx**

**"Everybody wants to be like me."**

**"The villain is the one that you came to see."**

**"_Sick of all the good guys savin' the day."_**

** _"Cause the villain always wins when the hero's away."_ **

**xxxx**

_"Because it's who I am, I was born mean,__ or__ to be more correct I was based off someone mean,"_ he answered, in a rather calm tone. _"Now I know you love Foxy, Chica, that is undeniable and love is a powerful force in its own right, but Foxy cannot reach you here," _he paused to laugh.

_"He doesn't even know that you're in danger, even though he's sleeping right next to you,"_ he chuckled. Still retaining an iron like grip, Nightmare Freddy lifted her up, taking her feet off the floor and turned around. Taking Chica with him, he strolled down the empty aisle which was covered in pitch blackness, passing abandoned, overturned chairs which lay about in the dark. His three Freddy Heads sustained their grip on Chica, wrapping themselves around various parts of her body and keeping themselves still.

"Why…me?" Chica asked, struggling to breathe properly as the Nightmare did not loosen his hold on her airways.

"Why not…Bonnie, she's close…to Freddy?" Nightmare Freddy with his footsteps echoing whenever they hit the floor, turned to face her with a look of amusement and curiosity.

"_So…you want Bonnie to suffer instead, what does that say about you Chica, families shouldn't wish ill on each other,"_ he replied coolly.

He then chuckled to himself, as he sensed an opportunity. "_Oh, I am so telling her that you said that."_

Chica now regretted her words, the feeling of shame settled on her mind as they neared the altar. "_Still you asked, do you want to know why I choose you over Bonnie, despite her importance to Freddy?"_ he asked, staring at her with calculating eyes. Chica slowly nodded, even although everything was pitch black, Nightmare Freddy could see her response and sensed her mood.

He then held up one finger to Chica's face and wiggled it at her. "_Riddle me this, why kill one bird with one stone, when I can just take out two." _He smiled at her, evident by eyes which glowed in the dark, narrowing into a smug like expression of pure delight.

To any outsider looking in, it was clear that he held all the cards.

Just as they reached the altar, although in the dark, it was hard to tell, Nightmare Freddy threw Chica in its direction. The three Freddy heads sensed the outcome and immediately unwrapped themselves free, flying off Chica into all directions as she was sent flying through the air.

Her back took the full force of the impact, slamming into the stone altar with a heavy thud, pain rippled up her spine, but thankfully it wasn't broken. The result left her breathing heavily as her nerves relayed waves of immense back pain, she didn't even react to when Nightmare Freddy's feet appeared in her field of vision.

Slowly he knelt on both knees and with one hand took hold of her chin, dark red pupils bore into dark green. "_You are going to be the herald of what is to come for all of you, trust me…I am a man of my word."_

He then slowly rose his other arm in the air, his claw like hand appeared to be illuminated in the darkness.

**xxxx**

"_**And I'm here to stay."**_

**xxxx**

Chica's breathing quicken the instant she knew what was about to happen. Yet what disturbed her the most were the red like strings slithering out of his eyes towards her like snakes.

_Just remember Chica, this is your nightmare and there is no escaping it, not while I'm here,"_ Nightmare Freddy snarled, now sounding very demonic in his tone.

**xxxx**

"_**I'm the villain."**_

**xxxx**

"_Are you ready…."_

Chica closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

"_For Nightmare Freddy..."_

Nightmare Freddy's claw came down and came down hard, but only one thought passed through Chica's mind.

"_Foxy…help me!"_

**xxxx**

"_**And the villain always wins when the hero's away..."**_

**xxxx**

* * *

Foxy rolled about in his sleep which for him wasn't something new.

"Mmm...Chica, would you...like to be...my pirate queen, we'll sail the oceans together...and hunt down...Blackbeard and claim... his gold as our own," he mumbled in his sleep, that too wasn't something new either, but rather a habit he had developed over time.

"Or if you prefer we could just lay down look up at the stars and...you know...do-"

"HOOOOO!" An owl shrieked outside, making Foxy jump right out of his sleep.

"What, what, what's happening?" He asked, flaying his hook around in a rather dazed state.

Then he realized that it was only an owl.

"Bloodily bastard dream wrecker, I was about to score," he cursed under his breath as his recognition of his surroundings slowly returned to him. He turned to check the digital clock which lay on his bedside table. It read 12:45am, he had only been asleep for roughly four hours.

"12:45, I didn't think time could fly by so quickly in sleep," he muttered, trying to understand how time flowed in a dream.

He remembered Balloon Boy muttering something about how one's perception of time in a dream differed from time in real life, but that was a long time ago.

He turned to see Chica, resting peaceful next to him.

"Mmm, she doesn't seem to be bothered by the noise."

To be fair Chica had earned the reputation of being a rather deep sleeper. Deciding that there wasn't much else to do at this time of night, Foxy proceeded to try and get back to sleep.

He was about to lay back down on the covers, when Chica rolled over with her back facing Foxy. Now understandably there wasn't anything wrong with that, but then she rolled over so she was now facing Foxy, only to return to her last position and then quickly switch back, tossing and turning, getting faster and faster with each new turn.

"Chica, hey Chica wake up," Foxy whispered in her ear, tapping her lightly on the shoulders, perhaps she was suffering from a nightmare of sorts, from his own experience they could get intense very quickly. However, despite his attempts to wake her, Chica's eyes remained closed, as she flayed her arms and kicked her legs up, hitting nothing but empty air. Her facial expression became tense, something was clearly bothering her.

"Chica wake up, you're just having a bad dream, a nightmare!" Foxy exclaimed, shaking her by the shoulders, but Chica remained asleep, not responding to Foxy's actions. She continued to harsh her arms out in a mad fashion, but Foxy could see that something in her nightmare was obviously attacking her and causing her great distress.

But it was when she spoke that sent alarm bells ringing off in Foxy's head.

"GET OFF ME, STOP IT, YOUR HURTING ME, AAAAAAAAAA!"

"CHICA WAKE UP, PLEASE IT'S JUST A NIGHTMARE, YOUR SAFE!" Foxy shouted, trying to shake her awake, this was getting serious.

"HELPPPP MEEEE!" Chica screamed, as scratch marks suddenly appeared on her skin, looking very deep cut and bleeding fast. Then bite marks materialized on her arms and legs, causing her to shriek out in immense pain. "HOLY FUCK!" Foxy yelled, jumping back as Chica with her eyes still closed continued to fray herself around the bed.

"HANG ON, I'll GO AND GET HELP!" he yelled, turning as he launched himself off the bed, ran to the door and threw it wide open.

He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted with all his might.

"SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH CHICA!"

But Chica screamed even louder, waking up the entire house.

"HELPPPPP MEEEEEEE SOMEONEEEE PLEASEEEEEE, HE WON'T STOPPPPP!"

_"He, whose he!" _Foxy thought, turning to look at Chica, just seeing her rip herself to pieces was torture for him. Soon, there was the sound of multiple footsteps, as every door in the whole house was thrown open, as everyone in their panic scrambled down to Foxy's room. "WHAT HAPPENING, I HEARD SCREAMS?" Mike asked clearly worried, running whilst throwing on his nightgown in the process.

"What's wrong with Chica?" Toy Bonnie enquired hastily, her feet pounding the wooden floor broads as she pushed her way forward, desperate to know what was wrong as soon as possible.

"She's in here, she just started acting out her dreams, but for some reason I can't wake her!" Foxy exclaimed, stepping aside to let everyone else in. While they all crowed into the small bedroom, they saw that Chica, was sitting upright, as well as thrashing about on the bed and screaming her head off.

"PLEASE YOUR HURTING ME, LET ME GO!"

"What in the name of Scott Cawthon!" Mike asked, clearly shocked by Chica's irrational behaviour. Then Chica abruptly stopped and became still, crossing her legs. Her eyes remained closed still and her cries for help had ceased.

"Chica...are you ok?" Toy Chica enquired, she stepped forward and poke her in the shoulder. Chica didn't reply, remaining physically still as rivers of blood run down her skin.

"Chica...are you awake?" Goldie questioned.

Again, no response.

"Can you hear us?" Balloon Boy asked.

There was a deathly silence.

Balloon Boy walked forward and waved his hand in front of Chica's face. Then without any warning her eyes shot open, except they weren't their normal green, but a fiery darkish red. She smirked and grabbed Balloon Boy by the throat, lifting him up as his legs frayed about in the air.

"C..h..i...c...a," he chocked, trying to shake himself free.

_"I'm not Chica, little boy, I am Nightmare Freddy, your beloved little Chica is gone,"_ Chica hissed, it wasn't in her sweet soothing voice, it sounded like a male's and was somewhat demonic. She then threw Balloon Boy back towards the others, knocking Toy Freddy, Springtrap and Jeremy to the floor as Balloon Boy landed on top of them.

_"CHICA IS MINE YOU FOOLS!"_ She shouted, her head jerked left to the right, like she had no control.

"WHO ARE YOU, WHERE'S CHICA?" Foxy shouted, grabbing Chica by the shoulders.

"WHERE IS SHE!" He yelled, shaking her.

But Chica just laughed in his face, her firey red eyes staring down his angered expression.

_"Oh, how brave, yet foolish, just what I excepted from the great Foxy the Pirate," _she said smugly, although clearly in a mocking tone.

She smiled.

_"Just to let you know Foxy, Chica is inside a nightmare, where I am currently beating her, she's quite a fighter when backed into a corner, I mean man, can she pull punches!"_

"I won't let you hurt her monster, whoever you are, you hear!" Foxy stated, glaring into Chica's fiery red eyes. She tore herself free from his grasp and proceeding to twirl around the room much to everyone's surprise.

_"Too late, there's nothing you can do for her,"_ she sang. "Who is Nightmare Freddy?" Bonnie asked, looking directly at her.

"That's your name correct?"

Chica still dancing turned to face her. _"Just ask Freddy...or the Puppet?"_ she replied, tilting her head with a demonic smile.

"Freddy?" Mangle asked, turning to face him as did everyone else.

"Why would Freddy know?"

_"Yes Freddy, do tell them...about our little chat,"_ said Chica, slowly moving towards Freddy, whose eyes darted about, trying to find support.

_"Our chat where I found out everything I needed to know...and you didn't even tell them about me..."_ She pulled a sad face and clutched her chest, as she continued to twirl like a ballerina.

_"I'm hurt...so much, obviously, our encounter wasn't important enough to be mentioned."_

"I killed you, I threw a knife into your chest and you shattered like glass," Freddy argued, not wanting to believe the scene before him. Chica hummed to herself as she twirled towards him, her eyes were a dark red that burned like a bonfire. "_Yes…your right, but I __merely __set up a projection, your knife never really hit me…I faked it Freddy…the whole thing."_

Freddy's eyes widen with the realization of what was happening which only served to make Chica's smile even bigger. "_But still you could have told them about it, a strange dream, one which felt very real, surely you didn't think that I was merely nothing."_

She giggled humorously, although her laugh brought no joy.

"_I mean with all that's happened to you over the years, the ghost children, possession and the hauntings, yet somehow I'm just an ordinary thing that appears in a dream occasionally."_

She just loved his shocked expression.

"_You fell right into my trap…I mean it was a huge gamble I was taking, but still…I never knew that you were so out of touch…tsk, tsk, tsk, you're getting old Freddy."_

Then she threw her hands up and laughed.

_"Oh, by the way, thanks for giving me endless access to all your friends, their safety must be really low on your list of priories."_

"Are you real?" Freddy asked, as Chica came to a stop before him. _"Of course, I'm real Freddy, with the exception of Toy Freddy and Goldie here, I'm your counter opposite, I met you in a nightmare, scanned your mind, explored your deepest thoughts and..."_

She glanced over at Bonnie.

_"Deepest desires."_

_"The truth is Freddy, because you failed to warn the others, I was able to enter the Puppet's mind and 'ask' her a few questions, Chica's suffering however is your punishment and the price for your inaction and I love it!"_ Chica exclaimed, laughing.

"Freddy, what is he or 'she' talking about?" Toy Chica inquired, sounding very confused, unable to decide the person's gender.

"Inaction?" Toy Bonnie asked sounding surpised and raising her eyebrows.

_"He's put you all in danger, he's let you all down, I bring nightmares and you'll never be free of me," _Chica stated, grinning, looking from one face to the next.

"Wait, Freddy knows you!" Mike exclaimed, now jumping in.

_"Of course, he does Mike, he's known about me since our meeting on your airship, which is an impressive achievement, if I must say so myself,"_ Chica replied, giving Mike a bow to which the man raised his eyebrows in confusion as to how to react to the gesture.

She then looked back at everyone else.

"_Let me guess, your all properly thinking why didn't Freddy tell you about me?"_ she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

She then looked down at her body, shaking her hips from side to side.

"_My God, I thought it would be hard to walk as a female, but these hips don't lie on their flexibility."_ She then looked around at the rivers of blood that ran down her arms and chest, along with all the bite marks that decorated her body.

Then she turned to face Freddy, faking distress.

_"She's bleeding Freddy...she is bleeding so badly, I don't think she can live for much longer with amount of blood loss, oh she is screaming, her mind is breaking, oh I must thank you for letting me get this far, because this __is __heaven,"_ she moaned, amidst the appearance of new cuts and bruises from which blood emerged.

She stared deep into his eyes, standing on her tippy toes to be at eye level.

_"Can you see me?"_ She asked, now her tone was serious, demanding attention.

"_Look closely…"_

Freddy leaned in, he could see something in her pupils. It was Nightmare Freddy in all his glory staring back at him, smiling with that psychotic smile of his.

"Yes, I can see you," Freddy replied, but it was barely a whisper.

_"You know, someone who you share a bad history with told me to tell you this."_

Chica reached over and whispered in his ear.

_"You. can't. save. her. you. couldn't. even. save. them...you know who I refer to."_

Then Balloon Boy stepped forward with narrowed eyes, clearly, he'd had enough of this charade.

"Release Chica...now," he demanded, raising his fists.

_"Ha, you're a brave little one, has the discovery of love made you strong all of a sudden, because if I remember what Vincent told me, your quite oblivious to things,"_ Chica replied, patting Balloon Boy on the head. "_Oh yes, and while I do remember this, Bonnie, Chica did tell me that she wished it was you I went after instead of her."_

Chica turned to square eyes with Bonnie and smiled, but it wasn't her smile.

"_Think about that, clearly she sees you as something below her despite having known you since the eighties."_

She sighed triumphantly as she spun round to meet Foxy, their eyes locked, staring each other down.

_"Besides Chica is mine now, there's nothing you can do, until I've finished with her and who knows Foxy…"_

_"I might just beat you to the wedding bed tonight!"_ she giggled insanely clearly hinting at things to come. Her words were like the launch lever for an atomic bomb as Foxy exploded uncontrollably, by smacking Chica across the face and knocked her to the floor. "FOXY!" Mike shouted, grabbing him firmly by the shoulders.

"RESTRAIN YOURSELF MAN!"

_"Yes, hurt her, you do the outside, I'll do the inside and maybe we'll meet somewhere in the middle!_" Chica gloated, her eyes gleaming with delight as she steadily picked herself up off the floor.

"How do we stop this?" Bonnie asked, edger to reverse this somehow. "_You can't stop it,"_ Chica roared, her voice now sounding more demonic as she bathed in the supremacy of her position.

"_If you try to kill me, then you kill her!" _

Then an idea clicked in Goldie's head, it was a gamble, but what choice did they currently have.

"Quick restrain her, I have an idea."

Quickly, Chica was seized upon by Toy Freddy and Mangle who forced her down onto the bed and pinned her there. _"NO, RELEASE ME YOU FOOLS OR I'LL KILL HER AND IT WON'T BE QUICK!"_ Chica screamed, fighting back, her demonic eyes glowed evermore brightly.

Goldie reached out with his hands.

"Goldie, what's your idea?" Jeremy asked, edger to know, but also wary of whatever risks it may bring.

"And please tell me it's a good one."

"She's clearly possessed, this 'Nightmare Freddy' is controlling her body, I might be able to enter her mind and free her," he replied, putting his hands on both sides of Chica's head.

_"FOOLS, YOU CAN'T SAVE HER!"_

"It's worth trying, monster," Mangle hissed, tightening her grip on Chica's arm so she couldn't attempt to free herself. "If you can do that, then let me come with you?" Foxy asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I suddenly have a score to settle."

"Grab onto my shoulders tightly, you'll be in for a ride," Goldie instructed.

Foxy did so.

"Have you ever done this kind of thing before Goldie?" Springtrap asked, watching as Chica struggled with Mangle and Toy Freddy, never giving up on her effort to free herself. "A few times, not all were successful though," Goldie replied, summoning up all of his mental strength.

"I'll do the best I can, just keep her restrained and don't disturb me or Foxy, just watch," he ordered, to which the others all nodded in response. Bonnie glared at Chica, although it was rather at the _'thing'_ possessing her.

"Best of luck to you both," she stated. "Give this bastard a kick up the arse," Mike cheered, to which Foxy grinned in response.

"Will do."

"3," said Goldie starting the countdown, as he tighten his grip on Chica's head.

"2," Foxy felt a sudden wave of dizziness wash over him.

"1," then they both blacked out.

* * *

Foxy could only see darkness, pitch darkness, he could still feel his hands on Goldie's shoulders.

"Expect a bright flash of white light and then we'll arrive in Chica's dream, whatever it is she's dreaming of," said Goldie, somewhere in front of him. "Right, then we'll find this bastard and kill him," Foxy replied through gritted teeth. "Hopefully yes," Goldie answered, also sounding joyful at the prospect.

Suddenly there was a flash of bright white light, which hurt their eyes, luckily it was only for a few seconds. Upon fading away, they saw a lone church surrounded by countryside for miles on round. "Down there, she and _'he'_ will be in the church, it's the only dominant feature in this dream," said Goldie, pointing towards it as they glided down.

No sooner had they landed, Foxy raced towards the church and slammed himself against the large oak wooden doors. Needless to say, he failed massively, as the doors rattled but remained shut.

"Let me try, he's properly locked them shut with some form of magic," Goldie stated, rushing up behind Foxy.

He placed his hands on the doors and muttered something under his breath. "Come on Goldie, she's inside," Foxy insisted, ever desperate to get in.

Goldie ignored him and continued to mutter to himself.

The doors glowed white, followed by the sound of them unlocking.

Goldie raised his head

"NOW!"

Foxy kicked the doors wide open, determined to rush inside and scoop Chica up in his arms, while Goldie aimed to deliver a punch to this Nightmare Freddy's face.

But what they both saw, shocked them to the core.

Before the high altar was Nightmare Freddy, cradling a bloodied, half dead looking Chica, who was lying on the stone floor. From what they could both see she was withering about in complete agony as Nightmare Freddy pushed his hands into her head. All the while, red streams or strings appeared to flow out of his dark red eyes into Chica's green, diluting them.

So that was how he controlled her.

His Freddy heads slithered about on the floor, circling them, forming a protective ring.

If there was anything else to notice it was that their fangs were covered in blood..._Chica's blood._

Nightmare Freddy's claws were equally draped in blood as were his teeth, he appeared to be smiling, as Chica groaned in pain, her body was constantly twitching as her nerves were in overdrive. Her wedding dress had been torn to shreds, leaving her in only her underwear and bra..._she looked so vulnerable._

All that Goldie could say was.

"Oh...my…God."

Foxy meanwhile said absolutely nothing, he narrowed his eyes and raised his hook.

He raced forward like a bullet, proceeding to leap over the Freddy heads and smacked right into Nightmare Freddy sending him into a stone column with the Nightmare flying into it first before Foxy impacted in from behind. He tore at him with his hook, removing all of his moral restraints as he slashed at his face and banged his head against the column with all his might.

He was pissed and rightfully so.

With Foxy having Nightmare Freddy distracted, Goldie ran forward towards Chica, using his mental strength, he raised his hand, lifting all three Freddy heads up into the air and then threw them against the far wall of the church. The impact stunned them, knocking them out cold before they even hit the floor. "Chica?" He asked, kneeling down beside her, concern for her wellbeing dominated his mind.

"Please for the love of God, tell me that you're alive."

Slowly her eyes opened, revealing two green pupils.

"Gol...die?" She asked, trying to make out the blurred the figure leaning over her. "Shhh, it's me and Foxy, we're here now," he answered, slowly picking her up, allowing her to warp her arms around his shoulders. He had to be carefully, she had cuts, marks and scratches all over her body, so she was very fragile.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, he knew it was dumb question, considering the current circumstances, but he did it out of habit. "I've been better," she mumbled, a cute attempt at humour, Goldie couldn't help but smile.

She then looked around with her eyes darting about in all directions.

"Foxy, where's Foxy?" She asked, her voice was undeniably weak.

"Oh he's-"

Before Goldie could answer, Foxy was thrown backwards, passing Goldie and Chica on the way, before landing on the floor nearby with a and Chica's eyes flickered over to see Nightmare Freddy walk forward, dusting himself clean. Instantly Chica tighten her grip onto Goldie's shoulders, he could read the fear in her eyes. Yet the damage delivered to Nightmare Freddy by Foxy was clear to see.

His face bore many scratches, not mention that he was bleeding in some places

His fangs looked dented as if someone had taken the time to bend them.

Slowly he felt his face with his claws and then reached inside his mouth, painfully bending a fang back into place.

His eyes widen upon seeing the newcomers.

_"My...my…my...what have we got here, Golden Freddy and the Great Foxy__ the Pirate__, I'm flattered to finally meet you both in person,"_ he said smiling.

He approached them, his intent was obvious, a full-on attack. "Leave us, you are now outnumbered," Goldie hissed, gripping Chica, making her feel a bit more secure.

Nightmare Freddy just laughed, throwing his head back.

_"Ha, you've clearly underestimated me!"_

_"Do you really think ordering me around is going to somehow work." _Foxy meanwhile picked himself up and joined alongside Goldie. _"I am very powerful, especially in dreams as my name suggests, for starters I can make it rain." _He clapped his hands and suddenly thunder echoed overhead, as rain drops started falling even though they were inside a roofed stone church.

_"I can take us into space_."

He clicked his fingers and then the whole church just vanished to be replaced with the sun, the Earth and all other planets of the solar system floating around in the vast darkness of space. This left Goldie, Chica and Foxy drifting about in the endless vacuum, yet for some reason, they could still breathe.

_"Or if you like and this is my specialty, I can take you to the depths of your terror, make your fears real and have them..."_

He giggled like a child, his dark red eyes displaying a vicious inner nature.

_"Kill you...and not in a nice way."_

He clicked his fingers, returning everyone back to the church. Foxy and Goldie only just landed safely on their own two feet, with Goldie making dam sure that he didn't drop Chica in the process.

Quickly he handed her over to Foxy.

"Take her, I'll deal with him."

"Are you sure you can take him?" Foxy asked, eyeing up Nightmare Freddy.

"Trust me, as powerful as he is, he can't focus on both of us, I'll distract him, you take Chica and go," Goldie ordered.

Foxy smiled, it was worth a shot.

"Good luck, give him a kicking for me, and make it hurt!"

"Foxy?" Chica asked, instantly recognizing his voice. She reached out with her twisted arm, as her blood shot eyes desperately try to clear her vision. "I am here lassie, I'm here," Foxy replied, taking hold of her hand.

He smiled, she looked so fragile...like a child.

But Nightmare Freddy guessed what they were thinking.

_"Leaving so soon, oh no no no, I can't have that, the wedding cake has barely been cut," _he sighed sarcastically. He then threw up his arms, creating a stone wall which appeared behind the trio.

"_You're going nowhere…not with her!"_

"Well you aren't!" Goldie remarked with narrowed eyes. Within an instant, he leapt at Nightmare Freddy, knocking him right off his feet, and destroying his concentration, which made the stone wall collapse into a pile of rubble. As Goldie landed punch after punch on Nightmare Freddy, the latter clicked his fingers. His two Freddy heads which had been since knocked out by Goldie and lay on the far side of the church, suddenly awoke and rushed over towards Foxy. He turned and raced towards the church entrance, with the Freddy heads snapping at his heels with their fangs.

"Foxy...look out," Chica groaned, as one Freddy head leapt up, aiming to sink its teeth into Foxy's shoulder.

"Hang on, lassie!" He cried, turning round and smacking it aside with his free hand, the other Freddy head jumped up and would have bitten Foxy's arm, but Chica, although still weak, kicked it away with her foot.

"Nice one Chica, me thinks a promotion is in order," Foxy said, smiling at Chica, who returned with a smile of her own.

The church entrance started to glow white, the exit.

"Almost there lassie, just hold on for a bit longer!" Foxy exclaimed, running toward it as fast as his legs would carry them. Goldie meanwhile grabbed Nightmare Freddy's arm and twisted it, causing his opponent to hiss in pain. "I hope that hurts you bastard!" Goldie growled as he held Nightmare Freddy upwards by the throat.

Nightmare Freddy just smiled, before delivering a solid kick to Goldie's stomach, causing him to let go. Nightmare Freddy then grabbed Goldie by the head and head-butted him, knocking him with more than enough force to knock him out cold.

As Goldie fell to the floor, Nightmare Freddy turned and saw Foxy and Chica nearing the church entrance.

_"Not this time," _he hissed.

He then teleported, reappearing before the couple, he timed his reappearance so when he appeared before them, he could smack Foxy right in the face. He did, resulting in Foxy falling to the floor, Chica also fell, landing nearby.

She wasn't knocked out and instantly proceeded to crawl towards Foxy. "Foxy...Foxy?" She called, reaching out with her badly mauled hands. Then Nightmare Freddy brought his foot down on Chica's hand, crushing it and making her scream. _"Well my dear, let's move onto stage __two,__ shall we?" _He smirked, towering above her. He reached down to grab her…only for Foxy crash into him, sending him to the floor.

Yet within a matter of seconds he was back on his feet.

Foxy rose, quick enough to meet the challenge, his hook blocking one of Nightmare Freddy's claws. Foxy then kicked him hard in the gut, forcing him back and then within the blink of an eye there was a flash of his claws and...

"FOXY!"

Foxy gripped his left shoulder, there was a flesh tear on it, out of which blood spilled.

"_Does that hurt?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, sneering.

He smacked him hard in the ribs, making Foxy stumbled backwards.

"_I can always make it worse."_

Nightmare Freddy grabbed him by the throat and pushed him back up against a pillar, cutting into his airways. Yet Foxy wasn't going to take it, as he proceeded to deliver to Nightmare Freddy a headbutt of his own. Now out of his grasp, he leapt up and kicked him in the chest with enough force to make the Nightmare fall backwards onto the floor.

Within an instant Foxy was beside Chica, aiming to protect her. "How are you doing Chica?" he asked, briefly turning over to face her. "I'm good so far," she muttered, although she was clearly still weak. Foxy then returned to Nightmare Freddy, only to find that the Nightmare wasn't there anymore.

He was about to ask the question of where he was when he felt something hit in the back of the head. Foxy fell to his knees and then to the floor. Chica's eyes widen once she realised what just happened. She turned over to see Nightmare Freddy, bearing over her with a piece of rubble in his hand.

He looked angry to say the least.

Chica was about to scream, when a claw came down and grabbed her by the throat, cutting her off.

Slowly she was lifted up until they were about eye level.

"_Hang about we cut into your neck and see how much blood you spill," _he hissed. Chica's response was using her remaining strength to smack him across the face with her free fist.

Nightmare Freddy quickly recovered, he raised his claw to his nose…he felt something wet…blood.

He started to growl like an enraged animal, slowly his mouth opened, revealing a fine row of sharp teeth, Chica struggled to break free as she knew what was coming. Then before he could even lash forward, something grabbed him by the collar of his suit as he was suddenly lifted upwards, making him let go of Chica, who fell back to the floor.

He turned to see a very angry Foxy, holding him up by his hook.

"_So, you're tougher than you look,"_ he muttered plainly.

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BASTARD!" Foxy shouted, before smacking his fist into Nightmare Freddy's face, blood flew in all directions.

Foxy then threw Nightmare Freddy straight into one of church's pillars, it shattered upon impact. Goldie then pulled himself upright out of the rubble, having only just recovered from being knocked out and teleported beside Chica, helping her up.

"Go now, I'll finish him," he said, glancing over to where Nightmare Freddy lay, groaning in agony. Foxy picked Chica back up and ran to the church entrance, he leapt through it with Chica in his arms, vanishing completely. _"No!" _Nightmare Freddy shouted, sitting upright, as Goldie approached.

He smacked Nightmare Freddy across the face, which was bleeding enough as it was and pressed his foot down on Nightmare Freddy's chest, pushing him onto the floor and pinning him in place. "Now...you talk!" Goldie hissed, his dark red eyes narrowed, locking with that of Nightmare Freddy's, who try to wiggle free.

"Just who are you?" Goldie asked, his tone and expression now all stern and serrious.

_"Nightmare Freddy, I am the greatest Freddy there ever was."_

"You're also clearly a sadist and a psychopath, I guess Vincent made you," Goldie replied, pressing his foot further down onto his opponent's chest. _"He made...all four of us...real,"_ Nightmare Freddy hissed, his answer made Goldie's eyes twitch. _"I have wondered what secrets lie in your head, Goldie, what knowledge do you have with being so old?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked.

He smiled, trying to break free of Goldie grip, but to no avail.

Goldie with one arm, pinned Nightmare Freddy's arms to the floor and with the other, he placed it on Nightmare Freddy's head. Instantly blue streams flowed out of Goldie's eyes and into the eyes of Nightmare Freddy. "Let's see who you really are?" Goldie questioned, as he searched his enemy's mind.

Nightmare Freddy appeared to offer no resistance as Goldie worked his way through the mental maze. However, it was a twisted maze, mad, brutal, and animalistic, but most of all it was constantly shifting, not to mention being insane beyond recognition.

Then he scanned his memories.

He saw Vincent injecting various chemicals into an unconscious Nightmare Freddy. "So, this is how you were created," Goldie stated, watching intently.

_"Well...that's half the story,"_ Nightmare Freddy sneered.

Goldie continued filtered his way through Nightmare Freddy's messed up mind. He saw Nightmare Freddy torture Freddy, then the Puppet and finally his savage beating of Chica. Yet then he picked up something familiar, something at the back of Nightmare Freddy's memories, someone who he once knew…_someone crying._

"You're a monster, you deserve no place in this world," he muttered, shocked by the level of brutality that Nightmare Freddy was inflicting on the people he loved. _"Oh, but I do deserve a place in this world Goldie, and if I can do this much damage, then just imagine what four or even five can do!"_ Nightmare Freddy exclaimed.

_"IMAGINE THE CHAOS, IMAGINE THE WHOLE WORLD BURNING!" _

Then without any warning, Goldie was forced back out of Nightmare Freddy's mind and into his own. Nightmare head-butted Goldie, broke free of his grip and punch him backwards into another stone pillar. He then grabbed Goldie by the throat and started to choke him, the madness in his eyes grew, as he tighten his hold ever more.

_"YES YES, STRUGGLE, FIGHT, BUT IT'LL DO YOU NO GOOD AS THE LIGHT FADES AWAY FROM YOUR EYES!"_ He laughed. Goldie gasped for breath, flaying his arms around, trying to grab onto anything. By a stroke of luck, he picked up a piece of stone from one of the many destroyed pillars.

He almost brought it against Nightmare Freddy's head, but he grabbed his arm and bashed it against the floor, pinning it in place. _"Enough, time to see what secrets you hold,"_ said Nightmare Freddy, grabbing Goldie's head.

Red streams poured out of his eyes and into Goldie's.

What he found...was a gold mine of secrets...dark secrets.

_"Oh…my…God, you have seen so much and yet I sense guilt, lots and lots of guilt...but why one must asked, let's find out,"_ Nightmare Freddy hissed, smiling as Goldie withered about in pain.

"NO, GET OUT!" He screamed.

_"No, there's much for me to explore,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered, increasing the pressure on Goldie's head.

He followed his streams through Goldie's mind, his guilt was a beacon and Nightmare Freddy was drawn to it.

_"Wow, you really did stab Springtrap in the back, just listen to his screams, he's participially begging you and your just standing there with your back to him...oh you've done such a bad thing Goldie, that's low even by my standards,"_ he stated, replaying scenes from Goldie's memories.

"I KNOW, BUT I'LL FIX IT!" Goldie shouted, trying to resist.

_"You lied to the others about your origins, you abandoned him...all alone for more than a quarter of a century, left in the dark, you must hate yourself?"_ Nightmare Freddy questioned, digging deeper and deeper into Goldie's head. "PLEASE...STOP!" Goldie pleaded, the agony was quickly becoming unbearable.

_"No...I'll perform my specialty instead,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, smirking. He clicked his fingers, when he did, the church suddenly became dark as the light outside faded away and then Goldie saw what he feared the most.

Springtrap rose out of the ground nearby and approached him.

"Why did you betray me Goldie, why?" He asked, his expression was one of sadness.

"I didn't mean to, I was just as shocked as you were, I didn't want to believe in what had just happened," Goldie answered. "But you left me, you didn't do anything as I was dragged away, you were my family...my only family and you tossed me aside," Springtrap muttered, he looked hurt and betrayed.

"No, I had my reasons, I'm sorry for all the pain I caused for you Spring, but I didn't mean to hurt you," Goldie replied, a lump was forming in his throat.

"Lair, you left me to rot for thirty seven years, you lied to everyone to protect yourself, Fredbear would be disgusted if he knew what his favorite performer did to his co-worker," Springtrap hissed, clenching his fists, as his eyes narrowed. "I didn't know what would happen, I didn't know you would break down, I'm truly sorry Spring, I'll make up for it in anyway I can," Goldie begged, his eyes on the verge of tears.

Springtrap glared at him, his expression was one of rage and emotional pain.

"But you're not Spring, your just me shouting back at me," Goldie muttered, acknowledging that the Springtrap he was seeing was a reflection of his own guilt. Nightmare Freddy chucked, he clicked his fingers, making Springtrap disappear.

_"Yes, that is true, but you know what you did back in 1979, you didn't help him and I bet Springtrap has questions that need answering and you hold the answers to those questions,"_ he leaned in, so close that their lips could touch.

_"You cannot outrun the past Goldie, it's about to catch up with you, in fact it's towering over you, you know what will happen, Springtrap will hate you for it, the others will too and I'll make a guess that you never told them about it."_

Goldie's eyes widen, which confirmed Nightmare Freddy's assumptions.

_"I would gladly pull down the curtain and reveal to everyone what you did, who you really are, they'll be in for a shock and Springtrap will never forgive you...never,"_ he hissed.

Then a question popped into his head.

"_Do you remember the Bite of 1983, the crying child, his screams for help as you dug your teeth into his skull, into his brain?" _He asked calmly. "Yes…how could I forget," Goldie answered, trying to fight unpleasant memories that were racing towards the surface.

"_Did you ever tell the others?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, as he continued to strangle Goldie, yet Goldie didn't answer back, making Nightmare Freddy's eyes glow with interest.

"_Ohhhh, you'll soon be in for it now, when they find out what you did to that poor innocent little boy."_

He leaned in and whispered in Goldie's ear.

"_They'll shut you out forever, rule number one of Fazbear's, don't harm the children._"

Goldie growled at Nightmare Freddy's inaccurate readings of his family. "You don't know me, you don't know Spring, you don't know shit about my family and even if you have read their minds, you still know nothing!" Goldie hissed, his eyes narrowed in a portrayal of his rage.

"Now would you kindly get off of me?" He asked.

_"Mmmm...no,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered, smiling rather smugly. "Fine, have it your way," Goldie replied, his eyes narrowed, as his muscles tensed.

Then Nightmare Freddy noticed something…rather odd.

_"Wait are his hands...glowing?"_

Then Goldie, appeared to unleash a massive whitish blue ball of energy.

_"Oh shit!"_

Everything happened so fast, Nightmare Freddy was suddenly thrown backwards, his mental concentration with Goldie's mind was broken, as he was sent flying into one of the stained glass windows of the church.

He smashed right through them, scratching himself with fragments of broken coloured glass, before landing outside on the grass with a deafening thud. He looked up to see Goldie fly through the shattered window and land nearby, he sure looked pissed as hell. Nightmare Freddy was now wary of this new power, Chica and Foxy were long gone and he had taken quite a beating as a result, and there was no longer any real reason to continue fighting.

He leapt up into the air as Goldie approached and flew off out of the dream. _"He who flees today, lives to fight another day,"_ he muttered under his breath. He looked back to see Goldie chasing him, raw anger was written all over his face.

"_Oh yeah, I forget he was the mo__st __mentally capable out __of __the __entire __family."_

Nightmare Freddy flew out of the house and away from Chicago, heading back to the Pizzeria. Goldie continued to follow him, determined not to let him escape, not after all the pain and misery he had caused. Nightmare Freddy turned round briefly to zap Goldie with lighting, something which he was never excepting but he managed by dodging his attempts. In fact, he was able to redirect some of the lighting back onto Nightmare Freddy, which caused him to start plummeting towards the ground, before regaining his focus.

"I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND MAKE YOU FEAR DEATH ITSELF!" Goldie's screamed, increasing his speed. The gap between the two was decreasing fast as Nightmare Freddy neared the Pizzeria. It was then he turned round and threw a full hell storm of lighting at Goldie…only for him to reflect it back, the full impact, struck Nightmare Freddy right in the chest, sending him flying backwards straight through the double doors of the Pizzeria.

Goldie landed and rushed inside, just as Nightmare Freddy was picking himself back up.

"_You do know that if I'm here attacking you guys, then that means Vincent is somewhere else and who knows what he's got planned,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, smiling at Goldie's determination. "Well you aren't going anywhere that's for sure," he replied, ready to pounce.

Nightmare Freddy just chuckled somehow amused by Goldie's words.

"_Of course, not…I'm not even really here, but don't worry Goldie, you'll soon catch up, oh by the way, you may want to head back now, I think all hell is about to break loose."_

Goldie ignored his smug claim to immortality, narrowing his hate filled eyes and leapt forward, aiming to deliver a solid punch to his enemy's face.

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!"

Expect his fist never made contact with Nightmare Freddy, as he vanished into thin air right before his very eyes.

"WHAT, NO, HE CAN'T JUST LEAVE, THAT FUCKING COWARD, SERVANT LIKE MASTER, HE AND VINCENT ARE THE SAME!"

However, he suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion pass through his body, as his vision became hazy, he knew he needed to wake up and return to the others.

"Must...protect...family," he muttered before falling into unconsciousness, as the dream world gave way to reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got the inspiration for the final scene between Goldie and NF from Avengers Age of Ultron, when Stark is about to destroy Ultron's first body, but Ultron merely states that he is everywhere and that the Green Hulk is about to go on a rampage.
> 
> Thanks and please review.


	11. Shockwaves and Conquences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Fallout hits pretty hard...  
(Apologies for any grammar mistakes, I think Fanfic has an unusual habit of deleting things, I don't know whether Archive Of Our Own has the same issue.)

** Chapter 11. **

** Shockwaves and Conquences. **

"_**Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences."**_

_ **Norman Cousins ** _

Goldie opened his eyes to find himself back inside Jeremy's house in Foxy's and Chica's bedroom. He staggered forward, feeling quite dizzy, only for Springtrap to grab him by the shoulders to steady his balance.

"Are you ok, you look like someone has dragged you over broken glass?" He asked, his eyes were filled with genuine concern.

"Yeah, I'm ok," Goldie replied, straightening his blue top hat.

"Gave that Nightmare Freddy guy something to scream about, I would have killed him if he hadn't escaped, that coward."

He then noticed that the entire room was empty save for him, Springtrap, Mike and Balloon Boy.

"Where did everyone else go?" he asked, looking around.

Then down the hallway, came the sound of someone retching.

"That'll be Chica, when she and Foxy returned, they took her to the kitchen and are trying to bind her wounds, she's bleeding all over the place...as well as vomiting," Springtrap stated, scratching his head.

"Come, they'll be expecting us, hopefully Nightmare Freddy will think twice before attacking us again," said Mike, gesturing towards the door from which came another retching sound.

"Should I go and wake up the Puppet, does she need to know?" Balloon Boy asked, he was sitting on the bed.

"No, but stay by her side, I don't think it's best to wake her, plus you shouldn't go into the kitchen BB, your too young," Mike replied.

"Ok, I'll be in the lounge," he said, jumping off the bed and exiting the room.

He took a passing glance towards the kitchen, before continuing down the hallway. Mike, Goldie and Springtrap then left the room and headed towards the kitchen. Upon entering it, Goldie was struck by what he saw, halting in mid-step.

Chica sat on the kitchen table with a bucket in her hands.

She looked a complete and utter wreck.

Her hair was tangled in mangled knots, her hands were twisted, her feet was heavily bruised, her face was covered in her own blood and her skin was decorated with scratches and bleeding bite marks.

She vomited stomach bile into a half-filled bucket, as Mangle and Toy Bonnie patted her on her scarred back, assessing the damage.

"Kill me...please," she whispered, clutching the bucket, her whole body was shaking from heighted emotional turmoil.

"It's ok Chica, you'll mend," Toy Chica said, as she and Bonnie proceeded to tie multiple bandages around her wounds.

"He...attacked me...he just wouldn't stop," Chica sobbed, burying her head into Toy Bonnie's chest.

Her hands shook as she reached out and grasped Foxy's hands, he held them softly.

"Your here now lassie, we won't let him hurt you again," he stated.

"But he can!" Chica exclaimed, her frantic face met Foxy's eyes.

"He can enter our dreams and mess around with them!"

But Goldie shook his head.

"No, I gave him something to think about, he won't be coming back anytime soon," he said.

Chica smiled briefly.

"Thank you, Goldie, if you and Foxy hadn't turned up...I don't want to think what would have happened."

"None of us do, dear," Toy Bonnie said, as Chica buried her head once again in her chest.

"However, that does leaves us with a more important question, regarding what this Nightmare Freddy has told us," Mike stated, catching everyone's attention.

"Indeed, it does," Springtrap retorted, he knew where Mike was going.

Mike turned on the spot to meet Freddy in the eye.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about this Freddy?" He asked, his tone was both stern and direct.

All eyes apart from Chica's turned to look at Freddy, each look was one of curiosity, anger and betrayal. Freddy refused to meet their gaze, staring only at the floor.

"I...I...I didn't think he was real, I thought our encounter was just a bad dream, I never knew that he existed, I was actually going to ask Goldie about it on the rooftop of Mike's airship, but then the Purple Man attacked and well...I forgot," he smiled weakly, but the others did not reply with the same expression.

A lot of them were folding their arms and starting to look even angrier.

"Freddy...you do realise that by not telling us, you directly put both the Puppet and Chica in harm's way," Mike stated, he spoke slowly, giving time for his words to sink in.

"The Puppet?" Toy Chica asked.

"Don't you remember, back in Jeremy's van, she was screaming about having met Nightmare Freddy, those bite marks on her legs would have been from those Freddy heads of his," Foxy answered.

Toy Chica instantly gasped.

"Oh, my God, we didn't listen to her," she exclaimed, burying her head into her hands.

"I thought she was struggling to make sense of anything because of her injuries and the fact that she had passed out!"

"Freddy, do you understand what you've allowed to happen?" Mike asked, although his tone wasn't inviting.

"Yes...I do and I'm deeply sorry," Freddy replied, eyes still downcast.

"SORRY!" A voice shouted out, ripping through the air.

Everyone turned to see Chica, still crying, but wearing an expression of intense hatred.

"YOUR SORRY AND THAT'S IT!" she cried, slowly jumping off the table and shrugging off the support that Toy Bonnie and Mangle offered.

"I WAS NEARLY RAPED AND KILLED BY A FUCKING PSYCHOPATH, THE PUPPET NEARLY DIED, AND YOU SAID NOTHING, NOTHING YOU HEAR, AND AT THE END OF THE DAY ALL YOU CAN SAY IS THAT YOUR FUCKING SORRY!" She slowly limped towards Freddy, edger by the looks of it to kill him with her bare hands.

Mike slowly backed away, wisely getting out of the field of fire that emitted from Chica…she was a viper when she was pissed.

"I MEAN THE PUPPET SCREAMED OUT HIS NAME AND YOU WERE RIGHT NEXT TO HER, WHY DIDN'T ANYTHING REGISTER IN YOUR GOD DAM HEAD!"

"I didn't believe he was real, I thought-"

"HE WAS FUCKING REAL FREDDY, HE SCANNED YOUR MIND, HE SCANNED MINE, YOU KNOW JUST AS WELL AS I DO, WHAT ITS LIKE TO HAVE SOMEONE ENTER YOUR HEAD AND LEAVE NO STONE LEFT UNTURNED!"

"LOOK AT ME FREDDY, IF HE WASN'T REAL, THEN I WOULDN'T BE COVERED IN MY OWN BLOOD AND FUCKING BITE MARKS!"

Freddy remained with his eyes cast downwards.

"LOOK AT ME FREDDY!" Chica yelled at the top of her lungs.

Freddy, snapped to attention, his eyes scanned Chica's wounds.

"YOU HELPED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN!"

Chica was clearly in distress for all to see.

"HE HAD A MESSAGE WHICH I WAS TO PASS ON TO YOU FREDDY, IT'S IF ONE CAN DO THIS MUCH DAMAGE, THEN JUST IMAGINE WHAT FOUR COULD DO!"

That had everyone worried.

"I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, with the exception of Goldie and Springtrap, there's always a Freddy, a Bonnie, a Chica and a Foxy," said Toy Freddy, who had so far remained quiet.

"I hate to think what four could do, if they are all like Nightmare Freddy, then we really are in deep shit," Toy Chica muttered, casting her eyes down to the floor.

"Vincent made them, I peered into his mind and saw his past, including what he did to Freddy, Puppet and of course to Chica, it wasn't pretty," Goldie stated, recounting his experience.

"This Nightmare Freddy is certainly a sadist."

"Did he get into your mind?" Springtrap asked, turning to face him.

"Yes...I saw things...things that I don't wish to relive," Goldie replied, but he did not make eye contact with Springtrap, something which he mentally noted.

_"Yes...I wonder what you saw," _he thought, narrowing his eyes.

However, everyone else was occupied with Chica's wailing to notice Springtrap's expression.

"I TRUSTED YOU FREDDY, YOUR THE LEADER, YOUR MEANT TO LOOK OUT FOR US, WHY DIDN'T YOU WARN US?" She yelled, as tears poured down her face.

"I don't know he was real, I'm sorry I put you in harm's way Chica, I truly am," Freddy replied.

"To be fair Freddy, you did put everyone in harm's way, even though we know you never meant it," said Bonnie.

"You're not the Freddy I remember from my youth," Mike stated.

Then Freddy rather unexpectedly exploded, his anger meeting that of Chica's.

"ITS HARD OK, ITS REALLY FUCKING HARD, TRYING TO KEEP EVERYTHING RUNNING, TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE AND DO THAT EVERYDAY OF THE WEEK, DO YOU LOT KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE BEING A LEADER!" he shouted.

His eyes had narrowed, his stance was clearly aggressive.

"Do you really know…how it feels…to have the weight of the world on your shoulders, given everything that's happened to us?"

However, a new voice made its way onto the scene.

"Is it true Freddy that your inaction is the reason why the Puppet bears those serious bite marks on her legs?"

Everyone slowly turned round to see Balloon Boy, standing in the doorway to the lounge, he looked sad.

"Is it true Freddy?" He asked again, in a calm voice

Freddy's anger faded away in the face of Balloon Boy's child-like expression.

"Yes...yes, it is," he answered, lowering his head.

Then Balloon Boy expression changed...to one of anger, now it was his turn to get mad.

"I hate you," he said slowly.

"You should have known better."

This caused Freddy's anger to return and he did let rip.

"BB, if your just with the Puppet to get laid, then I wouldn't at all be surprised, however considering that you're still a child and annoyed the hell out of everyone during the second pizza, I'm surprised she hasn't dumped you by now!"

Balloon Boy's angry expression faded away, to replace with one of tears, clearly Freddy's words hit deep.

"You're just a boy, a mere child, stay out of what you don't know," Freddy hissed, venting steam.

Yet Balloon Boy's rage made a vicious explosive comeback.

"I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I LOVE HER AND THAT'S SOMETHING WHICH YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND YOU FAZBEAR JERK!" He shouted, before running off towards the safety of the lounge, bailing his eyes out.

"Freddy, you didn't need to say that!" Mike stressed, giving Freddy a death's glare.

"That was mean Freddy, Balloon Boy didn't deserve that and you know it!" Springtrap stated, equally giving him a similar look.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU FREDDY, SOMETHING'S CHANGED, HASN'T IT?" Chica asked, still angry as hell.

She turned and pointed directly at Bonnie.

"IT'S BONNIE ISN'T IT?" She asked, much to Bonnie's surprise.

"What?" Freddy asked, clearly confused, judging by his shocked expression.

Chica rolled her eyes at his dumbfound expression.

"OH, COME ON, WE'VE ALL KNOWN FROM DAY ONE THAT YOU'VE GOT A THING FOR BONNIE!" she stated, anger raging in her eyes like whirlpools.

"I didn't...but I wouldn't be at all surprised," Springtrap added, jumping in at the end.

"And what do you mean by that?" Bonnie asked, clearly annoyed that she had become a target.

"The looks say it all Bonnie, I've only been around for half a day, but even I'm picking up the signals," Springtrap replied, rolling his eyes in a sarcastic manner.

"I don't see what Bonnie has to do with what's occurred recently, next thing you'll be telling me is that Toy Chica and Mangle are secretly hitting on Goldie and Springtrap," Freddy stated.

An uneasy silence flowed through the room, followed by the sound of crickets in the garden.

Although Mangle and Toy Chica did look uncomfortable.

Yet everyone could hear Chica's strained breathing.

"I just can't understand you now Freddy…you had so many opportunities….I can't…I can't…I…I…I…I….I."

She started to cry, breaking down with tears flowing down her face.

She fell to her knees, gripping herself as she sobbed.

Needless to say, everyone could feel the sadness in her voice.

"How…how can you be the leader anymore Freddy?"

Freddy slowly got down on his knees so he was at her level.

"Chica…Chica I swear to you that I never knew he was real, I thought that I killed him, he broke into millions of pieces of glass…I saw it with my own eyes."

Chica was still sobbing, her entire body was shaking, her mind was struggling to cope with recent events…it was too traumatic to be dismissed.

"Chica, I promise you that I won't let him hurt you again or anyone else," Freddy stated.

Slowly he reached and took hold of her hands which covered her face.

"I'm truly sorry for everything Chica."

He gently pulled them away, revealing Chica's scarred and blood covered face.

"I'm sorry for not telling you, I should have taken it more seriously, I failed."

Her green eyes moved to meet his light blue.

But when they did, she saw Nightmare Freddy in Freddy's position, staring back at her with his dark red eyes.

"_Hello there Chica." _He smiled, displaying his blood covered teeth.

"NO!" she screamed, pushing him away and backing off as fast as she could.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU MONSTER!"

Freddy as did everyone else looked shocked.

Amidst her panicked breathing, Chica looked back only to see Freddy sitting right where Nightmare Freddy was.

"Is he…is he gone?" she asked, looking around.

Bonnie stepped in and helped pull her upright.

"Yes, Chica…he isn't here…right Goldie?"

"Damn straight, he isn't coming back…he knows he can't risk it on his own…he'll need backup if he dares attempts it again," Goldie answered, folding his arms. Seeing all of the chaos and tension from his end of the table, Jeremy decided that enough was enough for one night, they couldn't argue all the way though to dawn.

"Guys, it's late, we are all tired, let's go to bed and sort things out in the morning," he suggested.

"I don't want to sleep in my room," said Chica she was now physically shaking again. She stumbled forward only for Foxy, Toy Bonnie and Mangle to catch her.

"You and Foxy, are more than welcome to come and sleep in our room," said Mangle, taking Chica by the hand.

"Thank you," Chica replied weakly as they helped her out of the room. Foxy then stopped and turned to face Freddy. He slowly walked up to him in a casual fashion, almost as if nothing had happened.

However, within a heartbeat, he grabbed Freddy by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall, with enough force to make the entire kitchen shake.

"FOXY!" Bonnie yelled, outraged at his actions.

But Foxy ignored her, continuing to glare into Freddy's eyes.

"If you ever go near Chica again, I will make sure that you walk the plank...'captain', mark my words!" he hissed, waving his hook in front of Freddy's face for effect.

"Do your worse 'pirate'," Freddy replied with a similar glare.

Foxy then released him and left the kitchen with his head lowered no doubt mumbling to himself, his footsteps echoing off down the hall. Toy Freddy and Toy Chica followed suit, with Toy Freddy giving Freddy, a look of shame as he exited the room. He was clearly dismayed by the fact that the person he looked up to the most, had allowed such a terrible thing to happen.

Only Freddy, Bonnie, Mike, Jeremy, Goldie and Springtrap remained.

Bonnie slowly approached Freddy, eyes glued to the floor, looking sad and yet annoyed at the same time.

"Bonnie I-"

She slapped him across the face...hard.

_"Jesus, that must have hurt," _Mike thought, as a bright red mark formed on Freddy's face.

"God dammit Freddy," was all Bonnie could say, her eyes displaying pure shock in the face of the current situation. She turned to leave, although the others could tell she was on the verge of crying.

"So, what you told me about still being valued and not forgotten during our moment in bed meant nothing then?" Freddy asked, strangely enough he spoke in a calm voice.

The image that instantly sprang to Mike's, Jeremy's, Goldie's and Springtrap's mind wasn't a pleasant one.

Bonnie turned round, her eyes were brimming with tears.

"That was before I knew about this Freddy, I know you mean no harm to this family, but you put everyone in harm's way as a result of not telling us, try to understand that's why everyone is mad at you," she stepped forward, eyes locked.

"All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing, and that's what you did, Chica and the Puppet are examples of that…...think about it."

She turned and swiftly left the room.

"I'll be spending the night with the Toys," she said, without looking back.

That just left Freddy, Jeremy, Mike, Goldie and Springtrap.

"I'll be upstairs in our room, if anyone needs me," said Springtrap, turning away and leaving the group. They could hear his footsteps on the stairs as he made his way up, making the old oak creaked. Jeremy then sighed, holding his head in his hands, he never expected this, not in his own home.

"Freddy, I think it's properly for the best that you don't sleep in the house tonight."

"What, you're kicking me out!" Freddy exclaimed, despite all that had occurred recently, he was still shocked by their suggestion.

Jeremy raised his hand to stop him.

"There's a tree house out back, you can sleep in there, I think it's best that everyone needs space to cool down," he said.

"You can't just throw me out of the house, I have rights," Freddy stated, folding his arms in disagreement.

Mike, Jeremy and Goldie, all narrowed their eyes in an immediate response.

* * *

A few minutes later, Freddy was outside Jeremy's front door with a sleeping bag.

"The tree house is easy to see even in the dark, just climb up the ladder and you'll find a table with some chairs and a place to sleep, oh and there's a door which you can lock from the inside...enjoy," Jeremy said, his tone was warm hearted, despite the downturn in relations.

He then handed Freddy a phone.

"Oh yes…at the suggestion of Goldie, here's a phone, there's no password, you can just open it, it should automatically take you to a app which you can use to signal me that your under attack, trust me it'll active an alarm on my phone, it'll be very loud."

"And how can I access this phone, when clearly he'll come for me in my dreams."

"Goldie was able to do something with it so you use it in dreams, think of it as your body is sleepwalking while you use it…enjoy."

He then closed the door and locked it shut.

"Can I at least have my stuff!" Freddy demanded, angry that he was being forced to undergo such treatment. The door opened again as Jeremy tossed out Freddy's top hat, his microphone and a flashlight.

"Use the flashlight to see obviously, oh and it keeps the bats and owls away...good night."

Jeremy then closed the door and locked it shut again.

"Yeah, good night you son of a bitch," Freddy muttered under his breath, picking up his stuff before turning round and heading towards the back of the house. The treehouse was medium in size, but was built up a pretty tall tree, luckily there were several wooden boards which had been hammered into the tree all the way up, forming a makeshift ladder.

Freddy upon reaching the tree trunk, grabbed the first plank of wood and pulled himself up. However, he was stopped in mid action by a familiar voice.

"Why didn't you tell me about this Nightmare Freddy, I could have prevented him from gaining further access, from inflicting further harm?"

Freddy sighed at his recognition of the voice's owner. He turned round to see Goldie standing behind him, arms folded. Clearly, he had just teleported outside, it was a strange power which he had enquired since he had been first possessed, why he could do it and no one else could was unknown.

"If your here to mock me, then I'm sorry Goldie, but I'm not in the mood for it," Freddy replied.

"I'm not here to mock you, I'm here to talk to you," he said, hovering around Freddy.

"I understand that trying to oversee everything is next to impossible Freddy, I know it's common to slip up when the pressure becomes too much."

"I know I messed up, no I fucked up, but I'm not the enemy here...it's Nightmare Freddy who's the real enemy," Freddy muttered, angry at the level of damage the bastard was able to unleased, but also guilty at his own stupidity.

"Your right you're not the enemy, you never were, but you let it happen, you were the only one who knew about it," Goldie replied.

Then his voice became serious as he landed, putting his feet firmly on the ground.

"Freddy, Chica nearly died because of this, the Puppet almost died as well...we are very luckily to have them with us still, please understand the seriousness of your actions."

"I know now Goldie, but at the time, it did seem a little odd in fact I was going to ask you if you knew anything about Nightmare Freddy, but then the Purple Man attacked us and in the chaos, that followed I forgot," Freddy stressed.

"I believe you," Goldie replied, which brought a huge sigh of relief from Freddy.

"You know I would never let this happen to any member of our family, but now...everyone hates me, Chica, Foxy and Bonnie will never forgive me, the Toys wouldn't want anything to do with me, I've hurt Balloon Boy and Mike and Jeremy are disgusted with me...even Springtrap was giving me the evil look."

"They don't hate you Freddy, but they have a right to be angry with you and you know why?" Goldie asked.

Freddy sighed.

"Yes, I know why, besides what would have you done to prevent Nightmare Freddy from attacking?"

"I would have put a mental shield around everyone's mind, you know I have some powers beside teleportation, hence why I got out here," Goldie answered.

"Although it takes a lot out of me, so I can't do it often."

Freddy however was pondering over Goldie's words.

"True...but still..."

Then a series of long forgotten questions resurfaced in Freddy's mind.

"Why didn't you tell me about Springtrap?" He asked.

Goldie's expression changed dramatically to one of worry...that question certainly came out of nowhere.

"You never spoke about him until a few weeks ago, and I'm starting to doubt what you told us about your connection with him, you two seem way too close to be mere co-workers," Freddy stated, his suspicions being confirmed due to Goldie's reaction.

He lowered his head in shame.

"I haven't been entirely honest with you Freddy...about the past, I've...lied to you and the others."

This caused Freddy to raise his eyebrows.

"I've only told the Puppet about this, so listen well, don't react until I have finished...please don't," he whispered.

Freddy slowly nodded in agreement.

Goldie looked around to see if anyone was listening, then he spoke.

"Me and Springtrap or Spring Bonnie, as he was called back then were like family, we performed at Fredbear's Family Diner, sang songs and danced for the children, it was paradise."

Then his expression darken.

"But in 1978, the incident with the Purple Man happened, you know the one about the child being killed, Spring saw it, I didn't, but it drove him insane, and when he needed me the most...I rejected him, blanked him out...I didn't want to believe what had just occurred."

"During our last show, Spring fell apart in front of the children and begged me to help him catch the killer, but I turned my back on him, I let them drag him away, as waves of people flooded out of the diner in horror."

Freddy said nothing, but instead gave Goldie a rather blank expression. Memories of 1983 were resurfacing in his mind…_the screams of customers running out of the Prizzia with their children, attacking the entertianers believing them to have murdered the missing children._

"Spring was put into a medically induced coma, then we were taken out of the diner and placed in the back of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria and that's when I met you and the others," Goldie stated.

"Then a few weeks ago, the door to the basement was open, I went down and found him, wrecked after decades of neglect and still in his coma, I had to introduce him to you."

He sighed deeply, clearly feeling very uncomfortable with what he was saying.

"Freddy, the reason I never told you about this was because of two reasons, one I was guilt ridden for abandoning Spring for thirty seven years, I've replayed that scene in my head, regretting every single moment of it."

"And second, I didn't want the past to affect you or the others, what happened at Fredbear's Diner stays at Fredbear's Diner."

"But it didn't as we both know," said Freddy, maintaining his blank face stare.

Goldie nodded in response.

Then Freddy's expression changed…to one of annoyance.

"You know Goldie, I find it to be a bit rich for you to be giving me a lecture about not telling people things and thus causing something which otherwise could have been avoided, when by not telling us about the past, you indirectly allowed the Purple Man to strike again, twice in fact," he stated, stepping towards Goldie, who appeared to back away.

"I was trying to protect you from the past, you were young Freddy, I didn't want you to have that kind of pressure," Goldie replied, putting his hands out to wanded Freddy off.

"Well guess what Fredbear, you got it wrong," Freddy snarled, clutching his flashlight as his hands tighten.

"You allowed the past to harm us."

"That's beside the point Freddy, I did raise you and the others, I wasn't heartless, I didn't know what Vincent would do next," Goldie exclaimed.

He lowered his head again.

"I was trying to right the wrongs I did with Spring, I never intended to hurt anyone, or have us go through the same experience again, you know me Freddy."

But Freddy wasn't convinced, his eyes were filling with anger.

"Do I...you lied to me about your past, you kept Springtrap in the dark for all these years and now you just except me to be fine with it, you could have told me about this Goldie...together we could have stopped the Purple Man...we could have saved the children."

"I'm sorry for lying to you Freddy, I wanted to spare you, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, the Toys and everyone else from the darkness of Fredbear's Diner," Goldie replied.

"Try telling him that," Freddy muttered, pointing upwards.

Goldie slowly turned and saw where Freddy was pointing to.

On the third floor, in one of the loft windows was the silhouette of Springtrap. . .watching them.

Goldie couldn't see Springtrap's expression. . .could he even hear them?

* * *

Truth be told, Springtrap couldn't fully hear them, he could only get bits of their conversation, words like Fredbears's, the past, I'm sorry and the number thirty seven.

His expression was blank, but inside questions were bubbling away in a cauldron of anger and betrayal and it was getting louder.

_"I want to know...I need to know why you left me Goldie," _he thought, watching the two Freddies exchange words with one another.

* * *

"However, I'll leave that matter to you resolve," said Freddy, lowering his gaze.

"It's properly for the best," Goldie replied, also lowering his head.

"Well...I need to sleep, goodbye Goldie," Freddy muttered, as he started to climb up the ladder.

"Goodnight Freddy," was Goldie's response. He turned away and starting walking back towards the house, when Freddy called out after him.

"Goldie."

"Yeah…Freddy."

"You know...I never wanted this, I never intended to have Chica or the Puppet suffer, I hate seeing families fall apart."

"I know how you feel Freddy, I never wanted you or the others to undergo what me and Spring experienced, I never meant to hurt Spring...I would do anything to change the past."

"I guess we have good intentions, but we end up causing terrible consequences for the people we love."

"Clearly it's a problem we both have."

Freddy looked back.

"Goldie...you know….I don't hate you."

Goldie turned round to face him.

"I know you don't Freddy…..and I don't hate you either."

They both smiled at each other before going their separate ways.

Freddy went up to the treehouse to sleep, whilst Goldie imagined that he was about to walk into his own personal hell.

* * *

When Goldie, finally entered the bedroom which he shared with Springtrap, he saw that he was sitting on the far side of the bed with his back facing him.

"Hey Spring, how are you?" he asked, sitting down on the opposite side of the bed.

Springtrap didn't answer back.

"Do you wanna sleep?" Goldie asked, smiling, hoping that everything was alright.

Again, Springtrap didn't answer.

"If you're worried about NF attacking you in your sleep, then there's no need, I gave him a beating he won't forget."

Springtrap still didn't say anything.

"Spring...are you ok?' Goldie asked, he was starting to worry. Springtrap was rubbing his hands together, trying to gather his inner thoughts.

_"Ask him, you need to know, you've wanted to know since you woke up,"_ his mind shouted.

_"Make him pay, he abandoned you, left you to rot for thirty seven years in dark, now you can hold him to account for it," _his inner demons raged.

_"No come over calm and collective, perhaps he had a good reason for why he acted the way he did," _his inner angels pleaded.

Springtrap closed his eyes and breathed in deeply.

_"I'm ready for this," _he told himself.

"Goldie, can you close the door please?" He asked, without turning round.

"Why?" said Goldie returning the question.

"Just close the door...please?" Springtrap asked again, he sounded like he was exhausted. Goldie got up and closed the door, in his mind, he was starting to panic over Springtrap's behaviour.

"Can you come over here please?" Springtrap asked, it sounded like he was begging.

Goldie did as he was asked and sat down next to Springtrap, although he was panicking inside.

Then Springtrap hugged him, holding him close.

"Do you remember what we said to each other when we first met, that we would be honest to each other in any situation?" Springtrap asked.

"Yes, I remember," Goldie replied.

"And that we would help each other out."

"I remember that as well."

Springtrap smiled and rested his head on Goldie's shoulder. But then he whispered into Goldie's ear, and with a low tone he asked.

"Then why did you abandon me in 1978, why did you turn your back on me when I needed you the most, you lied to me yesterday about what really happened, I know what really happened, I want you to tell me why you did what you did?"

Goldie's posture instantly stiffen, his eyes turned to meet Springtrap's, which weren't warm and inviting, but cold and serious. This was what he feared, the fire which he would one day face.

"Fredbear...why?" Springtrap stressed, this time using Goldie's old name for effect.

Goldie tried to wiggle free, but Springtrap merely tighten his grip.

"I've waited thirty-seven years Goldie, I deserve an answer," Springtrap stated.

Goldie took a deep breath before speaking.

"You have a right to know why...and the honest truth of the matter is that..."

"Yes, the honest truth is that?" Springtrap asked, maintaining his intense gaze.

"I didn't want to accept the truth of what had happened on that day, I didn't want to believe that a child had been killed, that our world had crumbled and that things had changed."

Goldie's eyes stared into Springtrap's as he withdrew from the hug.

"I wanted things to go back to the way they were, before that day...I didn't want to believe reality, but I know now that it was the worst mistake I could have ever made in my entire life."

"And in order to maintain that false reality which you clearly craved, you blocked me out, because I acted against it, didn't you Goldie."

Goldie didn't answer.

"DIDN'T YOU!" Springtrap shouted, venting his frustration, which caused Goldie to jump.

"Yes, I did," he answered.

"Plus, you were clearly prepared to throw me under the bus, as you didn't help me...there wasn't a single moment when you turned round and helped me."

"Remember when I begged you to help me, I pulled on your collar and begged for your assistance in helping me catch the killer, but what did you do?" Springtrap asked.

Goldie didn't speak.

"WHAT DID YOU DO GOLDIE!" Springtrap yelled.

"I turned my back to you, as they dragged you away, amidst the screams of the children."

"And why, because you couldn't handle reality, what about me Goldie, you were my friend, my family, I look out for you and you look out for me...you broken my heart that day."

"I know I did...and I regret every moment of it Spring."

Springtrap sighed, as his body tensed up.

"Did you tell them about me...anything and be honest here Goldie," he said.

"I only told them about you a few weeks ago, when the basement door was opened for the first time in thirty six years," Goldie replied.

Springtrap narrowed his eyes.

"So, you left me in the dark...to rot," his words dripped with venom

"No, I didn't, they put you into a medically induced coma, because you were too ill to preform,"

"You never told them about me, am I nothing to you Goldie, just a 'co-worker'?" Springtrap asked, spitting the last word out like poison.

"No, you're not Spring, your still family."

Springtrap laughed, throwing his head back.

"Oh that's rich, that's fucking rich Goldie, sure block me out, throw in me a basement and leave me there for thirty seven years and still call me family."

Then his serious look returned.

"You left me, I trusted you and you abandoned me when I needed you," he hissed.

"I know I did Spring and I am truly sorry for all the pain and agony I caused you, if I could go back in time and change things I would do in a heartbeat," Goldie replied, he sounded guilty..._ashamed._

"And all because you couldn't cope with reality, my suffering was a consequence of that."

Springtrap leaned in and whispered in a harsh voice.

"Do you know what it's like to relive a scene constantly for thirty seven years?"

Goldie shook his head.

"I had to watch that child being killed again and again and again, by the same purple man...FOR THIRTY SEVEN FUCKING YEARS!" He stressed.

"You broke me the day you turned your back on me Goldie, watching a poor innocent child being stabbed repeatedly, it messes with your mind, I had to fight a demonic version of myself to just wake up."

He turned away to look at the bedroom window.

"Now I'm starting to wish that I never did wake up, that I was back in the dream with the children."

"Do you hate me?" Goldie asked softly, looking at Springtrap.

But Springtrap didn't answer.

"Do you hate me Spring...I won't blame you if you did...I've hated myself for it."

Springtrap sighed.

"I don't know, a part of me wants to forgive you actually, but then another part of me wants to make you go through what I did...as revenge." He answered.

Goldie's body tensed at the last word.

"But one thing still remains..."

Springtrap turned to face Goldie.

"Why didn't you tell them about me?" he asked.

"I didn't want them to know about what had happened, they didn't deserve the pressure, I wanted to protect them from the past," Goldie replied.

"But there's a second reason...isn't there?" Springtrap asked, narrowing his eyes.

Goldie took another deep breath.

"I felt too guilty to tell them the truth."

"You protected yourself, at my expense," Springtrap stated.

Goldie only nodded in response.

"Your selfish Goldie, do you know that, your selfish," said Springtrap, he could feel his anger building.

Goldie appeared to become ever more tense.

"I never meant to harm you Spring, I never intended to hurt you in anyway, I love you and would do anything to make things right," he said, it was obvious that he was on the verge of crying.

"I don't think you can ever make things right Goldie, these wounds...cannot be healed," Springtrap replied, his anger was like a volcano...and it was the size of Yellowstone. He got up and started walking around the room, pulling on his bunny ears in frustration.

"Just answer me this one question Goldie, the final question," he turned to face him.

"Is the real reason to why you abandoned me, was simply because you didn't want to accept the fact that our world had changed...is that it, the root to all of this?"

Goldie stood up and faced Springtrap.

"Yes, it is the real reason," he answered.

Springtrap covered his face with his hands. He started to groan, which turned into a growl and when he removed his hands, his expression was one of hatred, pain and betrayal all rolled into one.

"Get...out...now!" He hissed, through gritted teeth.

"No, I won't leave you Spring, I still care about you, regardless of what I did in the past, I will still be there for you."

"Leave...me...alone!" Springtrap stressed, he was starting to shake.

Goldie stepped forward and took hold of Springtrap's hands, before they could become fists.

"I will do whatever it takes to regain your trust and love, I will spend forever with you to make things right, be the family member you deserved, make up for those lost thirty-seven years."

He looked into Springtrap's hate filled eyes.

"Although you won't believe me when I say this and I don't blame you for it, but I do care about you, you are family to me and I will not let any more harm come to you...my friend."

Springtrap's expression appeared to soften, but in his mind, his anger showed him not present-day Goldie, but the Goldie from Fredbear's Dinner and he turned his back to him. So Springtrap lashed out and lashed out hard. He punched Goldie right across the face, giving him a black eye, a broken nose and knocking him to the floor with a heavy thud.

Goldie was stunned, groaning, as he turned over to see Springtrap, towering over him with his fist raised.

He was breathing heavily, as if he was out of breath.

Then his anger faded away and he saw what he had done. Goldie put his hand to his nose, he felt a wet liquid and saw it was blood, his right eye ached.

"Spring?" He asked, completely shocked and dazed.

"Get out of here Goldie, before I lose it again," Springtrap replied, he felt his anger building once more.

Goldie picked himself up and ran towards the door.

Then Springtrap's anger regained control.

"I HATE YOU GOLDIE, I FUCKING HATE YOU!" he screamed, as he started to thrash the entire room. Goldie threw the door wide open and raced down the staircase, stumbling as he fell about in the dark. He looked back briefly to see Springtrap at the top of the stairs, giving him a death stare.

"I'LL NEVER EVER FORGIVE YOU, YOU HEAR, NEVER!" he shouted.

Goldie ran down to the ground floor, he passed Jeremy who was on his the way up.

"Goldie what's wrong?" he asked, but Goldie just ignored him and kept on running.

He unlocked the front door and ran outside into the darkness, nothing mattered now. He didn't care where he was running too, he was crying as tears ran down his face, all the guilt and regret which had built up over the years came to the surface as he underwent a complete emotional breakdown.

He ran down the street, turned a corner at the very end and vanished into the night. . ._never to be see again._

Everyone else couldn't sleep, they had heard everything, every detail, every word.

The Toys having moved the bed from Toy Chica's and Mangle's room, so to make extra sleeping space, laid hurdled together with Chica, Foxy and Bonnie. They gripped each other as the shouting started, followed swiftly by the sounds of a punch up. On the ground floor, Balloon Boy and the Puppet, who was now wide awake, listened as they laid there on their separate couches. Mike and Jeremy also lay there wide awake in their own beds, listening to the heated arguments which took place above them.

Although, when sounds of the room being wrecked came through the floor, Jeremy went up to investigate, encountering Goldie on the way up. However, Jeremy quickly decided not to face Springtrap at the height of his anger and had rather wisely returned to bed.

Best sort the issue out in the morning.

Even Freddy, as he lay in his sleep bag in the treehouse outside could hear the arguments taking place between Goldie and Springtrap. Through one of the treehouse's open windows, he could see the dark silhouettes of Goldie and Springtrap arguing behind the blinds.

Things it appeared through getting heated and then Springtrap struck Goldie hard, who was knocked to the floor.

His heart missed a beat when he saw that.

_"Goldie!" _he mentally screamed in shock.

He the saw Springtrap starting to trash the place, he appeared to grab hold of the blinds and ripped them off their holdings. Now Freddy had a clear view to see the inside of the room as Springtrap began to tear it apart, his anger knew no bounds.

Then the sound of the front door being slammed wide open erupted through the air.

Freddy shot up in bed and got out of his sleeping bag.

In the dark, he fumbled for the flashlight, grabbing hold of it and turning on the light. He then stumbled his way to the main tree house door, opening it wide. He did so just in time to see a medium size figure run out of the house, dash down the street and turn a street corner before vanishing completely from sight.

"I guess the talk didn't go down so well," he muttered, but he knew that was only the very tip of the iceberg.

_A very large iceberg. . ._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An iceberg is much bigger beneath the water and the Fazbears' problems go deep, past mistakes cast long shadows as you'll soon find out.
> 
> Please review. :-)


	12. A House Divided

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is quite important in regards to the overall plot, at least where the past is concerned.  
And finally, we have our first sing along, that's where the song is actively partaking in the story and not just standing in the background like an outsider looking in.  
It's Disconnected by Keane, I strongly suggest that you listen to it, while reading the first bit, as it'll help to transmit the mood I was hoping to create for that part.  
So in this chapter, we'll continue with the fallout from the last one...as well as...a few other things. ;-)

** Chapter 12. **

** A House Divided. **

"_**A house divided against itself cannot stand."**_

_ **Abraham Lincoln ** _

Freddy's eye's shot open…was he dreaming…or was this a nightmare?

Looking around he found himself in the middle of nowhere…a white washed world…it is white as far as the eye can see, there's no telling where the ground ends and the sky begins.

Looking ahead, Freddy sees Bonnie, Chica and Foxy somewhere off in the distance, all holding hands, yet he cannot make out their expressions. He runs to them, eager to patch things up and make amends, but when he finally reaches them, they are anything but happy to see him.

Bonnie is sad, Chica is angry and Foxy just looks horrified.

(Began the song here if you wish.)

"**Something's crept in under our door, silence soaking through the floor."**

Freddy's eyes widen with uncertainty.

"Guys, we can talk about this…can't we?"**  
**

** "Pinching like a stone in my shoe, some chemical that's breaking down the glue, that's been binding me to you..."**

Suddenly the ground beneath his feet starts to shake violently.

**"Oooh ooh ooh!"**

"**I feel like I just don't know you anymore."**

The earth then splits as a hole opens between him and them, rapidly widening into a chasm, getting bigger and bigger.

**"But I've been burned and I've been wrong so many times."**

"GUYS, WE CAN SORT THIS OUT, LIKE WE ALWAYS DO!" Freddy yells.

But their expressions don't change, as the distance between them widens. **  
**

** "We walk in circles, the blind leading the blind."**

Suddenly the scene changes and Freddy finds himself in a corridor, like the ones in the old Pizzeria.

There are many doors on either side, he tries to open several, but they are all locked.

"**Well I thought that love watched over this house, but you're boarding up the windows now**."

Looking round, Freddy sees framed pictures lining the walls.

One picture shows them happily preforming together on stage.

**"We've been leaning on each other so hard."**

Another one shows them standing on the four corners of the stage with their backs to each other.

"**Tied so tight we wound up miles apart."**

They all look angry with their arms folded.

**"Making simple things so hard."**

Then he spots them in a doorway at the far end of the corridor.

"GUYS!" he calls, running towards them.

**"Oooh ooh ooh!"**

They simply slam the door shut in his face.

**"I feel like I just don't know you anymore."**

He sees them in another doorway, he runs to it, but again the door is slammed shut.

**But I've been burned and I've been down so many times."**

"GUYS DON'T DO THIS!" he shouts, pulling on the door knob in desperation.

**"We walk in circles, the blind leading the blind."**

He looks round and sees them standing in all the doorways…only for almost all of them to close, locking him out.

**"We've been disconnected somehow."**

  
He walks up to the only one that's open.

"**There's an invisible wall between us now."**

"Guys...I'm sorry."

**"But I've been wrong and I've been down so many times."**

They shake their heads and close the door shut on him.

**"We walk in circles, the blind leading the blind."**

Then the scene changes again, Freddy is now surrounded by black and white film projections, all showing the four of them on stage with the years counting down, his eyes widen upon seeing the footage.

They look so happy, just the four of them.

**"I see the landscape change before my eyes."**

They get noticeably further away from each other as the years go by.

**"The features I've been navigating by."**

Freddy feels his eyes well up with tears.

**"No nothing looks the way it did before."**

Wiping them away, he runs straight through the projections, not wanting to believe that they've become so distinct.

**"I don't know where to look or what to look for!"**

He finds himself in another corridor with Bonnie, Chica and Foxy at the far end, walking away.

**"I feel like I just don't know you anymore."**

"GUYS, I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING!" he screams, running after them.

**"But I've been burned and I've been down so many times."**

They stop and turn round to face him.

**"We walk in circles, the blind leading the blind."**

They look…

Angry

**"We've been-"**

Sad

"**Disconnected-"**

Betrayed

"**Somehow!"**

He reaches them, but an invisible barrier is blocking him from getting any closer.

**"There's an invisible wall between us now."**

"Guys, I'm sorry for letting this happen!"

**"But I've been wrong and I've been down so many times."**

"Please…I never wanted nor wished for this."

**"We walk in circles, the blind leading the blind."**

They turn away and slowly disappear into nothing, leaving three plushie replicas behind on the floor.

**"We've been disconnected somehow."**

  
Freddy falls to his knees, he sees his own plushie before him, isolated from the others and he finally breaks down.

**"There's an invisible wall…"**

Tears start to fall as he weeps, the family of old is fractured…largely because of him.

"**Between us now..."**

Slowly everything fades away into endless darkness as the nightmare ends.

* * *

The next morning was a dismal sight, if there ever was one.

Freddy, Goldie and Springtrap weren't present at the kitchen table for breakfast.

Everyone else sat in their own isolated silence, eating the porridge that Jeremy had made for them. They never looked at each other, only looking downwards as they ate. . .no eye contact. Goldie hadn't returned since his row with Springtrap last night, while Freddy was still outside in the treehouse and Springtrap was still in his room.

Only Balloon Boy, sitting next to a now more active Puppet, dared to ask a question.

"Where's Goldie?" He asked, referring to the elephant in the room.

Everyone froze in whatever they were doing, bodies tensing.

"Where is he?" Balloon Boy asked again.

Mangle answered attempting to come up with an explanation.

"He went out on a long walk to the shops," she said calmly, acting all mother like.

"Your lying, he ran away because Springtrap yelled at him, I just want to know where he's gone?" He asked, narrowing his eyes to ensure that his point was made.

"BB, I don't know where he went, none of us do," Mangle replied solemnly, returning to her porridge.

"Why don't you go and look for him yourself."

Then Mike decided to interrupt to break the ice which had existed since the chaos last night.

"So. . .does anyone have any plans for today?" He asked cheerfully.

No one answered.

"A walk in one of the local parks maybe...a visit to one of Chicago's finest restaurants...Chicago's China Town...anything."

He then frowned at the motionless group.

"Or are you lot just going stay in and watch TV all day?"

They all slowly nodded in confirmation.

"So much for trying to start a new future," he mumbled under his breath, but Toy Freddy heard him, despite being seated at the far end of the table.

"Hey!" he shouted in frustration, violently pointing his spoon in Mike's direction.

"You don't know what we've been through, trying to rebuild from the ground up isn't easy!"

Then Jeremy intervened, stopping Toy Freddy from going any further.

"I've made porridge for both Freddy and Springtrap, does anyone want to take them up?" Jeremy asked, pouring the last bit of porridge into two separate bowls, he then dizzied honey over them to help sweeten the taste.

"Because I certainly not going up to see Springtrap," he muttered to himself, remembering the sounds of carnage from last night.

"I will take Springtrap's," said Mangle, getting up out of her chair.

"And I'll take Freddy's," said Bonnie, also getting up from her seat.

"Take a spoon each from the top drawer before you leave," Jeremy ordered.

Mangle went up to the third floor, while Bonnie went outside and out back.

* * *

Upon reaching the room that Springtrap had previously shared with Goldie, Mangle knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

"Spring, it's me Mangle, I brought you breakfast...it's porridge," she called in a cheerful voice.

Again, no sound came from behind the door.

She sighed, before pushing it wide open.

Immediately a chaotic sight met her eyes.

The entire room looked as if a level five hurricane had torn through, shelves had been knocked over, books were scattered across the floor, boxes had been bashed aside with their contents having spilled out and the curtains looked as if someone had ripped them from their hooks.

And there was Springtrap, in the midst of it all, sitting on the far side of the bed, with his back facing the door.

"Thank God, Jeremy hasn't found out about this yet," Mangle whispered under her breath.

She slowly stepped forward.

"Hey Spring, I brought you breakfast, it's porridge with honey," she said, trying to get some kind of response out of him.

But he didn't give her any.

She walked round to his side of the bed, set the bowl down on the bedside dresser and sat down next to him. It was then she noticed he was covering his face with his hands.

"What's wrong Spring?" she asked.

"You know what's wrong Mangle...don't act dumb,' he replied in a husked voice.

Mangle pressed her lips together and sighed.

"I know what happened last night...everyone does."

"Why am I not surprised," Springtrap answered back.

"Goldie's gone...we don't know where he went," Mangle stated.

"I don't care about him Mangle, I don't care where he went," Springtrap replied, still covering his face with his hands. Mangle slowly reached over and pulled his hands away. His eyes looked as if he had been crying.

"You're upset clearly," she said, stating the obvious.

"I'm wasn't crying over Goldie, I'm was crying over the agony I've undergone for the last thirty seven years, all the pain and confusion," he stated, his expression was clearly one of annoyance.

"I heard you scream about how much you hate him, do you really hate Goldie that much?" Mangle asked.

"I...don't know…to be completely sure, but he abandoned me when I needed him the most, after everything we've been through together, he just suddenly jumps ship," Springtrap stressed.

He stood up and walked around the room, the floor boards creaking as he put his weight on them.

"I don't know why I'm even here, I'm in a world that doesn't make sense, I'm in a time period which I properly won't survive in, with technology I've never even heard of."

He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Maybe I should just go and kill the Purple Man, then find a way to get back into my coma and just rest until the world ends."

"No, you shouldn't do that Spring...you have a future here," said Mangle, getting up.

"What future?" he asked, turning round to face her.

"You have us...the rest of the family," she stated.

"Mangle, I don't even know you, I have no history with you lot, none of you, I'm just an old relic from long ago."

"No Spring, you're a children's entertainer, your Spring Bonnie, you make children smile," Mangle replied, stepping forward.

"You know if you can make a child smile, it'll brighten up their whole day and then the world won't appear to be such a dark place anymore that always helped me."

Springtrap looked down and cleared his throat.

Mangle also looked down and saw that she was holding his hands…_in a very affectionate manner._

She immediately removed them

"Sorry...I wasn't thinking straight," she said, blushing slightly.

"Clearly," Springtrap replied in a monotone voice.

"Spring, don't you think that Goldie suffered as well as you did, in his own way...perhaps not with you, but when he was on his own, when you were in your coma?" Mangle asked.

Springtrap looked away, scratching his head.

"Maybe...but I never expected him to leave me like that...you have to understand it happened so quickly, his attitude just changed."

"I understand you Spring, but I'm trying to get you to see things from Goldie's perspective, you both suffered as a result of that child being killed."

Then an idea flashed in her head, she smiled.

"Spring...who caused you and Goldie to suffer?" she asked.

There was only one answer to that question.

"The Purple Man," Springtrap answered.

"Or as he is rather now known…Vincent Afton."

Mangle nodded in approval.

"Yes...Vincent, he started this, the reason why everything has happened since then is because of what he did, it's his fault you suffered, it's why Goldie suffered and don't forget..."

She placed her hand on his face in a soothing gesture.

"We suffered too, I was meant to be better at protecting children than Foxy was...but I failed them, the Purple Man got through and caused us to go under...and I don't blame any member of my family for that...not even Goldie."

Then her expression changed to one of sadness.

"Although…"

_"To alter animatronics, I'm sure glad I did mechanics."_

"_Then there was the bite of 1987, yeah, it's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe."_

She instantly dismissed her negative thoughts, silencing them.

"So, who do you hate more, Goldie or the Purple Guy?"

Springtrap twisted his head left to right, clearly arguing with himself.

"I don't know, I'm too divided on the subject to give an answer."

This alarmed Mangle, the fact that the Purple Guy was so obviously the right answer and that Springtrap was unable to give an answer was very unsettling.

_"You really are broken inside," _she thought.

"Anyway...do you need help with cleaning up the room, because Jeremy won't like what he sees, if he comes up here?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Yes...I suppose I do," Springtrap answered, looking at the mess which he had created.

Mangle smiled, at least he wasn't rejecting her help when he clearly needed it.

* * *

Bonnie stood at the base of the tree which the treehouse was built into.

She was wondering how was she going to climb the ladder, whilst holding onto the bowl of porridge at the same time.

"Mmm...This'll be difficult," she muttered, looking up at the ladder's design, to be honest it didn't look stable from her angle.

Then she spotted something which she hadn't seen before, a large basket with two pairs of rope attached it, hovering above the ground nearby. She looked up and saw that it was tied to some sort of pulley system, which enabled items to be passed to and from the ground.

"Perfect," she grinned, problem solved!

She placed the bowl of porridge into the basket and procced to climb up the ladder. It was tough going, at certain moments she doubted the strength of the wooden planks would hold, as they were rather old, having originated from Jeremy's youth.

She reached the top and pulled on the rope, bringing the bowl of porridge up towards her. After taking it from the basket, she had knocked on the door.

"Freddy...it's me Bonnie...I brought you breakfast...it's porridge with honey," she said cheerfully.

There no answer.

"Come on Freddy, you don't want to starve do you."

Again, no reply.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and sighed as she pushed the door wide open and saw Freddy sitting at the table with his head in his hands.

"Freddy...it's me," she said, stepping inside.

Freddy didn't even move at the sound of her voice, not an inch. Bonnie walked over and placed the bowl of porridge on the table and sat down on one of the chairs...which was clearly made for a child. She was going to ask if he was ok, but then considering his appearance and what had occurred last night, it would be a stupid question.

So, she went for the second option which was much more direct.

"How are you handling being an outcast?" she asked.

"How do you think," Freddy replied, he sounded sad with an undertone of frustration.

"It's fucking awful being the black sheep of the family...," he sighed. Bonnie reached forward and place her hand on his shoulder, but he sharply pulled away.

"Don't," he growled, sending shivers up her spine.

"I know what sort of games you play Bonnie, you slapped me yesterday, I didn't forget that overnight."

Bonnie lowered her head in embarrassment, from Freddy's perspective her slap was very hard.

"Goldie is gone Freddy, we don't know where he is."

"I know, I saw him run out of the house and vanish into the night," Freddy replied, still covering his face with his hands.

His mind did turn to that of the nightmare he had last night when he had finally fallen asleep. He knew what his sub consciousness was trying to tell him, but after it was just a nightmare on which he saw already aware of. Although he could see that Bonne was trying to make amends, but right now, he didn't particularly feel like doing so in return.

"Freddy…" Bonnie began, trying think of what to say.

Just seeing Freddy sitting there, looking miserable was depressing, it wasn't like him at all.

"I know you meant no harm as to what happened with the Puppet and Chica...it was partially your fault...the massive majority of it however lies with Nightmare Freddy."

"What are you trying to say?" Freddy asked, although he hadn't removed his hands.

"I don't blame you Freddy, you're not the enemy here...far from it...it's that Nightmare Freddy bastard," Bonnie replied.

Freddy however, wasn't buying it…not one bit.

"I don't believe you," he said sternly.

"Your actions last night say otherwise."

Bonnie sighed, Freddy had always believed her…trusted her.

"I cannot blame you Freddy, I really can't blame you anymore," she said with her eyes downcast.

Freddy shook his head.

"Then why did you slap me?" he asked, clearly hurt.

He at last removed his hands from his face, revealing his eyes which were blood shot, with tears marks ran down his face...he had been crying and had barely got any sleep, if he was lucky. If he did then it certainly would have been uneasy. The mark which Bonnie had given him last night remained, although it had mostly faded away. Bonnie was taken back by his appearance, she had never seen Freddy this devastated, at least not in a long time.

"Why?" He asked again, pleading this time for an answer.

"I'm never raised my hands against you Bonnie, I have I ever slapped or hit you?"

He had been hurt, just like the others had been. Bonnie locked eyes with him, trying her best not to cry. He was right, Freddy had never intentionally hit her, she was the first to cross that line.

"I lost it, I was caught up in the anger with everyone else...I'm sorry I hit you Freddy."

Freddy lowered his head and sighed.

"I've never hit you Bonnie and I won't."

"Freddy…I'm sorry I hurt you," Bonnie replied, she reached forward to take hold of his hand, but Freddy merely pulled away again.

He clearly didn't want her to be near him.

"I never wanted this, true I messed up, but I was also a victim...I was his first victim."

He then lifted his head up and looked at Bonnie.

"Do you know what's like to have someone invade your mind and find out everything about you?" He asked. Bonnie shock her head...she didn't know...she had never gone through it.

"When he looked into my mind he saw you Bonnie...he wanted to...rape you, hurt you, do God knows what to you," Freddy stated, running his hand through his dark brown hair as a series of vile images stook up residence in his mind.

Bonnie shivered, the very idea of Nightmare Freddy doing...'that' was...she couldn't describe it.

"But I fought back and I actually gained access to his mind...it was insane, but I know where he's based and you won't believe me when I say it."

"Well...where is he?" Bonnie asked.

"In an old decayed room in the Pizzeria, hidden behind the walls, near the toilets, it's a secret room."

Bonnie's eyes widen in shock.

"He's been there all this time?" she asked.

Freddy nodded.

"Yes, and by the looks of his appearance I would say he's been there since the Pizzeria earliest days."

"And one Freddy did all of this...I would hate to imagine what a Nightmare Foxy, Chica or even a Nightmare Bonnie would do," said Bonnie, physically shaking as the thought passed through her mind. "I'm sorry for not telling you about this Bonnie, I should have told you all as soon as possible, the Puppet and Chica would have been spared," Freddy stated, burying his head in his hands.

"Yet his death looked so real, I really thought that he was nothing more than a mental manifestation of my darker side."

He sighed.

"I'm sorry Bonnie, I deserved what I got for my silence."

"No Freddy I should be apologising to you...for hitting you...for overreacting," Bonnie replied. She got up, went round to Freddy and hugged him before he could even protest.

"Regardless of any mistakes you've made, I forgive you Freddy."

She cradled his head in her hands, softly stroking his light brown hair.

"I'm not angry at you anymore…trust me, I see your side of the argument and I don't hate you."

Freddy could feel his anger die down as he became immersed in Bonnie's soft embrace. He could tell she really meant what she said, he was glad that she wasn't his enemy.

"I forgive you too Bonnie," he whispered, burying his head into her chest.

Bonnie smiled, she leaned down and kissed Freddy on the head.

For a while nothing happened as they embraced each other, time appeared to stand still as the feeling of hostility which had existed since last night slowly evaporated.

"So, are we...even?" Freddy asked, pulling back from the hug.

"Yep pretty much," Bonnie replied, laughing.

Freddy smiled, he liked her laughter...it was affectionate

Then his eyes lit up as he realized something…something rather important.

"Wait...I think I might know why Nightmare Freddy targeted Chica, as well as the Puppet."

He stood up.

"Why?" Bonnie asked, looking at him, wondering where he was going.

"Think about it Chica and Foxy are a couple and the four of us are best friends, sum that up in one word?" Freddy asked.

"Teamwork, unity?" Bonnie answered.

"Yes...unity, he must have been aiming to break us up..."

Freddy started to walk around the treehouse, excited that he might be getting somewhere.

"He must have known from me, when he scanned my mind that Chica and Foxy were in a relationship...and if he targeted Chica, he would also be targeting Foxy."

"But wait, how does it involve you and me?" Bonnie asked, looking slightly confused.

"Because if Chica got attacked, then that would annoy her as well as Foxy and including you, making the three of you hate me."

"Then we would be split," Bonnie answered, beating him to it.

Freddy clicked his fingers the moment Bonnie opened her mouth.

"The outcome he was aiming for relied on a gamble, a gamble based on me not telling anyone and that's what's just happened."

He turned to face her.

"And because I didn't tell anyone, everyone hated me for it, that's what he was aiming for, he wants to isolate us."

"If he breaks us up, we are therefore easier to target," said Bonnie, visibly happy that things were starting to connect.

Then she threw a spanner in the works.

"But if he aimed to break us up, then why target the Puppet?" She asked.

"Remember when the Puppet woke up, she was screaming about Nightmare Freddy wanting to know where we are...she had become unconscious and he took his chance to gain some answers about our whereabouts," Freddy answered.

"That's what he wanted, he wants to make us weaker, it's part of his game, and it's properly part of the Purple man's game, but what is their end game?" he wondered out loud.

Freddy held his head in his hands.

"I can't believe I didn't see this, it seems so obvious!" he shouted.

"We must warn the others, we must unified as one and take the fight to Nightmare Freddy and Fuck. Him. Up!" he slammed his fist against the walls of the treehouse. Bonnie smiled, he eyes sparkled seeing Freddy as he was in his younger days, more energetic …more alive, she liked that.

"We'll reforge the Fazbear name, we'll defeat the Purple Man, and we'll be children entertainers once more!" Freddy shouted, raising his arms up in determination. But then he lowered his arms, the excitement faded away in his eyes.

"But we can't, everyone else hates me...Chica and Foxy especially."

Bonnie held his hands for comfort, making him turn to face her.

"I'll help fix that...but it'll take a lot to convince Chica and Foxy...the Toys however might be more forgiving," she stated, thinking it over in her head.

Freddy turned to face her.

"Bonnie...can you talk to them on my behalf...family fragmentation isn't what's best for us right now, and I fear it'll make us an even bigger target."

"Plus, I really need to think things through, I want to plan on how to beat this Nightmare Freddy…badly!"

Bonnie nodded.

"Of course, Freddy," she replied.

Freddy smiled and she smiled back.

Bonnie turned to leave when she remembered something from last night.

"Wait."

"What is it?" Freddy asked.

"Do you remember what Toy Freddy said last night, about there always being a Freddy, a Bonnie, a Chica and then a Foxy?" Bonnie asked.

"Yes...why?"

Bonnie gathered her thoughts together.

"If we are dealing with a Nightmare Freddy..."

She turned round to face Freddy, with a concerned look on her face.

"Then where is Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica and Nightmare Foxy?"

"And more to the point, where's the Purple Guy?" Freddy asked back.

"Where's Vincent Afton in all of this?"

"God alone knows," Bonnie stated shaking her head in dismay.

* * *

If they knew where the Purple Guy was and what he was planning, then they had every right to be worried.

Vincent's airship flew over an old abandoned town, which had go under in the 1990s due to lack of business, it was completely deserted, and every house and building was boarded up and locked tight.

No one lived here anymore, which made it the perfect hiding spot for Vincent's schemes.

Inside the cockpit, he switched the airship into hover mode, bringing it to a complete stop.

"Half of you stay with the ship and continue any repairs if required, the rest are with me...we're going on a shopping spree for supplies," he ordered to the remaining endoskeletons, whilst smiling like a Cheshire Cat. Several endoskeletons opened up the hatchway and lowered the rope ladder to the ground. Vincent then proceeded to climb down it, followed by half of his endoskeletons. He approached the old Pizzeria which stood in the centre of the town.

Its outer walls were blacked from age, its decayed sign, read "Where fun and fantasy come to life."

"Yeah, like you lot ever achieved that, rather the very opposite, thanks to my involvement," Vincent sneered, laughing at the irony of the sign's meaning. He wondered if the old posters still existed, containing the epic words, 'welcome to the new and improved Fazbear Pizzeria'.

After all this was the Toys' Pizzeria, the site of his last major killing spree, and now a storage facility.

"Break down the doors," he ordered, as several of his endoskeletons walked passed him.

Together with their combined strength, they broke open the doors and pushed them wide open as hordes of endoskeletons flooded in.

"Take anything that is useful to us, leave anything behind that isn't," Vincent demanded, walking through rabble of self-aware machinery, which raced towards the parts and services room for spare pieces of metal and wiring which was required for the airship as well as themselves.

Within the minutes the entire Pizzeria was filled with endoskeletons, searching the place from top to bottom for anything of value.

"Dear God, this place has decayed rapidly," Vincent muttered, his footsteps echoing down the main hallway.

The posters were still there, although they had faded away with the writing now unreadable. Passing by the four party rooms, Vincent's mind appeared to echo the sounds of children laughing and playing.

They sounded so real coupled together with the interactions they had with the Toys, the whole place appeared to come to life. Vincent stretched his arms, loosening his muscles. He questioned whether it was his own mind, or tricks of the supernatural that there causing the sounds.

Everything felt real, sounded real, it was like he was stepping back in time to 1987.

Entering the security office, he found to his complete surprise the fan sitting on the desk.

"So, they left the fan behind?" he asked, trying to figure out why the particular item was still here of all things. He slowly reached forward and clicked the on button. It worked, with the fan's blades starting to move, its' speed dependent on the setting and soon a cool breeze filled the room.

Vincent smiled, enjoying the sensation of cold air touch his skin.

"Nice to see that something in this place still works," he chuckled.

He turned to the desk, there was once a chair behind it, one in which Jeremy had sat in when he was the night guard. Back then, he didn't particularly know Jeremy that much, he was just another work college, sometimes they met and interacted, but nothing major.

In fairness, Vincent didn't want to make Jeremy or Mike his enemy, but their friendship and eventual alliance with the Fazbears, made it next to impossible for him separate them from what he regarded as his true enemy.

They now treated him as an enemy, so he would treat them in kind.

Then he noticed that the sounds had stopped, the singing, the laughing, only the wirring noise of the fan stood alone.

This place, its' walls, held dark secrets.

"_Sir…sir…oh sir?"_

Vincent turned round to see a lone endoskeleton standing behind him, its grey yet engaged eyes raised to meet his.

"Yes?" Vincent asked, generally interested in what the endoskeleton had to say.

"_We're found something, another room perhaps,"_ the endoskeleton answered, pointing with its long, metal skeleton like arm back down the hallway. Vincent smiled, a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes, he exactly knew what they'd found. He followed the endoskeleton, passing the four party rooms and then the old Parts and Services room.

"Wait…I need to see something," he ordered, halting before the door.

He turned in its direction and opened it, throwing the door wide open, allowing light from the outside to flood in, casting Vincent's shadow over the floor.

Although the light itself only penetrated so much.

The endoskeleton switched on its night vision, scanning the room for anything that its programing would deem unusual.

"_There's nothing in here sir,"_ it said, completing its survey.

"Your right, but that's not what I'm interested in," Vincent replied, stepping inside.

His hands felt the wall, running over the chess like pattern in search for a light switch.

He found it, pushing it upwards.

There was a humming sound and then the overhead lights flickered on, gaining more power to maintain their brightness with each passing second. Walking to centre of the room, Vincent looked around, gazing his eyes everywhere as his mind recreated the scene from thirty years ago.

"Ahh, I remember this place, this is where the Originals lived, Foxy would be sitting here, Chica would be laying over there, Bonnie would be propped up against the far wall, and Freddy, dear old Freddy…he would be lying down on the floor."

He chuckled, sitting down and laying back against the wall.

"They would live right here, talk, sleep, eat, sing, question their purpose, their future, I would overhear them speaking about it sometimes so I knew what they were feeling."

The endoskeleton just stared at him, slowly taking his words in.

Vincent smiled as he ran his fingers over the cold hard metal floor.

"They felt like they had hit rock bottom."

The coldness of the metal floor, the empty feeling of the room, the decayed state of the building, which for some reason was still connected to the local power grid…filled Vincent with nostalgia.

"You know, thinking back, I find it funny that the Originals and the Toys are now the best of friends, yet back then in 1987…"

He chuckled.

"They hated each other with a passion, almost as much as they hate me, but back then…no one knew it was me…save for…Puppet."

He scowled at the last word.

She was a cold-blooded strategist if there ever was one…back then at least.

"She knew, but her hands were tied, there was very little she could do to stop me, yet she tired."

"_Sir, about the Toys and the Originals?"_ the endoskeleton asked.

Vincent was surprised, the endoskeleton was actually interested in the conversation.

"Like I said they hated each other dearly, that's not unexpected though, the Originals felt that they had been 'replaced' by a group of…'munchkins'…I think that's how they saw them."

He laughed, recalling heated scenes recorded on the cameras.

"The Originals tried their dam hardest to ruin the Toys' performance, and the Toys replied in turn, well I say Toys, but really Balloon Boy and the Puppet just sat out and watched, it was really Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica and Mangle vs Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy."

He sighed.

"Goldie did his best to rein the Originals in and to keep the two groups apart, he was always playing the role of peacekeeper."

He turned his head in one direction, staring at one of the walls, his mind imagining Foxy with torn clothes, and exposed bone around his right eye and ear, mumbling to himself about the depressed state he and his family were in.

"They weren't quite with it to be honest, they had been acting weird for some time ever since the first Missing Children's' Incident."

He gestured to the endoskeleton and then himself.

"You and I both know that it was because they were being possessed by the ghosts of the children, thus they were quick to anger."

Vincent shook his head, chuckling to himself.

"Chica was always depressed, Foxy was withdrawn, Bonnie was like a coiled spring and Freddy was just plain moody."

He clicked his tongue.

"Although to be fair, their condition didn't help their feeling of abandonment, Bonnie was the worst for wear, having her face burned, badly if I might add, she needed bandages, covered her whole face save for her eyes and of course she had a broken arm as well…she didn't like to feel weak I'll tell you that."

He sighed, resting his back against the wall.

Dear God, he didn't imagine that he would be spending much of his time here on the past, and then relying it to an endoskeleton of all people.

"Chica had broken hands, including a dislocated jaw," he muttered, reaching round to scratch his neck.

The image of Chica all withered, actually made him shudder.

"Quite nasty, she couldn't exactly talk straight, nor could she use her hands for anything, the others had to do nearly everything for her."

"Foxy…was in a slightly better condition, although I will stress that term, his right ear was damaged, effecting his hearing, plus he struggled to walk properly, I guess his sense of balance was off."

"_And what of Freddy sir?"_ the endoskeleton asked, its eyes were blank, yet its tone of voice clearly suggested it wanted to know more.

"Freddy wasn't in bad shape to be honest, his clothes were torn, although….now that I think about it."

There was a brief pause.

"He may have had limited vision…I can only guess the stress of it all was affecting his sight…it didn't take much to set him off."

He leaned forward, pulling his knees into his chest.

"I suppose you want to know about Goldie as well?" he asked to which the endoskeleton nodded.

"Well, just like Foxy, he had an issue with one of his ears, the left one I think, so his hearing was affected, but apart from that he wasn't as worn out as the others were, in fact, I would go so far to say he was most the active of the five."

Vincent cast his gaze around the room, his mind portraying the Originals all in their withered forms, sitting or lying down on the floor, all staring at him, anger, depression and curiousness all rolled into one.

"Even if this place as lost its' glamour, the walls had seen countless things over the years, this whole pizzeria was kind of like two worlds, one in which the Toys were happy and entertaining rock stars, and the other where the Originals sank into a deep depression under the feeling of being forgotten."

"_So, this place clearly has a history?"_ the endoskeleton asked, raising its metal eyebrows.

Vincent smiled as he sat up.

"Well you read the files, you know the story."

"_Not all of it sir_," the endoskeleton remarked, it knew that the story held gaps...that there were multiple perspectives on the whole case.

Vincent only kept his smile.

"Of course, some things are best left untouched, but remember this…there is always two sides to every story...to every event."

Then suddenly another endoskeleton appeared in the doorway, clearly having just ran the whole length of the building to reach them.

"_Sir, it is a room, somewhere behind the main stage, but we just can't reach it!"_ it exclaimed.

Vincent slowly pulled himself up.

"Well, I'm glad no one else has discovered it, I knew I hid them well."

"_Them?"_ the first endoskeleton answered, picking out the word with curiosity.

"Yes them," Vincent answered, although not going into any further detail.

He left the room, heading for the main area with the two endoskeletons in tow.

Upon stepping through the double doors, his mind recalled memories of the Prizzia's past.

The Toys would be on the stage, doing their acts for the children and adults, well Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica had the role of being the main stars to be completely accurate. Balloon Boy and the Puppet of course were stationed near Kid's Cove, the former handing out free balloons and the latter entertaining children with her 'magic tricks' while being suspended from her strings.

Finally, Mangle, or 'Toy Foxy' as she was called back then would be entertaining the younger children in Kid's Cove…expect they proceeded to rip and tear at her clothes, then soon the bigger kids got involved made it even worse. She couldn't fight back, she wasn't allowed to hit children, although she would try her best to stand her ground.

Vincent pondered for a moment.

He had always seen her as the easiest of the Toys to target, alone, builled, the others deeply cared for her, but they couldn't really offer any immediate help. Eventually the children got bored of her and just left, leaving her isolated while the other Toys got all the attention.

This of course led to her feeling jealous of her family members.

She didn't hate them, but she didn't like to be left out and who could really blame her.

Yet all of that anger…made her perfect for his plans. Back then in 1987, Vincent was part of the daytime staff, so he was around for most of the day, he had to work with other staff members, but that didn't limit his capabilities to set the scene.

Instead they excelled it, giving him a route into the company and he took the opportunity with both hands. Gaining favor with the Toys and the Originals was easy, Puppet was suspicious as always, but he knew like she knew, that she had no hard facts to go on, only the whispers of a ghost child inside her head.

She was way out of her depth back then and she knew it. Whenever she raised his evil deeds with him which often was when they were alone, he would deny it, why give her any evidence.

She had her hands tied around her back, she could shout, protest, or even scream, but that was all it would ever be.

Vincent meanwhile had a clean track record as far as anyone knew, largely because he was very skilled at covering up his actions. No one would suspect him and they never did until much later by which time the damage had already been done.

"It was so easy back then, but I like a challenge," he muttered under his breath as he approached the stage.

Gathering eight more endoskeletons with him, he jumped onto the wood beams, glad that the wood was holding his weight, given that it was over thirty years old. He walked up to the back wall proceeding to run his hand along its black white chess like pattern, searching for a certain square.

_"Do you require assistance sir?" _one of the endoskeletons asked, tapping Vincent on the arm with its cold, metal, skeleton like fingers.

"No...this very room was designed while I was present in the late 1980s, it was meant to be a storage room, yet shortly after the Pizzeria's closure, I turned its' function into something else...and no one else but me knows what lies inside," Vincent replied, putting all of his attention into finding the activation key.

After several seconds of propping, he pressed the right square before turning round to face his endoskeletons.

"And I intend to keep it that way," he smiled, his smile now on the border line of psychotic.

There was a clicking sound, then a large portion of the wall opened up, sliding away and revealing an old steel door having rusted with age.

Vincent reached forward and pushed down on the handle, he had to use a considerable amount of his physical strength to make it actually move. The hinges instantly groaned as the door was pushed open, revealing nothing behind it but pitch blackness, causing the endoskeletons to wisely switch on their night vision.

Vincent slowly entered the room, his footsteps echoed on the marble pattern which decorated the entire floor as far as the eye could see.

"What do you see?" he asked, surveying the darkness with his own eyes.

Slowly he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small yet sharp knife.

"_Just in case their memories haven't kicked in yet,"_ he thought.

"_They are remorseless killers after all."_

_"I see several trolleys of chemical instruments, two small portable electric generators and three large tables...all of which are empty,"_ one endoskeleton answered, doing a full sweep.

Vincent's eyes widen at the last bit…he wasn't expecting that.

"Wait empty, they're not meant to be empty, where are-"

Then suddenly several pairs of hands came out of the dark, grabbed hold of Vincent and within the blink of an eye, pulled him into the darkness. The endoskeletons seeing their master in danger, tried to follow, but before one of them could even step inside, a pair of bright reddish brown eyes appeared out of the darkness, there was an aggressive growl…a warning.

Then before any endoskeleton could mount a reaction to this new threat, the door was slammed shut with a deafening clang.

Unable to see where he was going, Vincent quickly felt his knife being ripped out of his grasp.

Great, just great, he was now completely defendless.

He was forcefully shoved against a wall, the solid impact made him groan as the pain vibrated through his body like a shock wave. He felt whatever was gripping him loosen, giving him the chance to turn round. Three pairs of eyes stared at him out of the darkness, the closest one, was an orangey yellow, another pair on his right was a mixture of blue and purple and finally on his left was the third, a reddish brown.

All three pairs of eyes glared at him, studying him, trying to work out who he was exactly.

_"Vincent honey...is that you?" _The one in front asked, it sounded like a female.

_"We've been waiting for you, for a very long time in fact," _said the one to his right, it also carried a female's voice.

_"Aye laddie, you've kept us here for far too long, is it time to act?" _The one to his left asked, which was clearly a male.

Vincent smiled in response, they knew who he was….panic levels decreasing.

"Aaa, Nightmare Chica, Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Foxy, I am very happy to see you all, awake for once."

"_We woke up two days ago, and after spending nearly thirty years in a dreamless sleep, one becomes eager to explore the wider world…aka outside,"_ said Nightmare Chica, releasing Vincent from her grip.

"Well, to answer your questions, yes, it is me, and secondly, yes it is also now time to act, the plan is moving forward."

A dark foreboding chuckle came from Nightmare Foxy.

"_Where there are Nightmares, there is chaos."_

"_And where there is chaos, there is death,"_ Nightmare Chica added.

"_And where there is death…there is nothing,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered, casting her eyes to the others.

"_Quick question by the way…where is N-Freddy, why isn't he here with us?"_ she asked.

"Yeah…about that," Vincent muttered, recalling past events.

"Due to some unforeseen difficulties…I had Nightmare Freddy stored in the other Pizzeria."

"_Is he ok?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked, for a split second even though it was pitch dark, Vincent caught a glimpse of concern flash across her eyes.

"He is already up and about, hunting down the Fazbears," Vincent replied, casting off her worry.

"Anything else you three would like to know before we set off?" he asked, looking from one to the next.

Nightmare Chica stretched her neck and her arms.

"_Aaaa, sorry but lying down for more than a quarter of a century really makes your limbs ache."_

"_So…'daddy', bringer of life"_ Nightmare Foxy joked, which earned him a disapproval look from Vincent even though only his eyes showed it.

Nightmare Foxy rolled his eyes in protest.

"_What…I actually meant it, you literally gave us a body each to inhabit,"_ he argued.

Now it was Vincent's turn to smile.

"Yes…you are quite right, without it you three and Nightmare Freddy included wouldn't be here psychically."

"_Just remind me a little, has anything changed?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked curiously, turning her thoughts to the outside world.

"Do you mean in relation to the world in general or to our situation?" Vincent asked plainly, he couldn't quite tell if Nightmare Bonnie was trying to be playful.

"_Our situation?"_

"Well not much, the Fazbears had left their pizzeria as I knew they would…I can only guess they wish to be free of the past and start anew."

"_Why would they want to do that?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, fully stretching her body to loosen all of her dormant muscles.

Nightmares Bonnie and Foxy just looked at her, dumbfounded.

"_Are you bloodily kidding me!" _Nightmare Bonnie exclaimed, quite unable to believe Nightmare Chica's own words.

"_Think about it lassie, what lies in their past that they wouldn't want to be associated with,"_ Nightmare Foxy argued, gesturing his hook to the door, strongly indicating the pizzeria's history. Nightmare Chica stared at him for a moment, looking completely blank faced and then she mentally slapped herself as her memory kicked in.

"_Oh, how could I fucking forget…of course, there's the killings, the multiple closures of the pizzerias and all the other shit that came with it!"_

"_Thank you getting back up to speed with us N-Chica,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered under her breath.

"So…I think we are done with the formalities…you all remember our deal and who I am most importantly, so there isn't much reason to hang around," Vincent stared, looking round the room, although with everything being covered in pitch black, there wasn't much to see.

"_Are you sure that there is anything else you need to tell us?"_ Nightmare Bonnie inquired, tilting her head in his direction.

Vincent thought for a moment, his mind running over past events.

"Yes…actually there is something else I should tell you…Springtrap is now awake…I didn't think it would happen considering his mental state…but it did."

"_So…we have one more enemy to fight,"_ Nightmare Foxy suggested, his predator like mind was only starting to wake up after thirty years of deep sleep.

"_How many do we face?"_ Nightmare Chica asked.

Her orange yellow like eyes narrowed, to her the hunt was already on.

"_And just how weak are they?"_

"Hang on, I'll count…give me a minute, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica, Mangle, Goldie, Springtrap, Balloon Boy, the Puppet, and then there's Mike and Jeremy...so it's fourteen in total."

"_And then there's us four and you, thus making it five vs fourteen, those are not good odds," _Nightmare Foxy stated, pointing out the obvious.

"Correct, but if anyone knows history…numbers don't always count, besides there is always a weakness we can maximise…and with the Fazbears…"

His eyes glinted with mischief.

"There's plenty of pressure points to push."

Nightmare Bonnie folded her arms as did Nightmare Chica.

"_So, what's the plan?"_ they both asked, saying their words at the exact same time.

"_And where is Nightmare Freddy, you said he was up and about?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, jumping in at the end.

"I came to collect you three, so the next step is to leave this place and head north, we should meet Nightmare Freddy along the way, he is out and according to his latest text, he is having a free for all."

He turned his watch tracker on his arm to face him and switched it on, reading a new message from Nightmare Freddy which had only come through several minutes ago.

"So far, he has attacked Chica...and it would appear to have the desired effect, of breaking up the Fazbear family...he is out of his chains as we already know and is currently heading straight towards Chicago…dam he moves fast," Vincent commented, reading a rather long text.

"_He is quite active, always was if I remember correctly,"_ said Nightmare Foxy, leaning in to read the message.

"_Wait, hang on you mentioned chains…why was he in chains_?" Nightmare Bonnie asked, locking eyes with Vincent.

Anyone could get lost looking into those blue purplish pupils…providing they didn't know of the Nightmare's vicious sadistic nature.

Soon all three sets of eyes were on him.

Vincent sighed.

"I was cautious, the procedure I performed on you four in order to bring you into the real world was exhausting for both myself and on the bodies, you now possess, plus for the plan to work, I needed to lay low for several decades, letting the Fazbears sink into a sense of false security."

He rubbed his neck, it was his way of coping with nervousness.

"As a way of achieving that goal I needed to put you four into deep sleep, hibernation effectively."

"The problem being that upon reawaking you four, your memories wouldn't have kicked in and knowing your nature, which none of you deny to be frank, I couldn't just run the risk being killed by one of you in your sadistic filled rage."

He looked at them.

"Think about it, you wake up after so long only to find a stranger standing over you…what's the first you do?"

"_Easy,"_ Nightmare Chica answered, obviously smiling.

"_You gut them wide open and proceed to rip them to pieces…slowly."_

Vincent nodded.

"That's what I mean, for my own safety you all needed to be restrained until your memories had returned."

He then gazed up at the ceiling.

"Although that hasn't been an issue with you three, it was with only Nightmare Freddy that I exercised serious caution."

"_Well to be honest, we didn't even have chains on us when we woke up,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered.

"Yes, I didn't have enough time to put chains on you three, I had some unexpected company turning up…unlike Nightmare Freddy, he was easy to hide away," Vincent replied, still looking at the ceiling which had started to rot away with old age.

"Besides we should all be leaving, come, a little murder will highten your senses…it'll make you three feel alive."

_"You have yourself a deal laddie,"_ said Nightmare Foxy, his reddish-brown eyes glowed in the darkness.

He relished the thought of destruction, the sweet arua of death.

"_I would like to meet our other selves,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered, although there was an underlying bitter sweetness to her voice.

"_And strangle them into complete oblivion!"_

"_Oh, I'm sure you'll get your opportunity dear, but I think it would be best to target the strongest first…make things a little easier for us," _Nightmare Bonnie suggested.

"_In other words,…I want to get Freddy and maybe his Toy counterpart as well…they're the leaders I bet."_

"Your right there," Vincent answered.

"_I get Foxy!"_ Nightmare Chica exclaimed, jumping in.

"_Oh, and Mangle too!"_

"_Chica…dear Chica…and Toy Chica…I would like that very much,"_ Nightmare Foxy muttered.

"And to complete the selection process, I guess that Nightmare Freddy will want Bonnie and Toy Bonnie at some point as well," Vincent stated, seeing how the Nightmares were interested in getting hold of their respective counterparts.

He turned and pressed one of the squares in the chess coloured wall, causing the door to open, before turning on the light by means of the light switch. Now why didn't he use that earlier was a good question to raise...but no one did.

The endoskeletons outside, rushed in armed to the teeth with kitchen knifes, but when they registered that their master was not in danger, they instantly lowered their weapons.

_"Endoskeletons, you are served by endoskeletons," _Nightmare Chica commented, studying their structure and build.

"_Not exactly what I would regard as scary or formidable."_

"Is that a problem Nightmare Chica?" Vincent asked, feeling somewhat insulted.

He had reprogramed all of them himself and it wasn't an easy task to achieve.

"_It's just judging by their size and their design aren't they…incapable of hand to hand combat?"_ she asked, turning to meet Vincent's gaze.

"Melee isn't their strong point, but they excel in other uses…I wouldn't dismiss them because they don't have your claws or teeth," Vincent replied.

"_He's got you there N-Chica,"_ Nightmare Foxy chuckled, earning him an aggressive glare from Nightmare Chica who didn't approve of his words. Vincent meanwhile turned to the endoskeletons and then gestured towards the equipment which lay on the floor besides the three wooden tables.

"Quick, grab the chemical instruments and those two small electric generators," he ordered, to which the endoskeletons followed without question.

"Get everything onto the ship, we are leaving in five minutes."

He then turned to the three Nightmares amidst the sounds of the endoskeletons picking up the objects and taking them outside.

Now that there was light, he could actually see them properly. Nightmares Bonnie and Chica both wore an old torn dress with a medium sized skirt which had many holes, although the colour scheme differ greatly with one being purple and the other a dim yellow.

And then there was the obvious fact that Nightmare Chica had three rows of teeth while Nightmare Bonnie had only two.

Their hair was also similar, with Nightmare Bonnie's bluish purplish hair flowing down past her shoulders, trailing down her back, whilst Nightmare Chica's hair was yellow, but slightly shorter and more cropped. Nightmare Foxy meanwhile possessed a single sharp set of fangs, he appeared to wear a more withered form of Foxy's pirate costume with an even sharper hook.

His brownish red eyes glowed even in the light, giving off the vide of a demonic nature, his hair of course was a deep red and was stopped just before his shoulders.

Vincent in fact only now realised that the real Foxy had been wearing that pirate costume ever since he arrived at Fazbear's Pizzeria.

In fact, come to think of it…did everyone only wear one set of clothes?

"Ok, one more thing to do."

He held his hand out to them.

"Knife please?" he asked sternly.

The three Nightmares looked at each other, wondering who had it. Finally, Nightmare Bonnie sighed, before reaching into her skirt pocket and pulling out a sharp bladed weapon.

She gave it to Vincent, placing it in his hand...much to her dismay.

"_It's such a well-made knife,"_ she protested, clearly not happy with having to give it up.

"Yeah and it's my knife," Vincent replied, grasping it firmly in his hand.

He shoved it into one of his trouser pockets.

"You three come with me, we have work to do, and I'll tell you everything else in greater detail once we're moving, plus we'll be picking up Nightmare Freddy on the way."

_"Where exactly to dear?" _Nightmare Bonnie asked, following Vincent out of the door.

He turned to her and smiled…there it was again, that psychotic glint in his eyes.

"Why to Chicago of course, that's where all the fun is," he replied.

Nightmare Bonnie's eyes narrowed as she smirked in sick delight.

_"Then let's not waste any more precious time. . ."_

* * *

Along the highway, amidst the constant rumbling of American traffic, one vehicle moved at an exceptional speed.

The car didn't belong to the person who was driving it...no...rather he had stolen it...after killing the original driver of course.

And by killing, it was hard stab to the chest...a very bloody one.

Actually, it was more like a savage repeated stabbing, virtually never-ending, even after the person was dead. Nightmare Freddy kept his eyes focused on the road ahead of him, following any highway sign which mentioned Chicago and counted down the miles.

At his current speed, he would be there within a day.

When his chains had finally deactivated, he'd taken some time to explore the Pizzeria, searching every room to satisfy his curiosity. It amused him how important this place was to its' former inhabitants when really it was just a crumbling, old, forgotten ruin of faded glory.

Eventually he found a frozen pizza in the freezer, the instant he saw it his stomach growled…being in hibernation for twenty-eight years can really empty your reserves somehow. So, he had the luxury of waiting twenty minutes or so for the thing to cook in one of the ovens.

Despite the Pizzeria having long since fallen as a thriving business, it was still connected to the main power grid. Once done with his hunger problem he had proceeded to take the sharpest knife he could find in the kitchen and then set off outside, to greet the world.

High-jacking a car was easy, all he had to do was act like someone in distress and hopefully someone would stop to help...and they did.

The unfortunate person who did stop to help, was met with a brutal inhuman end. Nightmare Freddy, then stole their car keys left the body behind and drove away towards the nearest junction and the exit that lead onto the highway.

Good God it felt good to be free after so many years.

"_Mmmm…I might as well as try the radio, let's see what modern music has to offer…surely it must have improved from the nineteen eighties,"_ he muttered, reaching for the radio controls.

He twisted several knobs, bringing the radio up.

He instantly regretted it…

"AND I WAS LIKE BABY, BABY, BABY, OOOH, LIKE BABY, BABY, BABY, NOOO, LIKE BABY, BABY, BABY, OOOH, THOUGHT YOU'VE ALWAYS BE MINE!"

He switched it off.

"_NO, NO, NO, I DO NOT TOLERATE THAT KIND OF MUSICIAL CRAP!"_

He shook his head, trying to get the awful song out of his mind.

"_Was that a guy or a girl singing…I don't know…do I even care is a better question?"_

He switched the radio back on, changing channels, hoping to find something better.

It didn't long for him to find something which he liked.

"Living easy, loving free, season ticket on a one-way ride."

"_Hello, and what, is this exactly?" _he asked, finding the lyrics to be somewhat relatable.

"Asking nothing, leave me be, taking everything in my stride."

This particular song appealed to him directly somehow.

"Don't need a reason, don't need a right, there ain't nothing I'd rather do," the radio sang.

Somehow this song reminded him of how he saw life in general, he did what he wanted without care or reason.

"Going down, party time."

He smiled, it sure would be a party at Chicago once he got there.

"My friends are gonna be there too."

And when they all joined together…hell itself would break lose.

The chorus literally spoke Nightmare Freddy's mind.

"I'M ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL, ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL!"

Nightmare Freddy laughed, if this didn't describe how he was feeling then nothing could.

"HIGHWAY TO HELL, I'M ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL!"

His plan by the looks of things should have worked, Freddy should be isolated from the rest of the family, and hopefully they would be further broken up by a possible argument between Goldie and Springtrap over the past. Now he was aiming to meet up with Vincent and the other Nightmares and then as one united force they would be able to silence each family member, one after the other.

He hoped that by the time they all got there, the Fazbears would still be split, it would make things so much easier to handle.

"No stop signs, speed limit, nobody's gonna slow us down."

"_You sure got that right,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, overtaking two cars at once.

"Like a wheel, gonna spin it, nobody's gonna mess me around."

"_Dam straight."_

"HEY SATAN, paying my dues, playing in a rocking band…HEY MAMA, look at me, I'm on my way to the promised land!"

At that very moment, his watch beeped to signal him that a message has been received.

_"That's properly Vincent,"_ he muttered.

He opened it, the message read as follows.

"Got the other Nightmares as well as a few other things, heading towards Chicago now with all speed, will pick you up on the way, we are much faster than you and will mostly likely met you somewhere along the main highway...will make further plans once we've regrouped."

Nightmare Freddy sent his reply, confirming his understanding of Vincent's message. He then over took three cars in a row, switching lanes to avoid the worst of the traffic. He smiled as he imagined what the Fazbear family was going through, he could see it now...heated arguments, fights, hatred and most importantly of all…fragmentation.

For now, he could just relax and listen to the song.

"I'M ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL, ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL, I'M ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL, ON THE HIGHWAY TO HELL!"

Nightmare Freddy smiled, it was a cold smile, a detached smile, one of complete and utter malevolent and ruthless.

_"Are you ready for Nightmare Freddy, if not...well...you'll be sorry!" _He chuckled, pressing his foot down on the accelerator, as the car raced even faster down the highway with the song blasting out of the radio.

_It wouldn't be long now. . ._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I make no apologies for fans of Justin Bieber. . .  
The storm is now gathering, but how will things turn out from here, we'll soon see, I have several ideas to work with.  
Thanks for reading and please review, your feedback is appreciated :-)


	13. Mending and Breaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks to all those who have taken an interest in reading this story, I appreciate it. 
> 
> This chapter is largely focused on the issues facing the Fazbears as well as a few...'other' things. ;-)  
With that being said enjoy.

** Mending and Breaking. **

** Chapter 13. **

"**It is those of us, who have been broken that become experts at mending."**

**Steve Maraboli.**

"Come on, no you're going left, I'm right, over here ahead of these guys, just accelerate that's all I ask."

Balloon Boy and the Puppet were hammering her fingers into the buttons on the game controllers as they sat on the couch, staring at Jeremy's TV.

"Left go left, ok there's a big turn here."

"Avoid crashing into me please if you can."

They were playing a car racing game, and although the Puppet wore a sling around one of her shoulders, she could still move both her arms with relative ease.

"Turn right, now left, watch your corners," Balloon Boy said, moving his fingers across the controller's buttons at an alarming speed. To be fair, Puppet wasn't truly interested in the game, but she found it enjoyable to some degree, she liked speeding. She didn't move her fingers as fast as Balloon Boy did, she didn't see it as necessary.

"Second lap, come on," Balloon Boy yelled, pumping his fist into the air.

As they continued to race, the Puppet silently studied BB's body language and his tone.

_"He seems on edge, as if something is bothering him, I can sense a lot of anger in his tone."_

"Ha, I beat him, stupid A.I, I bet that's what Freddy would be like he drove a car." Balloon Boy commented sharply, laughing in the glow of victory.

_"Freddy...he's be saying that name an awful lot today and not in a good context," _the Puppet thought, continuously observing him.

The game ended with Balloon Boy having won, with the Puppet coming in at a close second. Puppet put down her controller, her focus was now elsewhere as she turned to face Balloon Boy.

"Are you ok...you seem to be out of sorts today...what's wrong?" She asked, trying to meet him eye to eye, but failing to do so.

Balloon Boy instantly fell silent with him lowering his head as his whole demeanor began to change before her eyes He allowed the controller to fall out of his hands, hitting the floor, but he didn't care as an array of negative thoughts came bursting through. The boy's body language was soon transformed to that of sadness, with him becoming visibly upset as he began to shake. He turned to look at her, with his eyes now on the verge of tears.

"I had an argument...last night with Freddy...he said that I was only with you to get laid!"

Hearing something like that come out of BB's mouth, who was as far as the Puppet knew the most innocent human being she was aware of…was shocking. No one had spoken to him in such terms, yes, he had annoyed them occasionally in the past, but he was never one to make them snap at him.

Seeing him clearly upset and hurt by Freddy' words, Puppet responded by hugging him, pulling the boy in close. Yes, despite his smarts, BB was still a child at the end of the day, who needed mothering at times.

Normally Toy Bonnie or Toy Chica would be the one to do it, but now she had to handle it.

"Oh, come now don't cry, I'm sure Freddy didn't mean it...everyone was arguing with one another last night...he properly doesn't hate you."

"But he was so mad!" Balloon Boy replied, still balling his eyes out.

"He wasn't really mad at you BB, it was just that everyone else was angry at him and he was venting steam, not that it excuses what he did," Puppet stated, softly stroking his light brown hair.

"You did nothing wrong BB, everything was chaotic back then, everyone was properly stressed.

"_Although I'm glad that I missed most of it." _She thought.

"Shh, come on, don't let me put to you to bed like a baby," she cooed sarcastically.

Although with all things considered, she didn't want to do that and she doubted if she had the actual strength to lift him up…let alone carry the boy.

"I would rather die than let you do that," he marked sarcastically, he was way above that age.

He wiped the tears away from his eyes, the source of his sadness having faded away into nothing.

The desire to cry was gone.

"I said I hated him for putting you into a position where Nightmare Freddy could do you harm," he muttered, relaxing in her arms, her body was light, after all she was remarkably thin.

"Do you still hate him BB?" she asked, her tone was encouraging, very supportive of his emotional needs.

"No...not as much, do you hate him?" she asked, .

"No, because I know Freddy, he wouldn't allow something like this to happen if he had the chance to stop it, Nightmare Freddy tricked him," Puppet replied, stroking his hair.

"He tricked us all and look where that's got us."

"You really don't hate him?" BB asked again, looking up at her, now eye to eye.

"Yes really, he's my friend," Puppet said, smiling down at Balloon Boy, the same way a mother would do when cheering up her child.

"Beside what does getting laid mean anyway?" she asked.

Balloon Boy leaned in and whispered a few things in her ear.

Her eyes widen as she listened.

"Oh...I see...it's the same meaning for...why would we even want to do that sort of thing anyway?" She asked.

"I don't know," Balloon Boy replied, shrugging his shoulders.

In truth Puppet knew what the term meant, she just wondered if BB knew and besides they would never do that. It didn't make sense, such things held no purpose in their world. Puppet turned round and looked towards the open lounge window...it was a nice day outside with the sun shining amidst a clear blue sky.

"It's beautiful outside, would you like to go out…it'll help take your mind off things?" She asked, holding out her hands to him.

"Sure…ok," Balloon Boy replied, taking the Puppet by the hand and leading her outside towards the garden.

"What will we do outside?" he asked, as she lead him outside, instantly the cool summer air hit his skin.

"Easy…play," Puppet replied eagerly.

"You're a child, you should know after all."

"I don't mean any offense, but you don't play, you're the Puppet."

Balloon Boy's remark earned him a assumed look from Puppet, who replied modestly.

"Oh, I know that I've been cold, detached, isolated, sharp, bitter and not good at social interaction…but that was the past."

She turned around to face him, her white dots for eyes expressed a sense of warmth, but were also narrowed with firm determination.

"I'm now open to doing different things and it's time for a change…"

* * *

"Bonnie, I know what you're saying, but I just can't find it in my heart to forgive him...he had several chances to tell us and he didn't!" Chica exclaimed.

"Aye, he put us all in harm's way, I mean the bite marks on the Puppet's legs only appeared after she had fallen asleep, I mean come on, surely that would be the time for Freddy to remember...he was right by her for God's sake!" Foxy said, throwing his arms up in frustration.

Bonnie sighed deeply, reining in her anger, this wasn't going well.

She was trying have a talk with Chica and Foxy about Freddy, but they clearly weren't interested in forgiving him, let alone listening to her.

"Come on guys, this is Freddy, we know him, he's been by our side since the very beginning, and at the end of the day he didn't mean it and we all know who the real enemy is, unless both of you have short term memories," Bonnie argued back.

This earned her death glares from both Foxy and Chica.

"I didn't agree to sit down and talk with you only to be insulted on my memory!" Foxy snarled.

Chica was still covered in bandages from her...'encounter', although she certainly looked a lot better since last night.

"I won't forgive him Bonnie," she stated with narrow cold eyes.

"Freddy had the opportunity to act, he isn't an idiotic, when something strange happens he seeks it out,"

Then before Bonnie could respond, Chica took a particular line of attack.

"Why have you forgiven him...did you and Freddy share something 'special' in the treehouse?" that was an insult and it was coated in venom.

Immediately Bonnie narrowed her eyes at Chica.

"You know dam well that has nothing to do with that we're talking about here."

Her reply made Chica smile coldly.

"Oh, I think it does Bonnie," she replied smugly.

"According to Mike, you slapped Freddy last night and apparently it was very hard," Foxy stated, although he wasn't smiling, maintaining a blank but stern expression.

He wasn't actively seeking to push the knife in.

"I was angry, like you, but I stepped back and examined the situation and I found that I couldn't hate him," Bonnie stated firmly, it was the truth.

"Why have you suddenly become Freddy's chief apologist, if I may ask?" Foxy asked with sudden interest.

Chica smiled evermore coldly and took Foxy's question as an opportunity to verbally drive the knife towards the heart.

"Isn't it obvious Foxy, she loves him and would do anything to get into bed with him, nothing has changed between the two of them."

"Remember the skirt Bonnie?"

That venomous comment made Bonnie blow a blood vessel, it was like a nuclear explosion going off.

"YES, I LOVE HIM, BUT FREDDY IS A PART OF OUR FAMILY, WE KNOW HIM, WE'VE ALL MADE MISTAKES, I HAVE AND YOU TWO HAVE AS WELL!" She shouted, rising up from her chair, evidently enraged.

"HE ALLOWED THIS TO HAPPEN BONNIE!" Foxy shouted back.

"HE COULD HAVE PREVENTED IT OR AT LEAST DONE SOMETHING!" Chica yelled.

"YOU TRY BEING FREDDY FOR ONCE THEN, INSTEAD OF BEING A LONESOME PIRATE AND A MUNCHKIN LOOKALIKE WITH A CUPCAKE!"

That comment made Chica clenched her fists, digging her nails into the wood as she narrowed her rage filled eyes. Foxy, only narrowed his eyes in strong disapproval, he could see that Chica was barely keeping herself together, he needed to be the adult in case she went mad and actually attempt to hurt Bonnie.

Bonnie meanwhile, closed her eyes and breathed out deeply to let off some steam, allowing her anger to die down before resuming.

"Ok, ok…let me simply address something here, we have been a group of four, or five counting Goldie since 1980 and we've been through some tough times, but we've stuck together despite that and now due to one mistake, you two are treating him as if he were the Purple Man himself," Bonnie stated, laying out their shared history.

"I refuse to believe that he simply forgot or that he didn't take Nightmare Freddy seriously," said Chica, folding her arms in defiance.

"He effectively betrayed us Bonnie," Foxy added, now that kind of accusation went too far. Bonnie, slammed her fists down on the table in frustration, silencing any of the two's attempts to speak.

"NO, HE DIDN'T FOXY, FREDDY IS NOT THE ENEMY HERE!" she pointed at the window, towards the treehouse outside.

"Vincent is the reason why we are in this fucking mess, not Freddy and Chica, it was Nightmare Freddy who attacked you, not Freddy."

Bonnie, breathed in deeply to control her anger, boy she knew she had a temper, but it never this bad.

"_We know Freddy, why can't you two get __your__ heads out of your __arse__ and think this through!"_ she mentally cursed.

"And you both forget one vital thing...Freddy was also attacked, he was the first one, and Nightmare Freddy leant everything about us by invading Freddy's mind..."

Neither Foxy nor Chica responded, resulting in a smug smile from Bonnie.

"You forgot that small detail, didn't you."

Chica leaned back in her chair and folded her arms once.

"I won't forgive...I don't want to forgive him, he let it happen and I trusted him with my safety."

"Oh, for Christ's sake Chica, think about it, Nightmare Freddy targeted both you and Foxy!" Bonnie shouted. For the first time since this meeting had begun, Chica's eyebrows rose with interest.

"Why, because he wants to break us up and you're both helping him by hating Freddy, by breaking us up, we are weak and therefore easier to target."

Bonnie then threw her arms up to dramatise.

"Imagine if you will that we are weak and divided and then all of a sudden, Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy turn up...Vincent included, what would happen to us?" She asked, leaning forward.

Neither Chica nor Foxy answered her question.

"You both know what would happen to us, you just can't admit it," said Bonnie smugly folding her arms and confident in her position.

"He did hurt a lot of people as result of his inaction, remember the Puppet and how he shouted at Balloon Boy, even Springtrap called him out on it," Foxy stated.

"Yes, I know, what he said to BB was wrong and Freddy feels very sorry for doing so, but he didn't mean it and plus do you two know what is it like to be a leader."

"How would you know?" Chica asked, eyeing her aggressively.

"Because Freddy told me himself, in fact he told all of us last night, remember," Bonnie replied.

"Did he tell you during that special moment you both shared in 'bed'?" Foxy asked, emphasising the word bed for effect. Chica laughed, but Bonnie just rolled her eyes, dismissing Foxy's attempt to get to her.

"Its hard ok, it's very hard at times, having so many people who rely on you, trying to keep everything running, trying to keep everyone safe and provide strong leadership in times of crisis," she stated.

"He allowed her to get hurt and I love her," said Foxy, pointing towards Chica.

"I cannot easily forgive him for that."

"He allowed it to happen and yet he could have stopped it," Chica stressed, running her hand through her hair.

"He could at least have raised the issue in a discussion, not forget about it."

Bonnie, mentally exhausted, slumped back in her chair, this was going nowhere. She looked up at Chica and decided to speak her mind, even though she knew that she was walking into a viper's nest.

She then leaned forward, with cruel glint in her eyes.

"Chica...have you always been this cold?"

Chica's response was to give her a cold shoulder.

"What did you say?" She asked, her tone although it was low, betrayed her anger.

"I said why you are so cold?" Bonnie replied, loud and clear.

"Because I'm struggling to remember any real happy moments between the two of us."

"Say that again if you dare!" Chica hissed, standing up.

"Oh Jesus," Foxy whispered, pushing his chair back...he knew what was coming.

Bonnie smiled, enjoying Chica's reaction.

"You're cold hearted Chica!" she shouted, further kicking the hornets' nest.

Chica marched over to Bonnie, bypassing Foxy who made no attempt to stop her, as her feet stomped the floor.

Upon reaching Bonnie, she towered over her, making Bonnie fall under her shadow.

"You're a hard girl Bonnie, I bet your finding it difficult to express your feelings for Freddy in an appropriate manner, remember when you wore that really short skirt, you said you wanted to try new things, but even I could tell that you were just trying to get Freddy's attention...I would go so far to call you a slut."

That was a bit extreme and if one knew Bonnie, it was largely untrue.

The harsh comment made Bonnie force her chair back and stood up to meet Chica right in the eye.

"I bet you twist people around your little finger Chica, you may be sweet and soft on the outside for the children, but I know for a fact, that on the inside you're a rotten egg with the level of grace like those girls from Jersey Shore!"

Chica looked as if she was about to burst into a volcano of rage.

"Does anyone want coffee...that British thing called tea...a fruit drink maybe?" Foxy asked nervously, slowly backing away towards the door, while his hand frantically searched for the door handle, as invisible storm clouds gathered over the two females.

"You're a drama queen Bonnie, you get angry very quickly, I bet Freddy might top himself with all arguing that you'll cause," said Chica, smiling a cold smile as she verbally stabbed Bonnie in the heart by targeting the icon of her affections.

"Oh Chica, I pity you, can you only hit on sailors," Bonnie replied, shaking her head whilst mocking sadness.

"It's quite a narrow range if you know what I mean."

"Hey, as a pirate, I take great offense to that," Foxy commented, walking out of the door, so he could maintain a reasonable safe distance.

"I hate you Bonnie at times, you're just so moody and you can really drag the whole family's mood down with you," Chica stated through gritted teeth as her eyes flared with rage.

She firmly pressed her head against Bonnie, clenching her fists so tightly that they went white.

"Chica you're just a manipulative, inhuman bitch and that's why I hate you," Bonnie stressed, also clenching her fists in the same manner.

"Guys…can we just settle down for a minute," Foxy pleaded from the safety of the sidelines, trying desperately to intervene and prevent what was properly already inevitable.

"Call me a bitch again and I swear that I will beat the living shit out of you!" Chica growled, becoming very animalistic.

"B.I.T.C.H, you're a mother fucking bitch!" Bonnie shouted, venting all of her anger out on the woman she had on so many occasions called her dear sister.

"AAAAA!" Chica screamed, as she fiercely punched Bonnie in the face, knocking her backwards.

Bonnie then responded sharply by smacking Chica hard in the jaw.

Then Chica leapt at Bonnie, knocking her to the floor and the two of them wrestled, fighting like feral cats who were fully committed to keep on going until one of them died.

Foxy, by this point had long since departed for the safety of the kitchen, hoping to find something or someone who could step in and sort this whole mess out.

Normally that would-be Goldie…but he wasn't here right now. Chica punched Bonnie in the eye, making it go all black and swollen.

Bonnie then head butted Chica, giving her a bloodily nose, pushing her off her and freeing herself. Chica then replied by grabbing Bonnie's arm and twisting it, to which Bonnie then kicked Chica in one of her breasts.

"BONNIE, YOU BITCH!" she shouted, grabbing Bonnie by the throat and strangling her.

"FUCK YOU CHICA!" Bonnie shouted, grabbing hold of Chica's throat and started strangling her as well as.

Then the door opened and Foxy stepped in, holding a tray with several cups.

"I made coffee to calm you two down, and it was my first try!" he sang.

If anyone could make sense of his reasoning for bringing coffee into this situation…good for you.

Then he saw the state of Bonnie and Chica and was immediately horrified.

"JESUS CHRIST, BONNIE, CHICA STOP!" He shouted, instantly setting the coffee tray down on the table, before rushing over to intervene.

He pushed them apart and with all his strength, he kept them well away from each other, creating some much-needed time for their anger to die down.

"Stop this, stop it right now, both of you!" he shouted.

"For God sake, what would Goldie say if he was here right now?" he asked, turning to look at both of them with a strong look of disapproval.

"_So…this is what it feels to be like Freddy?"_ he thought as he realized the level of command he had just gained.

"_Having to deal with 'children'."_

Now he was starting to see Bonnie's point, having this level of responsibility was not ideal. Slowly Chica slummed down to the floor, whereas Bonnie fell backwards into a waiting chair, grasping the sides to steady herself. Between the two of them, they both looked exhausted and were breathing heavily.

"What the hell, have you both gone mad, you've degraded yourselves into a bloodily death match!" Foxy exclaimed, scolding them in the same manner a parent would to its children for misbehaving.

"She called me a bitch!" Chica cried, having quickly found enough energy to take a quick shot at Bonnie.

"Well she called me a slut!" Bonnie fired back, returning fire with the same manner.

"Stop, I've heard and seen enough, Bonnie you should properly leave now," Foxy said, stepping aside to let her go.

"And Chica," he turned to face her with a look of grim determination.

"We should have a little talk about anger management."

"But…"

"No buts Chica, seriously what you two did was stupid given your age, we've been through worse shit than this and haven't acted this aggressive before."

"_Not on our own accord through,"_ he thought, reminding himself of darker times.

Bonnie slowly got up, clutching her arm which Chica had twisted with her arm, it really hurt.

"Don't you see...this is what Nightmare Freddy wants, we're doing his dirty work for him," she stated, limping towards the door.

"Me included…"

She stopped in the doorway and turned round to face them both.

Her facial expression wasn't rage, but rather one of immense sadness as she stared at her lifelong companions.

"But think about this, both of you...do you really want our family to break apart, after so many decades...do you really want to lose all of that...for a simple mistake...just think for a minute…please."

She then turned and left, limping down the hallway, creating a thudding sound as she walked.

Foxy sighed, inside he completely admitted the stupidity of it all...but he wouldn't forgive Freddy easily, he had indirectly created the conditions into which two people had almost died, one of which he deeply loved.

But Chica had overstepped the line, as had Bonnie.

_"What have we become?" _He thought amidst the sounds of Chica's heavy breathing as she recovered from her ordeal.

"_If Vincent saw this, he would be laughing all the way to hell and back…"_

* * *

An hour later...

"And as you can see, my talk with Foxy and Chica didn't go down so well, hence my appearance," Bonnie answered, putting an ice pack which had been given to her to help with her now swollen eye.

"Are there any more questions before we begin?"

Mangle put her hand up.

"Yes Mangle," Bonnie asked plainly, although she sounded exhausted still, despite an hour having passed since her fight with Chica.

"Did she really call you a slut?"

"Yes...she did, anyone else?"

No one else raised their hand.

Bonnie was sitting in one of the Toys' rooms with Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica, Mangle, Balloon Boy and the Puppet, all situated around a table.

"Are you all willing to forgive Freddy?" Bonnie asked.

The Toys appeared to twist their heads left and right, trying to think of an answer. Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica leaned over the table and whispered to Toy Freddy and Mangle, who nodded in response. It was like that for a minute or so with different opinions being passed around.

Mangle then whispered something to Toy Freddy making him nod, he then whispered to the other two, who also nodded, therefore acknowledging what was now the group's decision.

Toy Freddy sighed as he pushed back his chair to stand up.

"I believe I can speak for the four of us, in our initial shock we were angry at Freddy, we were completely confused by the situation and I was disgusted by him."

"But...now we forgive him...we know Freddy since 1987, we don't hate him, we know he didn't cause it, and knowing Freddy he won't let it happen again."

"Besides, the last thing we need is to argue amongst ourselves while our enemies gather in strength," Toy Bonnie added, her tone was forgiving, yet stern at the same time.

"What about BB and the Puppet?" Toy Chica asked, turning to face them.

They had remained silent on their inner thoughts regarding Freddy until now.

Balloon Boy raised his head.

"I hated Freddy for allowing the Puppet to get hurt, but I'm sorry for hating him and I forgive him for what happened and for what he said to me."

He took hold of the Puppet's hand and squeezed it.

"I love her and what Toy Freddy said was right...I know Freddy, he has protected us and I am willing to see past his mistake...he didn't mean it and we shouldn't ignore the real enemy aka Nightmare Freddy."

"About what you Mari?" He asked, turning to face her, although he already knew what her opinion was.

"I don't hate Freddy, he isn't the cause for this...yes I was attacked and suffered injury as a result, but I don't blame him...as you all say Freddy isn't the enemy, he's family and he's done a good enough job as it to lead us," she said plainly. There was no hate or anger in her voice as she turned to face Bonnie.

"I don't need to forgive him, as there's nothing for me to forgive, besides the Purple Man and this Nightmare Freddy are the real enemies and we shouldn't lower our guard and fall apart."

Bonnie smiled.

"Thank you," she said, slumping back into her chair, she sighed, feeling a massive weight on her shoulders. Seeing that the weight of the whole world was on her counterpart's shoulders, Toy Bonnie got up and went over to hug her.

"Are you ok?" She asked, clearly concerned as her light blue interlocked with Bonnie's reddish purple.

"No, no I not, it's just Foxy and Chica...I cannot believe that we've split apart so quickly...it never used to be this way, I've never come to blows with Chica before...never," Bonnie replied, she started to sob with the feeling of failure creeping up her spine.

"There, there dear, I'm sure you'll all come together soon, they'll see sense," said Toy Bonnie cradling her older counterpart.

"They're smart enough aren't they?"

No...Chica is stubborn and Foxy won't forgive Freddy for letting Chica get hurt...neither of them will come to their senses soon...when things got serious back at the Pizzeria, Goldie would often step in and defuse the situation...now he's gone." Bonnie wept, now crying into Toy Bonnie's shoulder.

"Shhh, shhh, yes…Goldie was a good peace maker…after all, he prevented us from killing Puppet when she told us about putting the dead children's souls inside of us."

"Yeah…I remember that day fondly," Puppet said plainly, although it was done with a hint of sarcasm.

"Toy Chica, can you get us something to drink...would you like that Bonnie?" Toy Freddy asked, upon seeing Bonnie's immense distress. Bonnie nodded, whilst she continued to hug Toy Bonnie tightly.

"Can I stay here for a bit...until I've calmed down...please?" Bonnie asked, she felt like a child who was being cradled by a loving parent.

Well, after all Toy Bonnie did have a mothering nature, even though she was the younger of the two.

"You can stay as long as you need," Toy Bonnie replied, cradling Bonnie in her arms.

"Thank you," Bonnie whispered amidst her tears, she hated herself for not trying hard enough and that relations which had been so strong and had unravelled overnight.

Slowly, Puppet leaned across and whispered something to Balloon Boy, who nodded in agreement. They then rose from their seats and left the room without so much as saying a word.

"Where are you two going?" Mangle asked, eying them as they went.

"To see Mike and Jeremy," Balloon Boy answered, as he walked out of the door, following the Puppet.

_"I wonder why_?" Mangle thought, although she could guess why, but she didn't pursue, turning her attention back to Bonnie and the other Toys.

* * *

"So, Mike and Jeremy can you find it in your hearts to forgive Freddy?" Balloon Boy asked, sitting down at the kitchen table with his hands clasped together. Puppet was seated alongside him, together they had the compassion of a business team.

"I have thought about it...and after re-examining the whole incident, I will forgive Freddy, this was never his intention, he will learn from this," Mike replied, he took a fresh cup of coffee from Jeremy.

His blue eyes lowered themselves in sadness and reflection.

...it's a shame to hear about what happened between Bonnie and Chica though, they are or 'were' sisters to one another."

He chuckled to himself.

"Although they did like to argue with one another more, quite often in my day when I was nightguard."

"Well, there wasn't much to do once the business went under and the Pizzeria was left," Balloon Boy added.

"I agree with Mike, whilst Freddy isn't to blame, although telling us about his experience with Nightmare Freddy would have helped, but still we must push through as one unified group and forgive each other for our mistakes," Jeremy added, pouring black coffee from the coffee machine into a cup on the sideboard.

"I know that sounds very cline and all, but I thought that leaving that dam pizzeria would bring an end to everything and now look at us, still stuck in the past."

"We've been through worse, but then I suppose the damage was inflicted by an outsider, no one in the group helped Vincent directly or indirectly."

"I'll take a good guess that this is the first time one of those has happened, even if Freddy would move heaven and earth to stop it, one can argue that he helped his nightmare counterpart somewhat by not saying anything."

He then sighed, staring out of the kitchen window in blank space.

"Even through would be no reason to say anything…with you having believed that your attacker is dead."

He then turned back to face the others.

"But yes, in truth I was not really angry at him, in fact I regret having force him to sleep in the treehouse, isolated and open to attack."

"At least, he hasn't been attacked," Balloon Boy stated confidently.

"True, but then that means Vincent and Nightmare Freddy are on move somewhere," Mike replied, casting his gaze around the room.

"They know where we are…so does that mean they will try to attack us?" Puppet asked, as a look of worry crossed her face. "They may…wait…my house will get destroyed!" Jeremy remarked, his green eyes going wide, as an army of outcomes entered his way. "You agreed to accept whatever outcome befell us Jeremy, when you joined them."

"Although it would a tragedy if this place was to go, being ripped apart by Vincent's harpoons," Mike joked with a tone of full blown sarcasm.

Normally Jeremy would be the one with the sense of humor, but now Mike was on a roll and he wasn't stopping.

"I'll send him the grid reference to your house then, shall I," Jeremy remarked, hitting back.

"Without either house, we'll all be on the streets, we lost two homes, let's try not to lose this one, shall we?" Puppet enquired.

"Well, with that said, yes we're with you on Freddy, in fact you can go and tell him that he can go back inside," Jeremy said, making a mental list of stuff to save should his house ended getting destroyed by Vincent in the not so near future.

"Thank you very much guys, Bonnie and Freddy would be glad to hear that," Puppet stated, her eyes sparked with joy, happy that things were moving forward.

Then she got up to leave, Balloon Boy following close behind.

"Oh yes…"

Puppet turned round to face the two former nightguards.

"I'm glad that I didn't you kill you two."

"Your' saying that now…after roughly twenty-two to twenty-eight years of knowing us," Mike said, looking understandable surprised by the Puppet's words.

"We were thinking of killing us up until now...weren't you?" Jeremy asked as his nightguard senses returned.

Puppet gave them both a nervous smile.

"Well…a little."

"Puppet, you are coming?" Balloon Boy called from somewhere up ahead.

"Coming, bye guys," she said, before turning away and running off. That just left Mike and Jeremy speechless for a few moments.

"So, if she were to try and kill us right now, would we kill her?" Mike asked, speaking aloud. A for a good long while, both men thought it over, the chances and the outcomes which could arrive from them.

In the end, they reached one solid conclusion.

"Psychiatric hospital…and lots of shock treatment."

* * *

As they walked down the corridor towards the Toys' room to rejoin the others, the Puppet took hold of Balloon Boy's shoulders to stop him.

"Wait...I have an idea," she said, as the cogs in her head turned.

"What's that?" BB asked, turning to face her, curious to hear her idea.

"I want to speak with Chica...perhaps our similar experiences at the hands of Nightmare Freddy might help us find common ground, but I want to speak to her alone...can you distract Foxy for a bit?" she asked.

"Just keep him occupied for a while."

"And what will I get in return for keeping him occupied?" Balloon Boy asked raising his eyebrows in a 'suggestive' manner.

Puppet rolled her eyes.

"You're such a boy you know that, what you get depends on how well you do your job," she replied firmly, folding her arms. "Ok...but why do you want Foxy out of the picture?" Balloon Boy, giving her a confused look. "I think it would be better if I spoke to them individually...I don't want them influencing each other, I want them to be honest," Puppet stated.

"Oh...I see," Balloon Boy replied, as he put two and two together.

"You go and distract Foxy and then about five minutes later, I'll go and speak with Chica, how does that sound?" Puppet asked, laying a plan out.

"Great," Balloon Boy answered, punching his hand in air.

"Seems doable to me."

Puppet's eyes narrowed as she smiled.

"Then let's do this..."

* * *

Tap, tap, tap.

"Mmm...now would that be?" Foxy asked curiously, getting up from his chair, as Chica slowly drank the coffee he had made previously. She appeared to be staring off into the distance, lost in her thoughts which was quite understandable, with her wounds clearly visible to the naked eye.

Foxy opened the bedroom door wide to see Balloon Boy standing outside.

"Hi," he said, waving.

"Hello Balloon Boy," Foxy replied, waving his hook.

"Or is it BB?"

"I never really ask about that."

"I really don't mind, hey I was wondering...if you would like to play...pirates with me?" Balloon Boy asked, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Sure...do you have an eyes patch and a hook or a sword?" Foxy asked, rather eager.

"No," said Balloon boy, shaking his head.

Foxy smiled and patted Balloon Boy on the shoulder.

"Well don't worry laddie, come with me and we'll find you a hook and an eyepatch...Jeremy should have something from his childhood days," he said, taking Balloon Boy down the corridor by the hand.

* * *

From an unseen location Puppet watched, timing her intervention.

Within minutes she could hear Foxy and Balloon Boy out in the garden playing treasure hunt. Foxy would like those sort of actives, he performed such acts in his earlier days, when he was in his prime.

"Well...here goes nothing," she sighed, walking towards the door.

She knocked lightly on the door, a few seconds later Chica opened it.

"Oh...Puppet it's you...what are you doing here?" She asked, looking very confused as why she was here.

So far so good. Good thing the Puppet had thought of a cover story before knocking.

"I was looking for BB...have you seen him?" She asked, faking confusion as she shrugged her shoulders.

"He's outside with Foxy playing," Chica, pointing towards the garden. From the open bedroom window, the Puppet could see Foxy and Balloon Boy running about between the trees of Jeremy's garden.

"May I come in?" Puppet asked.

Chica, tilted her head to one side. "Of course, I see why not," she said, stepping aside to let the Puppet in.

"Thanks," Puppet replied, entering the room, its contents were somewhat...messy.

"I was tidying the place up after my...incident with Bonnie," Chica stated, sitting down.

"'I'll assume that you've heard about it?"

"Well word does travel fast these days," Puppet replied, chuckling lightly as she seated herself opposite to Chica. She then turned to the heart of the matter. "I want to talk to you about something," she said, fiddling with her fingers.

"Yes, and that is?" Chica asked.

The Puppet took a deep breath before speaking.

She said one word and one word only.

"Freddy."

Chica's gaze instantly darken, her hands slowly became to curl into fists. "Oh...," was all she said, plainly, but there was an undertone of annoyance, was she expecting a fight?

"Chica...You and I have gone through the same ordeal...and you can't hate Freddy forever," Puppet stated, putting on a serious face. "He knew though," Chica replied, maintaining her intense gaze.

"Chica...Freddy would never hurt you...he loves you...as does Bonnie, as does Foxy and in fact we all love you as a family," Puppet said, maintaining her tough expression. She hoped her words and body language would get through Chica's head. "He could have stopped and remembered...if he loves us which includes you, then he would have told us," Chica argued, with a harsh tone.

"Freddy forget amidst the chaos that followed and you know that's understandable."

She made gestures with her hands.

"Ok, none of us know exactly what happened in Freddy's dream when he first met Nightmare Freddy, but from Freddy's own words, he thought that he had killed him…but clearly Nightmare Freddy had faked his death."

Puppet stared deep into Chica's green eyes.

"Freddy wouldn't let something like this happen again...he's been with you since the very beginning Chica...you know him...better than you think right now."

"His inaction resulted in us getting hurt," she said, her tone was calm and collective, different from her serious tone used a few seconds earlier. "In a sense yes, I see your point, by not telling anyone he indirectly opened the door and let Nightmare Freddy in..."

"However, Nightmare Freddy chose us to target...Freddy was just the first...either way, he was coming for us, my wounds are the result of what he, Nightmare Freddy did to me."

Puppet pointed at Chica.

"And your wounds are the result of what Nightmare Freddy did to you, the bite marks, the scratches, the strangling, all of it are because of what he did...not Freddy."

Chica sighed tilting her head back and forth from side to side.

"I suffered just as you did...but I don't blame Freddy, I blame Nightmare Freddy, I blame the Purple Guy for this, all of it links back to them," Puppet stated. "I see your point, but I trusted Freddy with my safety, he's the leader," Chica replied, slowly folding her arms.

She wasn't as aggressive as she was with Bonnie or last night. "I understand your anger Chica, I do and trust me, I've been angry at so many people and for much longer, I know what that can do you and to those around you..."

"However, Freddy can't always be there to protect you Chica, and being a leader can be tough, you four have been through a lot...we all have, but you must all be on your guard," Puppet stated, it was obvious to her that one person cannot protect three people at the same time.

Puppet then reached across and grasped Chica's hands, stroking them. "Chica," Puppet began, staring deep into her eyes.

White dots meet green pupils.

"Please don't be consumed by your hatred, or by your anger...you know Freddy and he knows you...if you were in Freddy's current position what would you do?" Puppet asked.

"What would you do?"

"Well…if I were Freddy… I would try to regain that person's trust and do all I could to prevent it from happening again," Chica replied, and she said it all on impulse. She gasped in shock at her own words, while Puppet simply smiled.

"If that's what you would do, then don't you think Freddy deserves a chance to prove that as well...it's only fair," she said, tilting her head towards the treehouse. Chica lowered her head, arguing with herself. For a good while everything was silent, minus the sounds of Foxy and BB playing outside which drifted in through the open window.

Finally, Chica spoke as she sighed deeply.

"Can I be…allowed to think...for a while?" She asked softly, eyes downcast.

"Of course, Chica," Puppet replied.

"I'll take my leave now."

She got up, went over and hugged Chica, wrapping her arms around her neck, cradling her head. "I hope you make the right choice...you're a good person Chica...as is Bonnie, Foxy and of course Freddy."

She left and headed towards the door when Chica called out.

"Puppet."

Puppet turned round.

"Yes?" She asked.

Chica looked at her with a remorseful expression.

"Thanks...for stopping by."

The Puppet smiled.

"Anytime Chica, anytime."

She opened the door and left, leaving Chica alone with her thoughts.

_"Hopefully she'll reconsider and forgive Freddy, they need each other right now...we have bigger problems...now to find Foxy?" _

She headed towards the garden, where she found Foxy and Balloon Boy in the midst of a sword fight.

"Come on, you can hit harder, only the fiercest of pirates can enlist for my crew!" Foxy shouted, as he blocked and dogged BB's attacks.

Balloon Boy raised his wooden sword and brought it down on Foxy's head, only for Foxy to side-step and trip BB up. Balloon Boy rolled, turned and blocked Foxy's attack. He then side-stepped and knocked Foxy's wooden sword right out of his hands, causing it to land in the grass nearby. Foxy immediately held his hands up as a form of surrender as BB pointed his sword at his chest.

"Ha ha, you really do know how to fight as a pirate, you can join the crew anytime matey," he laughed.

"Hi Puppet," said Balloon Boy, waving at her as she stepped outside.

"Arrr, now here comes a young lady to see her sailor triumphant," Foxy added, as Puppet approached.

"My lady I present to you your champion of the high seas," he said pushing Balloon Boy forward.

"Well I see he is most gifted in the ways of the combat, a fine gentleman to keep me safe, from infamous villains such as Foxy Redbread," The Puppet commented, laughing at the situation.

"He may yet my dear," Foxy laughed heartily.

Puppet winked at Balloon Boy, signalling him to make his departure. "Thanks for all the fun Foxy, I'll be in the kitchen if you have need of me...see you soon Puppet I'm gotta get a snack, maybe a brownie," he said, running off.

Now that they were alone, Puppet made her move.

"Foxy...may I speak with you in private?" She asked, approaching him.

"Sure...what's on your mind Puppet?" He asked, returning the question.

"It's about…Freddy," Puppet stated.

Foxy appeared to go tense and his gaze darken momentarily.

"Oh...that was unexpected," he stated.

"I think I can change your mind," Puppet added cheerfully.

"Did you speak to Chica about this?" He asked, staring at her.

He didn't hold an angry expression, but rather one of genuine interest.

Puppet smiled

"Yes, and I would say I made an impact."

Foxy raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well...I'm impressed if you did that...well, we might as well talk about it."

He took her by the arm.

"Come, let's walk," he said and Puppet eagerly followed.

"I know how you feel towards Freddy and I don't blame you, someone you trusted did create the conditions even though it was never their intent which allowed someone you loved to get hurt," Puppet said as her eyes scanned the numerous types of flowers which lined Jeremy's garden.

"Yes...that's where I stand, I still can't understand why Freddy couldn't remember...even though I've known him for thirty-five years," Foxy argued as they walked among the trees. He sighed, his hook hand hung loosely by his side.

"I've known Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Goldie since the very beginning and even now I struggle to understand them completely."

"You'll never know anyone inside out, but you may know a lot," Puppet stated, to her that was commonplace in all human relations.

"You know Freddy isn't one to hurt people with vicious intent...unlike a certain counterpart of his," she added.

The reference to Nightmare Freddy made Foxy clenched his fist as his eyes narrowed in sudden rage.

"I'll kill that bastard should we ever cross paths again," he muttered softly, although it was clear there was immense raw anger in his voice.

"I would join you, that psycho has it coming, but Nightmare Freddy was the one who inflicted those wounds on Chica, including me and Freddy...he seems to be banking on us being inactive and I would guess rightly that he aims to break us up," Puppet argued, taking hold of Foxy's hand to calm him down.

"What he said last night when he was possessing Chica, seems to confirm that is his goal and he properly isn't the only Nightmare out there."

"I see what you mean, and you are properly right, still how could Freddy just forgot, surely the seriousness of his encounter and the fact that bite marks appeared on your legs would cause his memory to stir," Foxy stated, pointing towards the treehouse which over towered nearly everything in the whole garden.

"I must admit that the whole dream experience seemed a little odd."

"I see your point Foxy, but remember that a lot has happened recently, no sooner had we woken up we were suddenly attacked by Vincent, crashed landed and then my near death experience as well as our exhaustion catching up with us once we reached Jeremy's...even in the midst of chaos one can forgot many things...even things that hold great significance," Puppet replied.

"I will admit this to you Puppet...I do want to forgive Freddy, but the fact that Chica was hurt and it was on his watch, remains an issue for me...I know Freddy's a good man...but this..."

Foxy lowered his head in sadness.

"You've never gone through this before?" Puppet asked, grasping his hand for comfort. "Aye...this is different...very different, we've always struck together as a unit of five, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, me and Goldie," Foxy answered, he sounded sad, as it was painful to look into the past.

"Now that unity is damaged," Puppet stated, to which Foxy nodded his head.

"Aye lassie, I'm afraid so...critically damaged one might say."

"But I bet you and Freddy would really like to kill Nightmare Freddy, knowing Freddy he wouldn't let this happen again...Foxy...Freddy is on your side...he loves you, Bonnie and Chica...and you know he isn't one to break his promises or harm those who he cares about."

Puppet then pointed towards the treehouse.

"If he were to ask you for a second chance...would you give him it...would you forgive him?" she asked. Foxy appeared to be in deep thought, for a moment he was completely still. "Perhaps...your right, I do know Freddy, talking to him about the issue would be best...and we do have other priories," he commented.

He turned back to face her.

"But I want to speak with Chica first...it's better for us to confront Freddy together, should we decide to do so."

"It's ok, I understand you need to talk to Chica about this," Puppet hugged Foxy, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"If you two ever need to talk…I'm here."

"Aww, thanks dear, this little talk with you has made me reconsider Freddy's behavior."

"I know it's your decision to make, but if I were in your position, I would forgive Freddy, he's a good person, there are certain people out there, who wish to commit greater harm," Puppet replied.

"I hope you make the right choice."

"As do I Puppet, as do I," said Foxy smiling as he ruffled her hair, making Puppet smile back…it was all good.

* * *

Within a few minutes, Puppet was skipping down the corridor towards the kitchen, feeling rather pleased with herself. Foxy had gone to find Chica, deciding to bring this matter to an end, which was good news and therefore hopefully good news for everyone else.

It was then Balloon Boy came round the corner, holding a half-eaten brownie.

"So, how did the talk with Foxy go, judging by your behavior it went pretty well I guess," he said, scanning her body language. "Yeah, it did, hopefully things will work out and they'll get back together," Puppet replied, smiling as she walked by with a spring in her step.

"What about Springtrap and Goldie?" Balloon Boy asked. That comment made Puppet stop dead in her tracks.

"Well...that's a different matter, Springtrap isn't ready to cooperate and we haven't got the slightest clue where Goldie went...we'll find him, let's just deal with one problem at a time."

She smiled at Balloon Boy, who was munching on his brownie.

"Do you want to play that car racing game again on Jeremy's Xbox?" She asked, stepping forward, but Balloon Boy held his arm out to stop her and cleared his throat. "You said, I would get something depending on my performance...well...how did I do?" He asked, he wasn't going to let the issue go until he got an answer.

"Balloon Boy, you were amazing, you played your part brilliantly," Puppet replied happily.

"So, what's my reward?" Balloon Boy asked, his eyes were bursting with excitement.

"Close your eyes," Puppet ordered, putting in a mischievous grin.

Balloon Boy did so.

_"Please be a kiss, please be a kiss," _he begged.

He felt the Puppet's hand pat him on the shoulder.

"Well done BB, I'm proud of you," she said.

And with that said, she merely side-stepped him and headed off down the corridor. "What?" Balloon Boy asked, opening his eyes, feeling very confused as to what had just happened.

"Wait Puppet, that's it, a pat on the back..."

He turned and ran after her.

"I DISTRACTED FOXY FOR YOU AND ALL I GET IS A PAT, I THOUGHT YOU'D BE MORE GENEROUS! He shouted, his footsteps pounding the floorboards. Although the Puppet wore a calm face, she was laughing her head off on the inside.

Balloon Boy, upon catching up with her, grabbed Puppet by her good shoulder and stopped her.

"That cannot be the reward, your hiding something..."

He stopped to think.

"Unless your one of those girls who likes to tease boys, just to see how far they would go to earn her affection-"

The Puppet suddenly turned round, grabbed BB by the shoulders and pushed him up against the wall in a very dominant manner. "Yes...I am one of those girls...," she smiled...it looked kind of psychotic if you could put it nicely.

Before Balloon Boy could say anything, Puppet leaned forward, catching her lips in his.

Balloon Boy froze...everything stopped...time came to a sudden halt...his first kiss.

Or rather in fact it was 'their' first kiss.

He felt his arms fall by his side, as the Puppet wrapped her arms around him. He could live with this...live in this moment forever...with Mari.

To him the kiss felt like years...when it had actually been for five seconds. Puppet then pulled away, with Balloon Boy staring off into the distance.

"Hello, BB," she said, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Come in planet BB...hello."

Then Balloon Boy then seemed to return to reality, snapping out of his trance. "Good your back, well come on, the lounge is this way," Puppet stated, walking off in its direction.

But Balloon Boy, didn't follow, but rather remained where he was standing.

"BB, come on, you love racing cars."

Balloon Boy turned to face her.

"That...was...amazing," he said, clearly taken back by the last few seconds.

"Well there's a first time for everything, Puppet replied, smiling.

"Oh, by the way you got...some...black stuff on your...lips."

Balloon Boy put his hand to his mouth, to feel a sticky substance.

When he pulled his hand away, he saw the colour black...the same colour as the Puppet's lips.

His flimsy attempts to rub it away caused the Puppet to giggle madly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about my lips!"

For the rest of the day, everyone remained calm and relaxed despite what had occurred last night.

Foxy and Chica, were discussing the issue surrounding Freddy in their room and Springtrap had remained within his room throughout the evening. Apart from coming down to get his dinner and taking it upstairs where he would eat alone, he shared no interaction with the others and of course Freddy was still in the treehouse outside...thinking long and hard on how to defeat Nightmare Freddy.

Overall, the tense atmosphere that had existed at breakfast had mostly died down...expect there was one issue...where was Goldie?

For he hadn't been seen since last night, vanishing into the streets of Chicago.

* * *

_Several hours later..._

Clang...clang...clang...clang...clang.

Goldie kicked an empty, opened and rusted can down the crowded streets of Chicago.

Even though it was approaching sunset, the city of Chicago pulsed with activity and movement. Yet amidst all of this, Goldie could only ever think about Springtrap...nothing else in the world mattered anymore.

_"I'm sorry...I will redeem myself...but you left me...just like I left you...stupid Spring doesn't understand the meaning of the word sorry...so immature that fucking idiot...I HATE HIM...no...no...no...I can't hate him...I care for him...still...after all these years."_

He gripped his head, as his mind underwent another breakdown, with long forgotten memories surging towards the surface.

He could hear screaming...the screams of a crying child.

_"NO, NO, NO, NO, I DON'T WANNA GO IN HIS MOUTH!"_

_"Come on boys, he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss!"_

_"AAHHHHHHHHH!"_

Then a never-ending army of memories came, each one was a direct assault on his psyche.

_"Then there was the bite of 87, yeah it's amazing that the human body can live without the fontal lobe."_

_"Tell us about your past Goldie, I bet you were a great performer?"_

_"Freddy...maybe another time, I'm tired."_

_"Oh, please tell us?" _

_"Chica...it's a story with some dark elements...now's not the time to tell."_

_"The reason you left me was simply because you couldn't face the reality of our situation."_

_"Your selfish Goldie...do you know that."_

_"Why did you never tell me about Springtrap...you two seem way too close to be mere co-workers."_

_"I sense so much guilt...lots and lots of guilt."_

_"You can't outrun the past Goldie, it's catching up with you, in fact it's towering over you."_

_"Springtrap will hate you forever...he'll never forgive you when he finds out...never."_

_"You lied to us about your origins in order to protect us."_

_"Time for the main attraction, the story must be told, time for a chain reaction that never gets old, some guys get satisfaction breaking the mould, some guys are just distractions, some guys are just gold." _

_"Who caused your_ _pizzeria to close Goldie?"_

_"I...I don't know Freddy...it's been a long time since it happened."_

_"It's me...me...me...me!"_

_"Your broken and I'll put you back together...we're still your friends."_

"_Do you still believe that?"_

Goldie knew he was currently undergoing another panic attack, avoiding the local populace he sought shelter down an alleyway.

He hid among the trashed cardboard boxes, trying to calm himself down and piece his mind back together into that of a calm state.

_"I'm a failure...a failure...a failure...I've betrayed people...I've hurt people...I'm alone...no one loves me...I deserve to be left alone...I'm scared of who I am...I'm just a relic of former glory...I'm just gold and nothing more."_

Several rumbles of thunder were heard overhead, Goldie looked up to see storm clouds rolling in from above...it would be a stormy night, not peaceful. He curled up in one of the cardboard boxes, to keep himself dry from the oncoming rain.

Within minutes, rain drops started to fall and soon Chicago quickly become a full-on monsoon, amidst the intense flashes of furious lighting and the lion roars of thunder.

_It was a fierce storm alright, but it was only the herald of what was it actually hit Chicago…and the Fazbears._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like the idea of Balloon Boy X Puppet, although I will state thoroughly that there will be no M rated stuff, it's a childhood romance so there are limits and it's more of a emotional relationship.  
With that said, storm clouds are gathering...I'll leave it to your respective imaginations to guess what may follow.
> 
> Please review, I strongly appreciate feedback. :-)


	14. Reunions and the Death of Innocence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 14, I hope that you guys enjoy, a major thank you to those who have taken an interest so far.  
Things are slowly coming together in this one, although this is another long chapter.  
Also, this chapter features 'I Can't Decide' by The Scissor Sisters, you'll soon see why. ;-)

** Reunions and the Death of Innocence. **

** Chapter 14. **

**"Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven."**

**Tryon Edwards **

_About 50 miles south of Chicago_

On a small dim lit country road out in the middle of nowhere, there was only one moving object.

In the pitch blackness, no one would ever consider driving down a road with unreadable signs or no overhanging lights...all expect for one person.

Nightmare Freddy turned the steering wheel left to right, as the road sharply turned in different directions, sometimes it appeared to do both at once. He maintained a steady pressure on the accelerator, to crash the car now would cost time...time which he could ill afford. There was a reason why he had chosen this particular road, it was isolated from the highway, no one used it, unless they really had to. He was the only person for miles around, on a small road, passing through tall pine wood forests and old abandoned hamlets.

He briefly checked his watch tracker.

According to its' readings, he and Vincent were about 2 miles away from each other. Nightmare Freddy scanned the surrounding area, no lights, nothing to indicate Vincent's position. _"Where are you?" _He thought, as the car rocked from side to side due to the road's endless mine field of potholes.

He checked the watch tracker again, now it read 1.8 miles. Again, still no sign of Vincent's airship, all Nightmare Freddy could see was the shadowy outlines of trees, fences, houses and road signs now long since outdated.

1.7...1.6...1.5.

_"Where this bloodily airship of yours, God dam it give me a sign,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, his eyes searching for anything which seemed out of place.

Then his watch beeped, with a text on display.

It was from Vincent.

"When you clear the next wood, look to your right, you'll see me in a field next to an abandoned farmstead."

_"Thanks for the update,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, putting more pressure on the accelerator.

He drove through the last forest between him and his destination. The twisted, mangled branches of the overhanging trees looked like the sorts of monsters that belonged in the nightmares of children. Nightmare Freddy smiled at the thought, he was that sort of monster. Upon emerging from the thick line of trees, he saw the field which was stated in Vincent's message. And there in the centre was the airship, hovering just above the ground, with its' outside lights on.

Man, that was a big airship.

_"Could you make it any more obvious,"_ Nightmare Freddy laughed.

He turned onto the field and headed towards the ship.

_"I wonder if they'll hold a celebration party for me," _he thought, bringing the car a halt and removing the keys from the ignition.

He stepped out, the cool night air brushed against his skin amidst the low humming noise from the airship's four turbine engines. A rope ladder had already been thrown out, enabling Nightmare Freddy to climb up towards the hatch entrance. He pulled on the hatch handle, opened the hatch and climbed inside. Or rather he pulled on the hatch handle, opened it and then was swiftly grabbed by several pairs of hands…before being pulled inside.

When he lifted his head up, he came face to face with Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica and of course Nightmare Foxy. Vincent Afton, it appeared was sitting on a swirl chair in the centre of the airship's living compartment.

_"Oh N-Freddy, I've missed you so much!"_ Nightmare Bonnie squealed, hugging Nightmare Freddy so tightly that he couldn't breathe.

_"Hi...N-Bonnie...nice to...meet...you...too...now get...off of me!"_ Nightmare Freddy gasped, trying to break free from Nightmare Bonnie's iron like grip. _"It's been a long time matey, good to see you in the flesh,"_ Nightmare Foxy commented, ruffling Nightmare Freddy's reddish-brown hair.

_"Now we are all reunited,"_ Nightmare Chica added, hugging Nightmare Freddy as well. The resulting scene was Nightmare Freddy being swanned by Nightmares Chica and Bonnie with Nightmare Foxy just looking amused as hell with Vincent raising his eyebrows as if to say.

'Take it somewhere else please'.

"_My God, your hair is still soft after all these years,"_ Nightmare Bonnie whispered, stroking his hair.

Vincent wolf whistled, calling them to attention. "Come on now, let the lovebirds enjoy their moment." He then narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming serious.

"Unless we have more important things to discuss."

_"First things first, do you know about the rift between Goldie and Springtrap?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, finally breaking free of Nightmare Bonnie's and Nightmare Chica's grip. "Yes...that was a beautiful moment, besides killing the child of course, but Springtrap's reaction to Goldie's blank expression, as he was dragged off stage...it was priceless," Vincent replied, fiddling with a knife in hands as he spoke.

_"Yes, I bet it was," _said Nightmare Freddy, surveying his surroundings.

_"Well apparently, Goldie's never told anyone about it, you can imagine what explosive damage that'll do once it's out in the open."_

_"I sense a major confrontation coming up!"_ Nightmare Bonnie sang, her purplish blue eyes lighting up with excitement. _"But what I did with Chica will have an even bigger impact,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, with his usual sadistic smile.

"Let me guess...you dragged her through hell...and Freddy got the blame?" Vincent asked, leaning forward, as his eyes glinted with mischief.

_"Oh yes, she was in a right state as I bashed her, smashed her, slashed her, bit her, strangled her, broke her, oh I can do many things to my victim, but I will always snap them in half both physically and psychologically,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered, he bowed as one would do upon receiving congratulations for an impressive feat.

It was then that he noticed several endoskeletons walk pass, all holding what appeared to be fuel containers…and matches.

"_Where are they're going exactly_?" Nightmare Chica asked, her eagle like eyes, surveying their movements as the endoskeletons headed towards the hatchway. "To destroy the car," Vincent answered swiftly, to him it was pretty what they were going to do. "We cannot afford to leave any evidence behind, Nightmare Freddy here, would have most likely killed someone to get that car-"

"_Correct,"_ the Nightmare in question answered with a tone of satisfaction.

Vincent nonetheless continued. "And the police will be searching for it, we don't need them to be on our trail, so by burning it, any evidence would be taken by the flames." He smiled, there was a glint of confidence in his eyes. "When you've done the things that I have done, you cannot afford to make even the simplest of mistakes."

He put his hands to the back of his head and leaned back in a display of superiority. "Why do you think I am still alive, when I should be in the electric chair."

"_You're a survivor, you've played the game well,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered, she then smiled, her purplish blue eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"_I have much to learn from you."_

"Indeed, in fact here's lesson number one, actions have conquences, but moving back to what Nightmare Freddy was saying about attacking Chica and having Freddy get the blame," Vincent replied, gesturing in his direction. Nightmare Freddy stepped forward. "_Yes, as I was saying, Chica is now a walking train wreck and Freddy is most likely isolated, so the Fazbear family's unity has been shaken."_

_"However,"_ his voice suddenly went all dark and serious. _"Goldie and Foxy interfered and drove me off…It would appear that Goldie also has the power to enter dreams...did you know about this?"_ he asked. Vincent leaned further forward, confused as to what Nightmare Freddy had just told him. "No...I never knew he had powers...I've never seen him use them for a start," he replied.

_"Well either way, I properly got the result I wanted, plus I possessed Chica and told everyone how I was able to get to them due to Freddy not telling them about his encounter with me,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, straightening his top hat and bow tie. "_Although to be fair to him, I did make it look like he had killed me, but that was to maintain the element of surprise for further use."_

_"Your code of conduct is very stylish N-Freddy...when do I get a go,"_ Nightmare Chica moaned, scratching her claws along the ship's interior, making a high pitch sound which disturbed the endoskeletons, making them cover their metal ears. _"When we reach our destination lassie, but if I could make one small suggestion?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked.

"And that is?" Vincent asked, turning and twisting the knife in his hand. _"We get to kill them...with our own methods...and I consider my style to be a special feature, that's if they still bloodily conscious at that point."_

"Sure...anything you want N-Foxy, we wish to bring them down, why...well because it's fun and it is much more fun now with them having lost the business, I remember when they were a big hit, the kids loved them, every single generation that was brought on was adored, the Golden Brothers, the Originals, and even the Toys to some extent," Vincent muttered, casting his mind back to older days.

He then turned to face them.

"Although, my reason for wanting to destroy the Fazbears, is much more…well...you four already know."

He appeared to look withdrawn. "Life beforehand…it is too foggy for me to recall properly," he shook his head, dismissing his thoughts "How's the child...you know, the boy who Fredbear bit?"

"Is he behaving well?"

_"He's fine Vincent, he is being watched by you know who...they're keeping him...'company' in that house of his,"_ Nightmare Bonnie answered, her voice ripped with sarcasm.

_"As long as he reminds where he is, than so do we."_

_"And that reminds me Vincent, I think it's time we completed the chain,"_ said Nightmare Freddy, stepping forward. Suddenly there was a massive 'VOOM!', a loud swooshing sound ripped through the air. All four Nightmares jumped into a protective stance, narrowing their eyes in a fierce panic, whilst they bared their teeth and claws, ready to strike, even though there was no actual danger.

Vincent's relaxed stance symbolized that point.

"That's just the car exploding due to the fire set by the endoskeletons," he muttered, seeing no reason to react. Then the endoskeletons emerged from the hatchway, closing it shut behind them, gone were the fuel containers and boxes of matches. Seeing that there was no immediate danger, Nightmare Freddy dropped out of his protective stance. "Anyway, I was suggesting we should bring more muscle for the upcoming fight."

The other three Nightmares all turned to look at him, their eyes lighting up with delight as the realization of what he was suggesting hit them. "Hold that thought for a second," Vincent replied, he double clicked his fingers, catching the attention of the endoskeleton in the cockpit.

"Full speed for Chicago now, make no delay," he ordered.

The engines started to increase in sound and power, as the airship lifted itself up into the sky, all the while an abandoned car was overcome with waves of ravenous flames which proceeded to burn the surrounding area to utter cinder. "You were saying?" Vincent asked, leaning back in his chair as the airship sored through the clouds, as if it was heading towards the very stars themselves.

_"Well, think about it, there's Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Goldie...and then there's me, N-Bonnie, N-Chica and N-Foxy...what about Fredbear...isn't it time to level the playing field,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, gesturing his hands to the other Nightmares.

_"We'll have an advantage with him on our side."_

Vincent appeared to go into deep thought, considering the possibility.

"Nightmare Fredbear...we'll need a subject for the body...how about Goldie himself, not only will we gain a new member, but they'll also lose one and one with a lot of experience," he muttered. _"I know where they are in Chicago, just fly us there and I'll take you to them,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, looking more than edger to return and enact some personal payback for his defeat.

_"Then if that's the case, we'll need to speak with Nightmare Fredbear himself,"_ said Nightmare Chica. "There's a bed in the back, which you can go and lie down on, just make it quick though, we need to get ready, the operation I'll be performing will require high levels of attention...plus."

Vincent looked up at the Nightmares, his expression was now serious, they needed to listen.

"I'll need you four to not only seize him, but to also protect me, don't expect the others to sit back and do nothing, when they know that we've taken Goldie, they'll come after us."

_"Well...let's not make his 'disappearance' suspicious...and who knows, perhaps events in Chicago created by the potential rift between Freddy and Chica will have made things easier for us," _Nightmare Bonnie commented. _"More likely made easier by the potential rift between Goldie and Springtrap to be completely honest," _Nightmare Freddy added

_"Perhaps matey, but either way, they're walking the plank straight to the gates of hell__!__"_ Nightmare Foxy exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

_"And then we'll be there as they burn, burning in a fire, dying as the flames consumes them, we'll tear them apart, break them completely and then when the souls of the children possess something else, we'll kill that too, again and again and again, until there's nothing left!"_ Nightmare Chica yelled, bashing her fists against the airship's interior wall, every time she did the overhead lights flickered on and off.

"Please, don't do that," Vincent ordered, narrowing his eyes in disapproval.

"Anyway...do you all remember the deal we made before the operations?" He asked, turning his gaze to the others. _"Aye laddie...we remember, ironically we have very similar goals you and I, we will devour their souls whole as the light fades away from their eyes,"_ Nightmare Foxy exclaimed. "Good, now that we understand the past, we can now move onto the future, which the Fazabears won't have should we succeed," Vincent replied, turning round in his chair.

"You!" He bellowed at one of the endoskeletons, making it come to attention.

_"Yes sir?" _It asked nervously.

"How far until Chicago?" Vincent asked. The endoskeleton stood still as it processed the data. _"About five to six hours, depending on our speed."_

"Good, very good," Vincent replied with a smug smile as he continued to twist the knife in his hands.

He turned round to face the others.

"I suggest you four rest, best save your strength for tomorrow, I'll be off to sleep, do what you want but don't mess with anything and leave the endoskeletons alone," he stated. _"Fine with me, I have better things to do,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied. _"Hey N-Freddy can I see what you did to Chica?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked. _"Can I, can I?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, jumping up and down in excitement. _"We could all learn something from your encounters with the enemy matey,"_ Nightmare Foxy stated.

The three of them placed her hands onto Nightmare Freddy's head and instantly appeared to go into some sort of trance.

Vincent just stared.

They were just standing there, eyes closed, not moving, smiling obliviously...it just looked strange. Vincent sighed, getting out of his chair and heading towards the cockpit for a final check to see if everything was working properly. Then the four Nightmares dropped out of their collective trance.

_"Wow, you really did beat Chica to the point of death...Goldie has a history, I loved the part where you strangled him," _said Nightmare Bonnie, smiling. _"I wanna kill the Puppet!" _Nightmare Chica demanded. _"Why Freddy couldn't recall his encounter with you is beyond me!" _Nightmare Foxy exclaimed.

_"Well do you guys have any particular targets?" _Nightmare Freddy asked, watching their reactions.

_"I want Foxy, I would like to skin him alive...slowly and painfully," _Nightmare Chica hissed, dragging her claws again across the airship's interior walls.

_"I want Chica, she's pretty, I wonder what she looks like with nothing on!" _Nightmare Foxy muttered, dragging his hook across his neck. _"I want Freddy, he's tough, but soft on the inside, I would like to cut him open, tear his insides out and look into his dying eyes as I pull his heart out!" _Nightmare Bonnie, shouted, pulling on her hair to symbolize her brutality.

_"And you N-Freddy?"_ She asked, turning to face him.

_"Bonnie...Freddy loves Bonnie, I want to...'have my own way' with Bonnie, but I want Freddy to watch, I want him to see me kill her, right before his eyes," _Nightmare Freddy replied smoothly, his mind filling with dark sexual thoughts. _"What about the Toys or Springtrap?" _Nightmare Foxy asked. _"Easy, we do the same thing to them, they are young and immature, and as for Springtrap...well," _Nightmare Freddy's eyes glowed with delight. _"We'll just make him one of us...just like Goldie."_

_"And what of Balloon Boy and the Puppet?" _Nightmare Bonnie asked.

_"We'll strangle the Puppet with her own strings, while Balloon Boy is torn apart by your Freddy heads," _Nightmare Chica replied. _"And we can break Jeremy's and Mike's bones, before stuffing them inside a suit and watching them bleed to death, screaming in absolute agony for help," _Nightmare Foxy added, his voice filled with sadistic joy.

_"This is gonna be so much fun, it's just like Christmas!" _Nightmare Bonnie giggled.

Nightmare Freddy, turned to face Nightmare Chica.

_"N-Chica, you go and inform Nightmare Fredbear about our upcoming proposal, I'm sure he wouldn't miss an opportunity such as this."_

_"And what of the others?" s_he asked curiously. Nightmare Freddy thought for a moment. _"Tell the little one to maintain his distance and watch from afar...as for the other one, just tell him that everything is going according to plan."_

Nightmare Freddy paused to think.

"_Oh yes, tell the other three to keep their eye on the child, we don't want him breaking our__'arrangement'." _Nightmare Chica nodded in response, before turning away and heading towards the back, where the bed was. _"You two can do what you like to pass the time, I'm off to find Vincent, I wish to discuss the various stages of this operation," _said Nightmare Freddy, walking off down the corridor, passing endless numbers of endoskeletons.

_"And why are you so suddenly interested?" _Nightmare Foxy shouted.

_"It's a fantastic thing is science, wouldn't you agree with all that it's achieved," _Nightmare Freddy called back.

_"Yes," _Nightmare Foxy muttered under his breath.

_"I suppose it is, when one considers the possibilities."_

* * *

_"Welcome kids to Fredbear's Family Diner, home to fun and adventure."_

_"Well SpringBonnie, what song have we got for today?"_

_"Oh it's one of your favourites kids, it's the Humpey De Dumpty song, come on let's sing along."_

_"YAAAAA!"_

_"Who wants to win a free plushie!" _

_"ME, ME, ME, ME!"_

_"I hope this never ends Springs."_

_"Me too Goldie."_

_Old memories...painful memories...sad memories._

Springtrap sat on the edge of the bed, with his head in his hands, listening to the raging storm outside. The rain mixed with the ferocious wind lashed against the windows, making them rattle. He could hear the sounds of tree branches breaking, the sound of lighting flashing often within seconds of each other and the unforgettable sound of rumbling thunder, that roared like a lion.

_"I hate him, he left me for no good reason."_

_"But he wants to right his wrongs, he's changed and you know it."_

_"No, he deserves whatever fate befalls him."_

_"You may regret saying that."_

His inner angels and demons fought for supremacy...he couldn't think straight.

_"Why is there all this chaos?" _

_"Because you truly don't hate Goldie."_

_"LAIR!"_

_"Then why did you save him on the airship...when you could have let him fall to his death?"_

_"You were happy to see him afterwards."_

His demons fell silent.

_"He's somewhere out there, alone, cold, scared, he needs you like you need him."_

_"I don't need anyone, I'm on my own."_

_"You know that isn't true."_

_"He left himself."_

_"Because you forced him to, when you hit him."_

_"The past hurts so much."_

_"You're on the edge of realising something."_

_"What?"_

_"He leaves you when you need him and now you've left him when he needed you...you two are more alike then you would like to admit."_

_"LAIR, NEVER, HE DESERVES TO BE ALONE!"_

Springtrap reached into his pockets, when he felt something in one of them. He slowly pulled out what appeared to be a small piece of folded paper. Unfolding it to its full size revealed a photo...of him and Goldie. It had been taken during the diner's grand opening, showing him and Goldie on stage surrounded by children, with the Diner's owner, Freddy Fredbear himself between them both, giving the camera the double thumbs up.

Springtrap remembered his favourite words.

_"You two are my greatest gifts to children." _They all looked so happy, at the bottom of the picture was the words 4/1/74, the first of April 1974, the diner's opening day.

Springtrap ran his finger over their faces.

_"Happy...days...thee happiest day."_

Then he noticed wet marks on the picture and putting his hand to his face, he realised that he was crying. _"You want a return to the good old days." _He angrily wiped away the tears.

_"I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM!"_

Springtrap turned to face the window.

He got up and walked over.

He opened it, letting in all the wind and rain, which caused the whole room to rattle. Holding the picture, he slowly held his hand out of the window, the wind was raging, making the picture flab and fold uncontrollably. _"I DON'T NEED YOU GOLDIE, I DON'T NEED ANYONE...I'VE BEEN ALONE FOR A VERY LONG TIME...I'M USED TO IT!"_

He narrowed his eyes.

_"You know if you can make a child smile, it'll brighten up their entire day."_

_"STOP IT!"_

_"We all owe our lives to Springtrap."_

_"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"_

_"I will do whatever it takes to regain your trust and love, I will spend forever with you to make things right, be the family member you deserved, make up for those lost thirty seven years."_

_"LEAVE ME ALONE!"_

_"Protect your family, for the Purple Man has come a knocking."_

_"I HAVE NO FAMILY!"_

And with that he let go of the picture.

It floated in the wind, Springtrap watched as the picture hovered in the air. Intense flashes of lighting illuminated the picture, making the eyes glow. _"I still care for you Spring and I'm sorry for what happened." _The lighting flashed again, hitting a nearby tree and making it catch fire, the same tree which the picture was floating towards.

_"I want to make things right between us Spring." _Within in instant, Springtrap reached out and grabbed the picture, pulled it inside and slammed the window shut.

He first realised two things:

One, he was breathing heavily.

Two, he was holding the picture very close to his chest, like it was a item of great importance.

_"You can't hate him, you can't let go of Goldie, no matter how hard you try...you care for him and you know that he cares for you too," _said his conscious. Springtrap slowly slid down to the floor, hugging his knees. He looked at the picture which was now crumbled and creased.

Amidst the pounding rain outside, he finally admitted the truth.

_"I can't let him go."_

* * *

The next day.

Freddy stirred in his sleeping bag, opening his eyes, he found the treehouse to be...in a relative stable condition. Obviously it was made to stand against severe storms, one of which appeared to have blown itself out in the early morning.

"Odd...normally a storm that big and loud would have woken me up, more than once," he muttered, surveying his surroundings.

The insides of the treehouse, which was just one big room with a table, a couple of chairs, a few windows and a place to sleep, showed no signs of damage. _"I bet it's different outside,"_ Freddy thought, unzipping his sleeping bag.

He stood up, walked over to the door and unlocked it. When he opened it, he saw pretty much what he expected to see.

The storm had caused several trees to fall over in the streets, it's winds having torn them away from their roots. Fences had also be blown over, allowing neighbours' dogs to run over one another's gardens. Jeremy's house looked fine, nothing had disappeared, although most of his windows were covered up by a blanket of leaves.

"Everything looks ok, the city will recover," said Freddy, observing several emergency crews, already on scene and issuing repairs along the street. Satisfied with what he saw, Freddy closed the door and sat down by the table. He leaned back, putting his feet up...thinking...thinking long and hard like he had been doing last night.

Thinking of how to defeat the Purple Guy as well as Nightmare Freddy. _"Vincent did something, he created them...somehow, he wants to ruin us...Nightmare Freddy can control dreams...but those are my dreams, I'm meant to be in control."_

He closed his eyes, leaning further back.

_"Perhaps there's a way to take back control."_

He hated Nightmare Freddy, he also hated Vincent, but he hated Nightmare Freddy even more for recent events, he had attacked the Puppet and Chica and Freddy wouldn't let him get away with it. _"Now that I know how he works...perhaps I could use it against him."_

Previously, he didn't know whether Nightmare Freddy was a spiritual creature, that existed in another dimension and could reach out to people in their dreams. This would be possible with Freddy and the others having only ever met Nightmare Freddy in their dreams. Yet what had happened two night with Chica being possessed changed all that, for Nightmare Freddy was an actual person in the flesh, somewhere in the world and possessed the power to enter people's dreams and control them...it would appear that nothing was beyond his reach.

Freddy had really hoped it was the former, because the latter would make Nightmare Freddy a real living threat.

Which unfortunately was true.

Worse still were his thoughts about the other Nightmares, Freddy had never meet them, but he knew that if there were four to five Nightmares, then things would take a serious turn for the worst. _"Four or five Nightmares can harm four to five people at the same time, or gang up on one at once."_

What Freddy feared the most however was the fact that he didn't know where Vincent or Nightmare Freddy were...far away, or very close by?

If so, when would they strike and who?

All of those questions were buzzing around in his head, with questions producing more questions not answers. Then there was a knock on the door, bringing him out of his thought bubble.

"Who is it?" he called.

"Hello Freddy, it's me Bonnie, I brought you breakfast, sorry it's toast and jam...it was all Jeremy could make for today, we're running low on supplies," she replied, sounding cheerful.

"Come in, the door's open."

* * *

_A several minutes earlier._

Bonnie yawned and stretched as she sat upright. Her sleep had gone uninterrupted, despite last night's storm.

Pushing the covers off her, she got out of bed and glanced about her surroundings, searching for the mirror to examine herself. Upon finding it, hanging on the wall opposite, she went towards it and examined her features. Her swollen eye had almost faded away, the bruises she'd received during her fight with Chica had also healed, her arm however still hurt.

_"Must have been twisted badly," she_ thought, trying to straighten it out. She sighed, as she cast her mind back to yesterday with her fight with Chica.

_"Have we really sunk that low?"_

She knew the answer, before she had even asked herself the question_._

_"Yes."_

Having quickly got dressed, she headed out towards the kitchen. She ate what Jeremy had made for her and proceed to collect what he had made for Freddy. "Sorry Bonnie, but we're running out of food, back to basics I'm afraid, Toy Freddy what's in the fridge."

"A salad bag, a pork roast, some humorous, fresh cream, half a lemon, chicken breast, oh and one jar of jam and another jar of gherkins," Toy Freddy replied, slamming the fridge door shut. "Yeah so we need to go out and bring a few things in, any volunteers?" Jeremy asked, looking around the room.

"I'll go," said Toy Chica, standing up

"Me too," Toy Bonnie added, joining her.

"Count me in as well," said Mangle, raising her hand, to which Jeremy smiled.

"Well, I didn't expect three to volunteer, but the more the merrier, the shops are in the centre of Chicago, so you should use the bus stop at the end of the street and bypass three stops, get off at the fourth and the mall should be straight ahead of you."

Bonnie picked up the plate of food and left the kitchen.

She opened the front door and headed round back towards the treehouse.

_"I hope Freddy slept ok, I wonder how he's doing?" _She thought.

Upon reaching the treehouse, she placed the plate in the basket and reached up, grabbing onto the nearest wooden plank.

"BONNIE WAIT!"

Bonnie turned round and saw much to her complete surprise, Chica and Foxy running towards her. "Chica, Foxy, what are you doing here?" she asked, stunned to see them here of all places. Yet Chica merely flung her arms around Bonnie, her impact causing Bonnie stumble backwards. "OH BONNIE, I'M SO SORRY!" Chica sobbed, burying her head into Bonnie's chest.

"I'M SORRY I HIT YOU AND I'M SORRY THAT I CALLED YOU A SLUT!"

Bonnie hugged her back, recovering her balance.

"Shh, it's ok, I'm sorry too Chica, I'm sorry for calling you a bitch and for hitting you."

"We both acted out of place."

Chica kept on crying, keeping her grip on Bonnie. "Things haven't been right between us, so I want to fix things, make amends," she wept. "I want us to start over, we don't need to fight and I'll admit from here on out that I was a complete bitch."

"Bonnie, I'm sorry for insulting your love for Freddy, I've been a bad pirate," Foxy stated, pausing to catch his breath as he finally caught up with Chica. "Can you forgive me lassie?" he asked, getting down on his knees and holding his hands out.

Bonnie just smiled.

She grabbed Foxy by the hand and pulled him up into a hug. "I forgive both of you, and I'm sorry Foxy for making a homosexual reference to you being a pirate, we all got carried away," she said warmly. Chica wiped away her tears as she continued to hold onto Bonnie. "We came to forgive Freddy, I never wanted our family to fall apart, but I was just so angry."

"Family is all we have in the end," Foxy added, equally mournful. "I'm glad you decided to forgive Freddy, I know events have recently been tough especially with you Chica, but do you both wish to put this all behind us and start over?" Bonnie asked, looking from one face to the next.

Both Chica and Foxy slowly nodded.

"Great, come on, Freddy's up here, I'll go first, steady your grip, it's quite a climb," Bonnie stated, smiling, she had never felt so relieved in recent years and to think this morning, things had looked bleak. He grabbed hold of the first plank and started to climb, Chica and Foxy followed on after her. Upon reaching the top, Bonnie used the pulley system to pull the basket carrying Freddy's breakfast up. She then put her fingers to her lips. "I'll go in first, I don't know how he'll take it," she whispered. "I'm sure he'll be very happy to hear what we got to say," Chica whispered back, smiling.

"Well, here goes nothing," Foxy whispered.

Bonnie turned and with one hand, knocked on the door.

* * *

_Back to present time_.

Freddy heard the treehouse door open.

"Hey Bonnie, how did you sleep?" He asked, without turning round. "Fine, surprised I slept through it all, you?" She asked, setting the plate of food down on the table.

"Slept like a baby, didn't wake up once," Freddy replied casually as he turned to face her.

"I've been thinking about how we could stop Nightmare Freddy, regain control of our dreams and use them against him."

He sat up straight.

"The only one who can intervene is Goldie and I want to go out and find him..."

He sighed, lowering his head. "But I can't do that on my own, not without the others." He looked up at Bonnie. "How are the others?" he asked

"Well the Toys have forgiven you, including Balloon Boy and the Puppet, they even went out and got Mike and Jeremy to forgive you," Bonnie replied, smiling. "I'll thank them for that, I'm sorry for snapping at Balloon Boy, I didn't mean to get so angry," said Freddy, leaning his head back against the chair.

"What about...the other two, Chica and Foxy?"

Bonnie was about to speak, but Freddy raised his hand to stop her. "I know what your about to say Bonnie, they still hate me...I understand, if I had told someone beforehand, what happened to Chica could have been averted...poor girl, I could say the same thing for Foxy, someone who we both care about was hurt...under my watch, I should have remembered...I'm getting old, even though I hardly look it."

"Well Freddy, you see-"

"Nightmare Freddy is an even bigger threat than the Purple Guy is, God so help me, if he dare tries to harm Chica, Foxy or even you, I will break him-"

"Freddy!" Bonnie shouted, firmly grabbing him by the shoulders.

That caught his attention. "You say Chica and Foxy still hate you...well, you might be wrong there," said Bonnie, tilting her head towards the treehouse door.

Freddy turned round...

There in the open doorway stood Foxy and Chica.

"Hi Freddy," Chica said waving.

"How are you doing captain?" Foxy asked warmly, also waving his hook.

They both smiled.

Freddy didn't say anything, he pushed back his chair and slowly stood up, still facing them. "What are you two doing here?" He asked, clearly confused. Chica stepped forward, with her hands clasped together. "We came to forgive you Freddy, I forgive you, I know you're not one to make mistakes, your my friend, a part of my family...not my enemy, that place is reversed for a certain Freddy, not you."

She then hugged him, much to Freddy's surprise.

"I forgive you Freddy."

"Captain, I forgive you too, for not remembering to tell us, it's that Nightmare Freddy whose the real villain, he inflicted the actual damage, I hate his guts and would gladly join with you to hunt him down on the high seas," Foxy stated, walking forward and raising his hook as a gesture of friendship.

Freddy just looked shocked and confused, how could this be happening?

"Freddy...you do know what Chica and Foxy are saying, right?" Bonnie asked. "I do, but...I never expected for them to forgive me so easily," Freddy replied. He looked at both Foxy and Chica who merely smiled back.

"So…you two don't hate me…right?"

"Well, I am still a little mad, but no I don't hate you and I am sorry for hurting you Freddy," Chica answered, still hugging him tightly. "I don't hate you Freddy, I was angry of course, but I know you're not one to directly make mistakes," Foxy added.

"Captain?" he asked, holding out his hook.

"Permission to rejoin the crew?"

Slowly a smile appeared on Freddy's lips. "Permission granted Foxy," he said, pulling Foxy into a hug.

"Come on Bonnie, join the crew," Chica laughed, grabbing hold of Bonnie's hand and pulling her into the circle. "I thought it would take longer for you to forgive me, what changed your minds?' Freddy asked. "Just thank Puppet, she convinced us, helped us to see why we should forgive you...a part of us actually wanted to, but it was smothered by anger" Foxy replied.

"We're sorry for the all the pain we caused you Freddy, I also want to apologize for hitting Bonnie earlier, we got into a fight."

"Fight, what fight?" Freddy asked, looking at both Bonnie and Chica. "Well, I went and try to have a talk with them about forgiving you and it didn't go so well, basically me and Chica got into an insulting match and it came to blows...big blows," Bonnie answered. "Freddy, I took no part in their squabble," Foxy stated. "No you ran for the kitchen and never looked back," Chica added, to which Freddy laughed, much too Foxy's annoyance.

"Some fierce pirate you are," Freddy stated. "A pirate who knows when to fight and flee, lives the longest, its common sense," Foxy replied with narrowed eyes. "Well, I'm just glad we're putting all this chaos behind us," said Freddy, looking very relieved. "Plus you can return to the house, although you could have returned last night," Bonnie replied.

"Well sleeping in the house would have be better than living in this place, it gets cold at night," Freddy stated.

"Oh and just one more thing, you don't have to look out for us anymore Freddy, you're the leader, but we can look out for ourselves...it'll take a lot off your mind, you did say you've been finding things hard recently," said Chica, smiling. "We'll share the load captain, after all that's what families do," Foxy added, grinning like monkey. "I'm so glad this standoff is over, let's go and break the news to everyone!" Bonnie exclaimed, dragging everyone out of the group hug and towards to the door.

"Wait, where are Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica and Mangle going?" Freddy asked, seeing the three of them walking off down the street.

"They're out to go shopping, Jeremy say we're running low on food and they all volunteered to go," Chica answered. "When they come back, I want to organise everyone into search parties, we're gonna find Goldie, he shouldn't be out there, especially when we don't know where our enemies are," said Freddy.

"I agree, we should find him, we owe a lot to him," Bonnie added.

"Goldie has lied to us about his past, but after some intense thinking, I realise he did it because he wanted to protect us from the pain and suffering that went on in FredBear's Family Diner," Freddy replied. "We all heard the argument the night before, it wasn't really Goldie's fault, he and Springtrap were both victims of the Purple Man's actions, they both reacted differently to the event, Springtrap broke down, while Goldie went into denial," Chica added, to which the others all nodded in agreement.

"Aye, when we find Goldie, we must try to get him and Springtrap to reconcile and put aside their differences and past hatreds, we've done that in the past five minutes," Foxy stated.

"We can't make Spring and Goldie put aside their differences, only they can do that and besides, what divides them goes a lot deeper than our differences," Bonnie argued.

"But what I'm saying is that the Purple Man and his bastard Nightmare friends, if there is more than one, will stop at nothing to destroy us, we cannot be divided, we will fall, the Fazabear name will be blacken forever, the business will never be restarted and we'll never get justice for the eleven children whom Purple Man killed, we couldn't save them, but God dammit we'll do our best to average them!" Foxy exclaimed, waving his hook in the air.

Freddy, Bonnie, Chica just stared at him, surprised by his words.

"Wow Foxy, I never knew you have a thing with words," said Freddy. "I don't always speak sailor talk," Foxy replied, folding his arms and looking all high and mighty. "Actually, I haven't heard you speak sailor talk for months," Chica stated.

"Well my dear land lovers, perhaps being out of pirate's cove has changed my tongue," Foxy retorted, smiling. "Then let's go and inform every one of our reunion and plan, come on guys, it's Fazbear's or bust!" Freddy shouted, as he started to climb down the ladder, with the others following him.

"FAZBEAR'S OR BUST!" they shouted.

* * *

_An hour or so earlier on the outskirts of _ _Chicago…_

"Ok, that's the last of them Dave, should get them shipped off to the center for redistribution by noon, if the traffic is feeling merciful," a man said, closing the back of his van up.

"That's great Chris, we've got enough computers here to maintain a steady supply for this week, but can't make any promises for next week though, prices come and go," another man replied, standing at the wide entrance to a massive warehouse, several meters away.

He then turned to look back further into the warehouse. "Hey Julie, can you get the crane ready again, we'll need to bring down the Apple Macs for tomorrow, several local stores have requested for a resupply."

"Sure thing, making the needed changes now, hey where's Charlie and the others, I see George and Frank managing the coms in the tower."

"Properly heading to the staff room, it's nearly lunch break after all," Dave called back. From where he was, he could see endless stacked rows of IT items lining from end of the warehouse to the other, all packed away in boxes for safety. On the upper right side, was the inbuilt com room, making it the perfect vantage point to oversee the whole operation.

Running out from the end of the com room was a metal walkway which led to the warehouse's second floor, that being a series of IT and company offices. Built into the upper left side was a small operational moveable crane, in which Julie sat. The crane itself could move anywhere it liked to gain access to the massive amounts of stored items which the warehouse housed.

On the lower left side was a doorway, leading towards several supply rooms and a large social area to accommodate the warehouse's reasonably sized workforce. And finally, at the far back was the entrance to the backrooms, often used as wreck rooms for any unusable items which were in the process of being sent to the tip.

Also, it acted as a fire exit in case of any emergency.

"Ok Frank, can you tell the others to come back, we need the extra manpower to bring these macs down," Dave asked, signaling to the guy in question. "Sure thing Dave, just give me a minute to bring them round," the man replied from within the com room, before he turned to use the intercom, summoning all personal to the requested area.

Dave turned in Chris's direction.

"Hey Chris, can you lend a hand for a minute?"

"Sure, just let me lock this up first," he replied, opening up the back of the van to check the van's contents for last time. "Ok, join us when you can, just make sure that she's locked up good, can't have any thieves getting in," was Dave's response.

He left as Chris counted down the last of the items.

Seeing that everything was in its place, he closed the back doors and locked them shut.

xxxx

"**It's…not…easy having yourself a good time!"**  
**"Greasing up those bets and betters."**  
** "Watching out they don't four-letter."**  
** "Fuck and kiss you both at the same time."**  
** "Smells like something I've forgotten, curled up died and now it's rotten!"**

**xxxx**

Well…he would have locked them shut, had he not noticed the figure to his immediate left.

He turned and saw…a man, yes, a man standing next to him, leaning against his van doors with a charismatic smile on his face. His eyes were that of a menacing dark red, plus his appearance seemed quite odd, the clothing was rugged and tattered. The black top hat which he wore had obviously seen better days. Plus, his teeth were not human, more like the teeth you would find on a wolf, all jagged and sharp. Finally, his hands, one was resting against the van door and the other hung loosely by his side, once again, they were not human, more claw like. The man's overall appearance was strange, not normal for this day and age.

"_Hello there, do you happen to need this particular van?"_ he asked, his voice was youthful, charismatic and smooth.

"_My friends and I are seeking transportation across the city, can we join you please?"_

"Errr…are you dressing up for Halloween or something, because your four months early mate," Chris chuckled, turning to lock his van up. The man's smile vanished to be replaced with a frown, clearly, he didn't like to be insulted.

Chris continued regardless.

"Sorry, but this van here is company property, if you want a ride, then go out into the city center and you'll find a taxi rank to make use of."

The man learned in closer, quickly adopting a more threatening posture.

"_We. Need. A. Ride…Sir."_ he stressed through gritted teeth.

"_We can pay in hard cash right now if you like?"_

**xxxx**

**"I'm not a gangster tonight."**   
** "Don't want to be a bad guy."**   
** "I'm just a loner baby."**   
** "And now you got in my way!"**

**xxxx**

But Chris merely waved his hand at him, dismissing his claim as he shoved his keys into his trouser pocket.

"Sorry, I can't help you."

Then a thought raced through his head and one with a very good reason to exist. "Just how did you get in here by the way?" He then turned towards the warehouse entrance to find Dave. "Hey Dave, can you check with the security guards for-"

Suddenly he was grabbed hold of from behind, a claw grabbed his shoulder whilst another came around from the other side and with one quick motion, it slit his throat wide open. Blood spurted out of the now exposed arteries, as Chris fell forward onto his knees, clutching his throat as blood flow out so fast it was like a raging river.

**xxxx**

**"I can't decide, whether you should live or die."**   
** "Oh, you'll probably go to heaven..."**   
** "Please don't hang your head and cry, no wonder why."**   
** "My heart feels dead inside."**   
** "It's cold and hard and petrified."**   
** "Lock the doors and close the blinds."**   
** "We're going for a ride."**

**xxxx**

The man reached into his trouser pocket and received the keys to the van.

"_I did ask nicely, but we need your van…for uses which do not concern you,"_ he said smugly, inspecting his keys more closely in detail as Chris lay on the ground bleeding to death.

A pool of blood soon collected around him, leaving the stranger triumphant.

Then a new sound rippled through the surrounding air, a new voice.

"Hey Chris, are you coming or-"

The figure turned to face the new sound, sharply coming eye to eye with another man, some distance away by the warehouse entrance. The man was clearly speaking, but the sight which met his eyes had silenced his voice to utter shock. There was Chris, lying dead on the ground in a pool of blood with a stranger standing above him, holding the keys to his van.

Seconds passed as the two men stared at each other, but it felt like an eternity.

"Oh…oh my God, you…what did you do to him!" the man raged, his aggression sparking some motion back into his body. The figure's eyes or rather the eyes which belonged to Nightmare Freddy widen in uncertainty, he was not expecting things to get this complex so quick.

There was no answer which he could give to justify why he did what he did, but then again, he didn't really care.

"_Just great…"_ he muttered under his breath.

"_Now we have to improvise."_

At the mere moment, he mentioned the word 'improvise', he felt something or _'somethings' _move beneath his suit, shifting away under the seams.

It or rather 'they' sensed an opportunity to act.

"_No…not now, wait until I give the signal."_ he whispered and the movement stopped almost instantly. "_He wouldn't give me a ride and things got a little out of hand," _he replied, answering the man's question. He then stepped forward, with a new mission in mind.

"_Can you promise to keep your mouth shut about this?"_ he asked, eyeing the man with renewed interest. The man, Dave as he was called was unable to amount any other response apart from dismay.

"You killed him!"

Nightmare Freddy rolled his eyes in dissatisfaction. "_Yes I know that, but seeing how you are an active talker, we cannot afford for word of this incident to get out."_

Then a new voice entered the conversation.

"_Sorry honey, but we cannot have any witnesses."_

Dave turned to his left to see a woman, she looked young, but her appearance matched the same quality as that of the man.

Roughed, tattered and old.

She wore a murky purple dress with an equal colored skirt and glossy bluish-purple hair. Her eyes were also a bluish-purple, but they held a cold and somewhat delightful expression. She looked like a woman who enjoyed the sensation of danger and her claw like hands were a good indication.

"_It'll only hurt for a moment,"_ she said, smiling as she twirled with her loose hair strands between her fingers as she approached. "_It's just a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time mate, Davy Jones himself would understand such terrible misfortune." _Dave's eyes turned to his right, to see another man walking up, but this one was clearly dressed up in a shabby pirate's costume.

His brown reddish eyes held a deep-seated hunger, an expression of anticipation for blood and his reddish brown hair glowed in the summer sunlight. Plus, the hook which he wore, looked sharp, more than capable of doing extensive damage to someone.

Before Dave could comment on the developing situation, another voice entered the fray.

"_Well, looks like we'll get some exercise after all, right boys!"_

Turning to look even further right, Dave spotted another female entering onto the scene, this one had dirty yellow hair, bright orange yellowish eyes with a look of excitement and joy, but not for anything positive. Her clothes were almost the same as the ones wore by the first female, a faded out yellow dress and skirt with some minor differences. Her teeth were jagged and sharp…wait…did she have three rows of teeth in that mouth of hers?

And that thing resting on her shoulder, was that…..a cupcake?

A murky pinkish cupcake with a candle on top with dull orange eyes and some sharp teeth of its own to match that of its owner.

"What…how the…how the hell did you four get past security?"

"_Well, we had an argument with them over entry rights, and…they didn't get off well because of it."_

The second female smiled, revealing her full three sets of teeth.

"_Needless to say, they are already dead."_

"What the fuck!" Dave exclaimed, unable to believe what he was hearing. "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!" he yelled, raising his voice so that the others inside would hear and come out to help. "Hey Dave, is something wrong, what's happening out there?" several voices called from somewhere further inside the building.

"_Oh…you really shouldn't have brought your friends into it,"_ the male pirate lookalike sneered. "_Well,"_ the first female began, with a delightful tone. "_Let's be honest, we kind of wanted him to do that, it gives us an excuse."_

"To do what exactly?" Dave asked, although he already had an number of guesses in mind. The first male smiled as he started to move forward. "_To satisfy our unholy inhuman needs," _he answered, smirking like a Cheshire Cat. The other three followed his lead, advancing on Dave, who to no surprise began to back away. Then a blonde haired middle aged woman came out from behind Dave, unaware of what was transpiring.

"Hey Dave, what is, something of interest and is Chris coming in-"

Dave suddenly turned and pushed her away, back inside the building.

"CHRIS IS DEAD, CLARE LOCK THE DOORS, ACTIVE THE LOCKDOWN NOW!"

"What the, wait Dave, what the hell is going on?" she asked fiercely not liking the sensation of being forcefully pushed back. Then she saw Chris, lying down on the ground outside in a blood of his own blood, with even more still oozing out his throat. And then her eyes flickered onto the four newcomers, she hadn't seen anything like them before, judging by their menacing appearances and Dave's panicked stricken reaction, they were bad news and a threat.

"Fuck!" she muttered under her breath as she grabbed hold of Dave's arm and pulled him along, breaking into a sprint.

But not before she smashed her hand against the glass covered lockdown button, instantly flashing red lights came on and warning sirens began to sound. They rang throughout the entire building, catching everyone off guard as it was the first time that the lockdown had been activated.

Suddenly the main metal shutters began to fall, quickly narrowing the entrance.

The Nightmares ran forward, aiming to close the gap between them and the warehouse entrance, then to get inside before they were locked out.

They only just made it, having either to dive or roll their way inside, with Nightmare Chica swiftly turning round and grabbing hold of her cupcake. which had lost its grip and pulling it inside, just as the shutters hit the floor with a deafening clang.

Kind of like Indiana Jones with him constantly nearly losing his hat in every adventure.

"_Well shit, this isn't what we wanted,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered, picking herself up off the floor.

"_This is will just delay us from our main objective."_

She turned to face Nightmare Freddy, who was dusting himself down. "_You should have just dragged him behind the van and killed him there and then."_

"_Sorry, but we all agreed to attempt cooperation to get to our objective, to ensure that we could move unseen and without suspicion,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, straightening his top hat.

"_Oh well, at least we get to enjoy ourselves and besides…"_

Nightmare Chica placed her cupcake back on her shoulder as she spoke. "_We cannot have any witnesses, the last thing we need is unwanted attention."_

"_So, we got ourselves into this mess and we will crave a blood-soaked path out of it."_

"_Aye lassie, it'll be good to vent some steam and prevent us from being followed," _Nightmare Foxy stated, agreeing with Nightmare Chica's point of view.

"_They've done nothing wrong, but it can't be helped."_

Nightmare Bonnie then groaned.

"_Oh, please don't tell me that now you're going soft."_

Nightmare Foxy turned in her direction and gave her a sadistic grin. "_Hardly N-Bonnie dear, but even I can see the innocence of their position, not that it will prevent me for satisfying my 'needs'."_

Noises and the sounds of raised voices could be heard from somewhere ahead of them unseen.

"_Well, let's get this over and done with, I'm sure Vincent will understand the reason for our delay, but oh well,"_ Nightmare Freddy said, eyeing the doorway ahead of them, having been locked and barred shut in a manner that spoke of utter desperation. "_Finally, time for some real sport!"_ Nightmare Foxy roared, getting into an aggressive pose ready to pounce like a tiger.

Together they proceeded to grab hold of the two door handles and pulled with their combined strength.

Soon metallic groaning filled the air as the door began to buckle and the lock became strained under the pressure.

"GUYS, WE NEED TO INFORM THE POLICE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, THERE IS A GROUP OF DANGEROUS PEOPLE OUTSIDE AND THEY'VE JUST MURDERED CHRIS!" Dave shouted, waving his hands to get everyone's attention. Needless to say, everyone was unsure of what was exactly going on, but they couldn't deny the seriousness in Dave's voice. Many were just going about their daily tasks, confused with their co-worker's words or that a new reality had now dawned.

"IS THIS FOR REAL GUYS!" Julie shouted, leaning out of the crane window to get a better look. "EVERYONE NEEDS TO FOLLOW PROTOCALL AND HEAD TOWARDS THEIR REPSPECTIVE SAFEROOMS!" Clare yelled, cupping her hands over her mouth to funnel her voice to all four corners of the room.

Frank and George who were situated in the coms room, already took her words to heart by means of the intercom. "CAN EVERYONE PLEASE EVACUATE THE MAIN AREA FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS!"

"AND THEN INFORM THE POLICE OF OUR SITUATION, CALL 911!"

"Who are these people?" one man asked.

"What do they want from us?" a woman asked, as everyone started to make their way towards the rear doors and away from the main entrance.

"God only knows," another one muttered under her breath.

"Well I think that-"

A loud deafening, metallic clang of something metal slamming into the walls erupted from somewhere behind them.

"Was that…the front doors?" Dave asked as everyone stopped and stared at the sound, even those in the com room who were in the process of leaving their seats had stopped in min motion to check out the noise. "Yeah, but we both locked and bolted them shut…" Clare stuttered, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Right?"

Footsteps came, filling the air with a deep sense of foreboding, making anyone nearby feel uneasy.

**xxxx**

**"It's a bitch convincing people to like you."**   
** "If I stop now call me a quitter."**   
** "If lies were cats you'd be a litter."**   
** "Pleasing everyone isn't like you…"**   
** "Dancing jigs until I'm crippled."**   
** "Slug ten drinks I won't get pickled."**

**xxxx**

Then came an array of voices, four to be precise as almost immediately four sets of shadows appeared from around the corner.

"_Told you guys that you needed to pull it apart so I could detach the lock."_

"_Fine, you win, but I am still surprised that you found the space to perform such a move."_

"_They know that we're here, best be quick now."_

"_But not without our 'fun'."_

Four figures entered the room, walking in side by side.

Judging by the shocked expressions of both Dave and Clare, these were the four newcomers who had killed Chris. Unfortunately no one had any guns on them to use, otherwise they would have surely done so.

"THAT'S HIM, THE ONE IN THE SUIT AND WEARING THE TOP HAT, HE KILLED CHRIS" Dave screamed, his eyes widen in terror and anger as he pointed straight at the culprit.

Nightmare Chica rolled her eyes sarcastically. "_Trust you to get all the attention N-Freddy,"_ she scoffed.

"_Well, what can I say,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, chuckling at her expression.

"_I am a likable guy."_

"_As if,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered scornfully, eyeing out multiple targets.

"SOMEONE RESTRAIN THEM, RESTRAIN THEM NOW!"

**xxxx**

**"I've got to hand it to you."**   
** "You've played by all the same rules."**   
** "It takes the truth to fool me and now you've made me angry!"**

**xxxx**

Instantly several groups of men advanced on them, aiming to pin them to the floor and hold them there until the police turned up. Immediately it was a bloodbath, as all four Nightmares leapt into action. Nightmare Bonnie with her claws sliced across three men's throats in quick succession, cutting them wide open and allowing blood to spill violently all over the floor. She smiled at their stunned expressions as death quickly claimed them.

Then she turned on the other two, driving one set of her claws into one's guts and then splitting him wide open, tearing his insides out. And with the last one, she ripped his entire face off with her teeth, digging into the skin and pulling back sharply, fatally damaging him as he fell to the floor like the others had done before him.

Nightmare Foxy tore away at one men's chest with his hook, splitting open various veins and arteries, resulting in instant blood loss and death. Then with his hook once more, he jammed it right into another man's eye, crushing his socket as he pushed the hook right into his brain. With his claw, he swiped another man across the eyes, blinding him, before slicing his throat open and letting the blood spill out like a river.

And finally, with his fangs, he did what Nightmare Bonnie had proceeded to do, clamping down on their heads and crushing them until their respective skulls burst.

Nightmare Chica had also used her claws to slash away at those trying to restrain her, ripping them open, maiming them or just simply killing them by slitting their throats. In one case, she just grabbed hold of a man's neck and using her adrenaline-fueled strength, snapped it, killing him instantly. Her cupcake took immense delight in attacking various people, snapping at them with its jaws.

Of course, no one could compete with the three rowed jaws of Nightmare Chica, as she proceeded to rip multiple faces off, like one does when separating chicken skin from the meat. Nightmare Freddy used a slightly different tactic, he instead unleashed his three Freddy Heads when the men got in close, launching them out of various parts of his suit. Mouths wide open with their fangs on display as they soar straight into the men's faces, it was the last thing they ever saw. With three men already down, Nightmare Freddy just slashed away at the other two with his claws, sending them both to the floor, clutching their throats as blood poured out like a bubbling foundation.

In what took thirty seconds, twenty men lay dead on the floor before a host of shell shocked eyes.

**xxxx**

**"I can't decide, whether you should live or die."**   
** "Oh, you'll probably go to heaven…"**   
** "Please don't hang your head and cry, no wonder why."**   
** "My heart feels dead inside."**   
** "It's cold and hard and petrified."**   
** "Lock the doors and close the blinds."**   
** "We're going for a ride."**

**xxxx**

The four strangers stood triumphant amidst the carnage as a numbing silence settled in.

"_So…does anyone else want to be a hero?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked, wiping the blood off her teeth.

No response…just silence.

But then the realization eventually dawned on some people.

Several women screamed, clearly grieving as they clutched their heads in shock.

"OH, MY GOD, THEY JUST KILLED THEM!"

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!"

Several got down on their knees and started to beg for mercy.

"PLEASE…DON'T KILL US!"

The Nightmares didn't answer any of their questions, instead they took the opportunity to look around the room, eyeing out the different entry and exit points, including the mobile crane and the inbuilt com room. But the balance of power was clear for all to see and the Nightmares loved the feel of it…being the one in charge.

Even though they knew that they couldn't linger here for long, they decided to drag things out, to see how far they could go. "_Look at you, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, although given how the situation currently stands I'm not so surprised,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, speaking like a great poet, as his Freddy Heads slithered around like guard dogs.

He stepped forward, as he did the crowd of people backed away.

"_Please don't run, doing so will only force me to kill you and we are very fast on our feet." _The crowd stopped in mid movement, but Nightmare Freddy continued to approach them.

"_The only reason you are still alive is because someone else decided that you should live."_

His footsteps were deep and foreboding, heralding bad things to come.

He then stopped and bowed before the crowd who looked at the newcomer in fear and confusion.

"_And we are your judges."_

"_So, kneel before us and accept our judgement,"_ he stated firmly, folding his arms.

A lone Freddy head slithered out from behind his neck and positioned itself on his shoulder. With its dark red eyes, it glared at the stunned crowd of people, with a brewing sense of confidence as it snarled. But no one kneeled before them, admittedly a few people had previously got down on their knees to beg for mercy, but now they stood side by side with their co-workers.

"_Bow…we hold the upper hand here,"_ Nightmare Chica hissed through gritted teeth.

"_Can't you all see that?"_

"_KNEEL NOW, YOU FUCKING LAND LUDDERS!"_ Nightmare Foxy yelled, brandishing his hook, his eyes were narrowed with frustration as the crowd remained motionless.

"_OR ELSE!"_

Nightmare Bonnie was next, but no outburst or speech came from her. In fact, she wasn't standing next to the others, she had completely vanished from view.

However, her location was soon discovered by two loud blood curdling screams of pain and fear.

"AAAARRRGGGHHH!"

Instantly most people looked up at the coms room to see the windows become splattered in blood stains and gore.

Frank and George were dead as something smashed the windows out from the inside, and low and behold, Nightmare Bonnie emerged from the chaos with her clothes covered in blood. She smiled devilishly as she leapt out of the windows and landed on the floor with a defiant thud, sending a shockwave through the ground.

"_Kneel before us…or else,"_ she growled, although her tone wasn't animalistic, but rather one of bemused delight, she looked more on the side of crazy than angry given her appearance. Everyone kneeled in a form of surrender as Nightmare Freddy resumed in walking forward with Nightmares Foxy and Chica flanking the crowd to prevent anyone from attempting to leave.

As he neared them, he spied out Dave amongst them.

Within an instant, Nightmare Freddy was before him and proceeded to grab hold of the man's throat before he could react. Immediately everyone else backed off, some attempted to help, but a mere glare of aggression from the Freddy Head made them think otherwise.

Then the other two heads emerged, slithering out of the Nightmare's sleeve, coiling their way forward, as Nightmare Freddy held Dave in his grip. If anyone wanted to run, then now was their chance, but of course Nightmares Bonnie, Chica and Foxy refused to let them escape by aggressively growling them back into line, with the visible threat of death should they disobey.

"_Have you ever seen…Alien…David?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, glazing in the man's eyes

"Pardon?" Dave croaked as he tried to loosen the Nightmare's grip around his throat. "_The film series with those killer aliens, neomorphs I think they were called, quite famous and iconic, isn't it?"_

"What's your point?"

"_The scene when the chest buster forces its way out of the man's chest in a violent manner is terrifying, makes your skin crawl and it buries itself into your collective memory."_

The Nightmare paused momentary to glance across at the crowd, examining their confused and terrified expressions. "_The idea of something foreign growing inside you, amidst your soft organs and then tearing its way out of your body as you convulse and shriek in sheer agony as you know that you are dying, but there's nothing you can do to prevent it."_

"Where is…this going…exactly?" Dave asked, gasping for breath, his question making the Nightmare look down at him, it smiled.

"_Just ask them…"_

The 'them' which he referred to were his Freddy Heads, as they moved down Nightmare Freddy's arm towards David with their sinister smiles foreshadowing something rather nasty. "_Well lassies and gentlemen…" _Nightmare Foxy began, sounding very graceful suddenly, taking the stunned crowd's attention away from the interaction between David and Nightmare Freddy.

"_We've just killed…what…twenty guys and do we think that you'll keep your mouths shut about this…'unfortunate incident'?"_

It was their collective plan overall to remove any witnesses who were unfortunate enough to wander into their path.

**xxxx**

**"Oh, I could throw you in the lake, or feed you poisoned birthday cake."**   
** "I won't deny, I'm gonna miss you when you're gone."**   
** "Oh I could bury you alive, but you might crawl out with a knife and kill me when I'm sleeping."**

**xxxx**

He grinned as he eyed them all with a murderous expression, foreseeing what was to come…the spilling of blood.

**xxxx**

**"That's why…"**

**xxxx**

Immediately the outcome of this encounter dawned on everyone as they turned and ran, seeking cover and safety, the Nightmares didn't even attempt to stop them from trying to escape.

**xxxx**

**"I can't decide, whether you should live or die."**   
** "Oh, you'll probably go to heaven..."**   
** "Please don't hang your head and cry, no wonder why."**   
** "My heart feels dead inside."**   
** "It's cold and hard and petrified."**   
** "Lock the doors and close the blinds."**   
** "We're going for a ride..."**

**xxxx**

"_Let's get this over and done with, time isn't on our side today, but let's be thorough," _Nightmare Freddy stated, removing his grip from David's throat, leaving the man to his meet his fate at the hands of his Freddy Heads.

He watched the fleeing horde of people with a ravenous intent, there were about thirty to forty of them at best. "_Remember, we cannot afford to leave any witness behind, if we wish to maintain the element of surprise."_

_What transpired next was a nothing short of a complete and total blood-soaked massacre…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes the Nightmares are bloodthirsty and I thought that the Alien Film Series deserved to make a cameo in this chapter, we can all guess what happened to poor David.  
I've got a good idea of how to follow this chapter up.  
Thanks for reading and please review.  
Until next time. . .


	15. The Not So 'Great Escape'!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here's another chapter.
> 
> No song in this chapter I'm afraid, maybe next time though, but either way enjoy :-) .  
Chess pieces start to move. . .

**Chapter 15.**

**The Not So 'Great Escape'!**

"**But those with an evil heart seem to have a talent for destroying anything beautiful which is about to bloom."**

**Cynthia Rylant**

_An hour later…_

Somewhere through the busy compacted inner-city roads of Chicago, a black van struggled to make its way through the crowded compacted streets.

A clearly annoyed Nightmare Chica, sat in the front passenger seat, as Nightmare Freddy steadily turned the steering wheel in his efforts to combat the Chicago traffic as the van rocked gently from side to side.

_"So...this is Chicago, doesn't look classy in the slightest,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered, with her arms folded.

_"The wealthy parts do,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, as the van crawled along the road.

_"So, where's Goldie and the others?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, turning to face him.

Sometime around 9am, Vincent had dropped them off just outside Chicago's city limits, but they didn't have any means of transportation to get to their destination. One could ask the question why Vincent didn't just drop them off near the Fazbear's home and make things easier.

In fact, they did ask that particular question, and Vincent's reply was that he simply didn't wish to attract any unwanted attention from the local law enforcement. For years he had worked off the grid and he wasn't willing to fall under any spotlight. Hence why the Nightmares had been trying to get a ride at a local warehouse and that attempt didn't go so well. Many people died in that warehouse, lots of manning, the spilling of blood and deaths.

An entire workforce of forty people had vanished off the face of the earth within half an hour, along with any mention of their presence, camera footage and audio recordings… all gone…_somehow._

And Dave got the ultimate pleasure of having two Freddy Heads force their way down his throat, into his stomach and having them burst out of his chest like the iconic chest burster off Alien.

Just because Nightmare Freddy was curious to seeing the iconic scene firsthand. Having finished with their 'detour', they acquired use of the van which they had initially hoped to use and set out for their destination. Should anyone look into the matter, then they wouldn't find anything which would lead them to the culprits. But they would find a lot of bodies…if they looked hard enough, the Nightmares were thorough in their clean up.

Seeing how Nightmare Chica had asked, Nightmare Freddy responded to her question.

_"Goldie and the others are in a house somewhere in the outer suburbs, but we need to go through the city centre in order to reach them,"_ he stated, keeping an eye on several traffic lights. Learning how to drive was actually quite easy, once you understood the basics, never mind the theory exam.

_"Can't we just walk there and avoid the traffic?"_ Nightmare Bonnie called from the back, which was separated by a wall, save for a small opening which acted as a window.

_"And how are we supposed to get Goldie, all tied up through the city streets,__ back__ to the meeting point without attracting any attention?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked her, who was also in the back of the van.

_"My point precisely N-Foxy, we can't, but I do know that Goldie will be on the top floor with Springtrap, so we break in through the top windows, N-Chica and I will take out Springtrap, N-Bonnie and N-Foxy you seize Goldie, blindfold him and tied him up, then we throw him in the van and take off."_

He turned to round to face Nightmares Bonnie and Foxy.

_"We don't kill him or cause him any serious harm, remember we're doing this for Nightmare Fredbear, he needs the body."_

_"I've already spoke with Nightmare Fredbear, he's more than pleased with the idea, the other guy is happy with what's happened so far, and the other three __are __just waiting for their turn…rather impatiently __though," _Nightmare Chica stated plainly.

"_And the little guy?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, turning to face her.

She smiled.

"_He's still keeping an eye on the child, he likes the grandma footsteps game, you know the one that involves the chair, the flashlight and a timer."_

_"He always insists we play that game, it's fucking boring,"_ Nightmare Foxy moaned.

_"Well this task is different and involves teamwork, so enjoy,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, turning at a junction.

"_So, did our last occupation,"_ Nightmare Foxy muttered, although Nightmare Freddy didn't hear him.

But when they turned down a new road, it was blocked with traffic as far as the eye could see and wouldn't be moving for quite some time.

_"I told you three we should get out and walk, but you guys said 'nooooo', driving through the centre of the city in rush hour traffic would be so much faster,"_ Nightmare Bonnie sarcastically moaned.

_"I wasn't expecting rush hour traffic,"_ Nightmare Freddy hissed, through gritted teeth. "_It's nine in the morning, what were you expecting, that the streets would be completely empty, bullshit!"_ Nightmare Bonnie stated.

She rested herself against the van's inner wall and pouted heavily.

_"I seriously suggest that we should just bail and walk."_

Nightmare Freddy narrowed his eyes at the endless line of traffic.

_"Hang on, I've got a little trick up my sleeve,"_ he muttered.

He then pressed down on the car horn several times to make the traffic move, which quickly proved to be pointless.

_"COME ON, MOVE IT!"_ He shouted, repeatedly pressing down on the car horn, much to the annoyed sighs of the others.

* * *

"Well that's a journey I don't wish to repeat," Toy Bonnie moaned, straightening her back as she stepped off the bus.

"Sitting on a seat that was as comfortable as sitting on a rock and next to a screaming baby...all that stress and discomfort will kill me one day."

"Well that least we're here, look the mall's straight ahead, just as Jeremy said it would," Toy Chica said, pointing to a large multiple storey building which stood before them. Luckily the bus had been able to park right outside the mall, and not get stuck in the traffic jam which ran alongside it.

"How much money did Jeremy give us?" Mangle asked, stepping off the bus.

Toy Chica reached into her pocket and pulled out several notes.

"About...forty dollars...no wait...forty five," she said, counting them all up in her hands.

"Then let's go, and while we're here we might as well as have a girls' day out," Toy Bonnie stated, she smiled as she walked forward, embracing the idea of having some 'girly' fun. "Yeah, make up and clothes!" Toy Chica exclaimed, running forward to join her.

Mangle sulked, dragging her feet as she walked.

"Oh boy, make up stuff, looking at thousands of beauty amplifiers which look the same, feel the same, cost the same, have the same effect, and are yet somehow meant to be better than one another," she moaned. Besides the sounds of street music, people walking and talking, the three of them could hear a constant honking noise.

"What's that?" Toy Chica asked, looking around, trying to search for the sound's source.

"Properly just someone in that traffic jam over there, angry with all the hold up," Mangle answered, briefly looking back the traffic pile up, which congested Chicago's narrow roads like blocked arteries. "Often, it's someone who is egoistical, thinks they're entitled to everything, suffers from road rage and is possibly borderline psychotic," Toy Bonnie added, dismissing the sound.

"Come on, there's properly billions of shops in there, think of what we could buy!" Toy Chica shouted, grabbing hold of Toy Bonnie's hand and running off into the mall, while Mangle just looked on in despair.

"I'm properly going to be dragged into every store...I didn't ask for this."

She took a deep breath.

"In I go...God help me," she muttered, walking in through the double doors.

* * *

_"COME ON MOVE IT...THIS CHRISTMAS MAYBE, WHAT'S WITH ALL THE FUCKING HOLD UP!" _Nightmare Freddy shouted, repeatedly slamming his fist down on the car horn.

Nightmares Chica, Bonnie and Foxy just looked bored out of their minds, their blank and lifeless expressions were a strong indication of their mood. Finally, Nightmare Bonnie decided to intervene, groaning as she stood up straight and leaned through the inner window.

_"N-Freddy, you've been honking people for the last five minutes and nothing has happened, in fact the only thing you have achieved so far is getting people's attention, something we wished to avoid in the first fucking place!"_ she hissed in his ear.

_"Just park somewhere nearby and we'll proceed on foot,"_ Nightmare Chica stated, leaning backwards, trying to block out the constant noise of the surrounding traffic by covering her ears.

_"Just reverse it and we'll pick a new lane,"_ said Nightmare Foxy, standing up and joining Nightmare Bonnie at the inner window.

_"If you three haven't noticed already, there are cars behind us, so we can't reverse,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied through gritted teeth.

_"Wait, there, over there, a parking space has just opened up!"_ Nightmare Chica shouted, pointing towards to an opening.

_"Thanks,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, turning the steering wheel as far as it would go.

The van exited the lane and pulled into a new one, before moving into the parking space. _"Alright, parking achieved, now let's wait around a while for the traffic to clear up, then we'll drive to our destination and do what we do best,"_ Nightmare Freddy ordered, undoing his seatbelt.

He got out, followed by Nightmare Chica, who had to climb across from her seat, while Nightmares Bonnie and Foxy jumped out of the back.

They then all donned their hoodies.

_"Doesn't this make us look suspicious?" _Nightmare Bonnie asked, looking at the other three. _"Not in the slightest,"_ Nightmare Foxy replied confidently, even though their appearance had caught the attention of several police officers. "_As long as we don't do anything out of the ordinary we're fine,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, walking off, beckoning the others to join him.

_"Well, we might as walk around and explore this place,"_ Nightmare Chica suggested, following Nightmare Freddy, like a toddler following its mother. _"Wow, captain look at the size of that building, what treasures lie within I wonder?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, staring at the mall, given from where he had come from, this was the largest building he had ever set eyes on.

_"Just shops N-Foxy, lots and lots of shops put into one building,"_ said Nightmare Bonnie, glancing at the mall's entrance.

_"And besides, judging by the contents of many shops, most things in there are properly similar in function, size and cost, yet most people going in look excited,"_ Nightmare Freddy commented.

_"Oh please, who would get excited over things that are largely the same in every way?"_ Nightmare Chica asked.

_"Someone with no sense of taste,"_ Nightmare Foxy answered smugly.

_"Clearly,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered sarcastically, folding her arms.

* * *

"OH, MY GOD, GUYS LOOK AT THIS!" Toy Chica squealed, picking up several handbags which were decorated in a pinkish colour with patterns to match.

"Toy Chica, they're just the same as the ones in the shop opposite, why are you so excited by this?" Mangle asked, throwing her arms up in boredom...this was the fifteen shop they'd had been to in the space of 10 minutes, and it was doing Mangle's head in.

"Oh, don't they look so cute, here Mangle, you could take one," Toy Chica replied, shoving one into Mangle's hands.

Mangle stared at it, although she would like to have a handbag, having one in a very sickly pinkish colour was too much. "No thanks," she said, putting it back on the shelve.

Toy Bonnie was just amused by Mangle's coldness and Toy Chica's hyperactive behaviour.

Toy Chica was examining several different coloured handbags, when something caught her eye.

Her pupils widen.

"OH, MY GOD, LOOK!" She shouted.

She reached and grabbed another handbag from a nearby shelve, it had the same design as all the others, expect this one was gold in colour. "ITS GOLD, JUST LIKE GOLDIE, AND SOFT TOO, JUST LIKE GOLDIE," Toy Chica squealed, treasuring the item in her hands. "WOW, THE INSIDE PART IS VERY MYSTERIOUS, JUST LIKE GOLDIE IS, AND THE WHOLE THING IS PRETTY, JUST LIKE GOLDIE!"

When her excitement faded, she saw that Toy Bonnie and Mangle shared an mischievous look, their lips turning into grins. "Do you want us to buy that for you Toy Chica, you so clearly want it?" Toy Bonnie asked, trying not to laugh. Mangle however just couldn't contain herself, laughing her head off as she slid down to the floor in fits of laughter.

Toy Chica's face instantly redden, as Toy Bonnie struggled to contain herself.

"I was just...making...a comparison," Toy Chica whispered, wrapping her arms around her waist and looking away in embarrassment.

Now she felt exposed.

"Oh Toy Chica, I think it's very cute, that you have a thing for Goldie," Toy Bonnie giggled, pulling her into a hug. Toy Chica didn't say anything, but kept her eyes downcast. "Heart of gold indeed, I should have known it was him," Toy Bonnie whispered in her ear.

"How long have you held feelings for Goldie then?" she asked.

"Since...1987...when we first met the Originals," Toy Chica, answered, briefly casting her eyes upwards.

She was clearly embarrassed.

"I think it's sweet and I'm very happy for you Toy Chica, I hope you find happiness, we both do, right Mangle?" Toy Bonnie asked turning to face her.

But Mangle was still on the floor in stitches.

"HEART OF GOLD, NOW EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE!" She laughed.

"MANGLE!" Toy Bonnie shouted, making Mangle stop instantly.

"Yeah, we're really happy for you Toy Chica, you and Goldie deserve each other," said Mangle standing up straight and correcting herself.

"Which reminds me, we need to get back, everyone else will be wondering where we are."

"Your right, first let's get this for Toy Chica and then go, we've got the groceries Jeremy wanted," said Toy Bonnie, taking one of the golden coloured handbags off the surrounding shelves.

She then turned and passed one of the bags of food to Mangle, before heading off towards the checkout, with the other two following after her.

* * *

"Clang, clang, clang, clang," went the old metal can, as it bounced on pavement each time Goldie kicked it.

_"Forgive me Spring, I didn't see what you saw."_

_"The Bite of 87, the whole franchise went down after that, quite of a pity really, the kids sure loved that place...especially the performers."_

_"Why didn't you tell me about Springtrap?"_

_"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, YOU HEAR, NEVER!"_

Goldie stopped to gather himself together,

_"Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"_

The painful memories faded away...for now.

Up ahead, he noticed two things, one there was a major traffic jam to his right and two, there was a massive king size mall on his left.

"Perhaps I could hide away in there for the night, it would be better than sleeping out here," he muttered.

_"Or...I could go back and-"_

_"NO, YOU CAN'T GO BACK, THEY'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU, SPRING DOESN'T WANT YOU, NO ONE WANTS YOU!" _

Goldie closed his eyes and tried to think, blocking out his angels and demons.

_"Fine...we stay in the mall, sneak in at closing time, no one will see us,"_ he thought.

He continued to kick the can down the street, bumping into people and only giving mumbled apologies. The mall looked pretty with its neon lights outside and long rows of shops, selling clothes, toys, household goods and food.

_"Food," _Goldie thought, he felt his stomach rumble, he hadn't eaten in the last twenty four hours.

"So, hungry," he moaned, gripping his waist. "No, can't think about food, just keep walking," he whispered, turning away from the mall entrance. When he turned, he happened to bump into the back of a hooded figure.

_"Watch where you're going, idiot!"_ it hissed in a male's voice, which caught the attention of three other figures with similar clothing.

"Sorry," Goldie replied, giving the figure a brief glance before walking off.

Then something clicked in his head.

_"Wait a minute...I know that voice...that's."_

He turned around and saw that the hooded figures had vanished, he searched the area, but saw no sign of them. "Must have been imagining it, my mind is acting out of sorts," he muttered, turning around and heading off in the opposite direction.

Amongst the crowds, Nightmare Freddy smiled in sweet delight under his hood, as his dark red eyes watched Goldie walk away into the crowd…their target was within reach. He turned to see the others equally spread out across the sidewalk, they have all scattered as soon as Goldie had turned around.

Nightmare Bonnie looked to Nightmare Freddy for instructions, he merely mouthed the words 'follow', pointing at Goldie. Nightmare Bonnie grinned viciously in response before turning to pass the word on to Nightmares Chica and Foxy, who both nodded in agreement.

They set off, following Goldie from afar, not walking in a group, unless they wish to attract attention, but rather walking as individuals...tracking their target...like predators in the wild.

Behind them, three females carrying several bags of shopping exited the mall. "So, are you enjoying your new handbag Toy Chica?" Toy Bonnie asked, whilst stretching her arms.

"Yeah...it's pretty, quite spacious actually," Toy Chica commented, her eyes fixed on the item. "Toy Chica, I'm sorry I made fun of your crush on Goldie," said Mangle, hugging her.

"It's ok Mangle, I largely spilt the beans myself," Toy Chica replied.

"Somethings Toy Chica, you don't say out loud and somethings you do, this could be a lesson for you," Toy Bonnie stated. "Come on, Jeremy said the bus stop that'll take us back is down here," said Mangle, dragging two heavy bags in each hand, in fact they all were, apart from Toy Chica, who only carried one bag.

"God oh mighty these things are heavy, why did we get so much stuff," Toy Chica moaned, struggling to lift her bag anywhere above her knees.

"You're lucky, it's Mangle and me whose carrying the most of it, I think it's because we bought a lot things on impulse...although most of that was done by you Toy Chica," Toy Bonnie groaned as the muscles in her arms ached and strained.

"Sorry, everything in there looked vital," Toy Chica replied.

"Well, we'll decide that later back at Jeremy's, come on, it's not that far to the bus stop now," Mangle stated, trying to keep the shopping bags she was carrying off the ground. "Hopefully we can get there without any major incidents," Toy Bonnie muttered, leading the way through the busy crowds.

* * *

Goldie was having a hard time focusing, his mind was splintering into several pieces, different parts of him arguing whether or not to go back to Jeremy's and confront everyone.

_"I want to prove to Spring that I can make things right between us, but...I don't know how, I feel isolated," _he thought, as he narrowly avoided groups of people.

_"YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH DAMAGE AS IT IS, YOU SAW HOW ANGRY SPRING WAS, EVERYONE WILL BE ASKING WHY YOU LIED AND IT'S UNLIKELY THAT THEY'll BELIEVE YOU!"_ His inner demons raged, with strong evidence to back their claims.

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!" Goldie screamed out loud. When his anger faded, he instantly noticed that everyone was staring at him...everyone from adults to children with shocked faces at his sudden, random outburst.

_"Shit, gotta hide!" _

He hurried through the startled crowds, avoiding their cold hearted glares as he pasted them by.

_He never looked behind him though._

_"Gotta find a place to hide and rest my mind, before I snap!"_

Goldie was panicking, seeing no avenue for escape.

Wait...there, an alleyway, leading round to the back of the mall.

_"Perfect."_

Goldie ducked down the alleyway, as people resumed their previous occupation, instantly forgetting the last few seconds.

However, to Goldie's surprise, he found that the alleyway had a dead end. "Oh well, I'll just rest here for a bit, catch up on some sleep, perhaps I'll return to Jeremy's in the evening, shouldn't be too hard with all the street signs."

He sat down, resting his back against the alley's brick wall.

"Although I don't know how I'll explain things to the others," he muttered, stretching his bones and muscles. He then hugged his knees close to his chest, rested his head on them and try to get some sleep.

As he did, four long shadows appeared at the entrance of the alley.

_"Well...it would appear we've struck gold...literally," _said Nightmare Bonnie, eyeing Goldie at the far end. _"Yes, but we need to move quickly," _Nightmare Chica stated, looking round at the masses of people, who appeared to occupy every space in the surrounding streets.

_"Indeed, N-Foxy here take the keys and move the van over here, try reversing it into the alleyway, that way people can't see what we're doing,"_ Nightmare Freddy ordered, placing the keys in Nightmare Foxy's hands.

_"__Sure thing captain, try to keep the prisoner subdued though, we don't wish to attract any 'unwanted attention'," _Nightmare Foxy replied jokily, turning to go.

_"Come on, we're wasting time as it is!" _Nightmare Chica snarled, walking forward.

_"Yes, let's have our fun and be done with it," _said Nightmare Freddy, following her.

"_Just try and stop me,"_ Nightmare Bonnie whispered with glee, bringing up the rear.

* * *

"I'm never...ever...going...shopping...again!" Mangle stressed, dragging her two bags of shopping with her, as Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica struggled alongside her.

"I would...agree...with you...on that Mangle," Toy Bonnie groaned.

Whilst listening to the conversation between Mangle and Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica noticed a black van moving its way through the Chicago traffic in a very unprofessional manner.

_"Well they clearly never went to driving school," _she thought, watching it crave a path for itself through the never ending traffic. She then turned her attention back to the conversation between Mangle and Toy Bonnie and kept on walking.

"Why me...why must I suffer for the evil deeds committed by that man?" Goldie asked himself, trying to fall asleep, but failing miserably due to his eyes refusing to shut.

They were effectively done with sleep.

"What does he even want?"

Goldie sighed deeply as his mind kept on turning out questions to which he had no answers.

"Why us, couldn't he just target another fast food restaurant, what made us so special?"

He wasn't expecting an answer.

_"Well, maybe it's because the Fazbear family are such good children entertainers that no other fast food chain could challenge its monopoly,"_ said a voice, which sounded somewhat familiar. Goldie looked up, and although his vision was momentarily hazy, he could see three figures standing before him.

"Bonnie...why are you here-"

Then he froze...he felt his heart stop.

There straight in front of him was Nightmare Freddy, with supposedly Nightmares Bonnie, and Chica, to his left and right, and worse still Goldie had his back to a solid brick wall..._ nowhere to run and nowhere to hide._

Nightmare Freddy looked the same when Goldie, had last saw him, but Nightmare Bonnie, had two sets of sharp teeth and Nightmare Chica, somehow had three, all jagged and spiky. The clothes they wore roughly matched that of their Original counterparts, with their hair being dirty and greasy and instead of having hands, they all had claws...sharp, pointed claws.

Nightmare Bonnie's eyes were that of a purplish blue, Nightmare Chica's however were an orangey yellow and Nightmare Freddy's eyes of course were the same dark red.

_"Hello Goldie, long time no see," _Nightmare Freddy laughed, finding Goldie's misfortune to be very amusing. He threw his head back and laughed even more, clearly enjoying his position of supremacy.

_"Wow, you're soooo cuteeee!"_ Nightmare Bonnie, squealed, her eyes brightening up with excitement. _"You are officially the unluckiest person in the world right now,"_ Nightmare Chica, stated, smiling rather viciously at Goldie.

Goldie, stood up and raised his fists, ready to fight, his aggressive stance made Nightmare Freddy stop laughing.

"What do you want?" He asked, snarling with narrowed eyes.

The three Nightmares merely laughed at his stance. _"You!" _Nightmare Chica giggled, although her eyes narrowed.

_"We want you...for something very special,"_ Nightmare Bonnie hissed, clasping her claws together.

_"And will you come quietly or not, we rarely give someone a choice, but we decided to be generous?" _Nightmare Freddy asked, folding his arms.

Goldie shook his head.

"No, no I will not go quietly, in fact you three can go and fuck one another for all I care," he replied, through gritted teeth.

_"Well, what choice do you really have Goldie, your 'family' is nowhere to be seen, you have your back to the wall and you look...very stressed, tense I might say__ in fact__," _said Nightmare Bonnie, tipping her head to one side, whilst studying Goldie's body language.

_"Maybe he's stressed, because he been in a fight, or an argument perhaps?"_ Nightmare Chica suggested. _"An argument...was it with Springtrap?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, grinning from ear to ear. Goldie's eyes twitched, to which the eyes of the three Nightmares lit up.

_"I knew it!"_ Nightmare Freddy exclaimed, pointing at Goldie.

_"He's left you, hasn't he?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked.

"Shut up!" Goldie hissed, shaking his fists. "_He hates you, doesn't he?"_ said Nightmare Chica, smiling.

"SHUT UP!" Goldie yelled, lashing out at them, but they merely stepped back, avoiding his blows. _"Jesus Goldie, calm down, you'll tire yourself out,"_ Nightmare Bonnie stated. _"Yeah, we wouldn't want that,"_ Nightmare Chica added, giggling.

Then Nightmare Freddy held his hand up to silence them. He narrowed his eyes and held out his hand towards Goldie.

_"One last chance, Goldie, will you come with us, or go the hard way...we won't restrain ourselves."_

But Goldie defiantly shook his head.

"I will not go quietly," he answered with narrowed eyes.

The Nightmares appeared to close their eyes and sighed, when they opened again they harbored a wild psychotic look and smiled, revealing the entirety of their sharp teeth.

_"__Yes Goldie, you will not go quietly into that goodnight__!"_ said Nightmare Freddy, clenching his claws into fists.

What happened next was a complete blur.

Nightmare Freddy, smacked Goldie hard right in the face with his claw like fist, making him bang his head against the wall. Nightmare Bonnie, proceeded to kick Goldie's feet out from under him, making him fell forward onto his knees. Nightmare Chica, then grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him hard in the groin, making him drop to the ground.

Nightmare Freddy, then stomped on his back, pushing him into the ground.

_"This is so much fun!_" Nightmare Bonnie exclaimed.

_"Why isn't he teleporting?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, watching Goldie painfully attempt to push himself up.

_"He's properly too weak at the moment, best keep him that way,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied.

Goldie groaned as he lifted himself off the ground.

Nightmares Chica and Bonnie grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him up against the wall. Goldie struggled, but the two Nightmares kicked him in the stomach.

"GET...OFF OF ME!" He growled, trying to shake them off.

But Nightmare Bonnie, only giggled as she twisted his arm, causing him to shout out in pain.

_"Enough, time to end this," _Nightmare Freddy stated, smiling as he clicked his fingers He grabbed Goldie by the neck and started to choke him, tightening his grip on his windpipe. _"Just relax Goldie...just sleep...just dream,"_ Nightmare Chica whispered in his ear, she then punched him right in the ribs.

"FUCK YOU!" He screamed, as Nightmare Bonnie viciously scratched his face.

_"Your life is a nightmare Goldie, don't worry, soon you'll be set free from it,"_ Nightmare Freddy laughed, as Goldie struggled to breath. His vision was becoming hazy, his strength was fading as he slid down to the ground. His attempts to break free of the Nightmares's grip grew weaker, as his entire world started to spin.

_"There, there dear, just sleep, just dream," _Nightmare Bonnie sang as Goldie fell unconscious, the last thing he saw were the three Nightmares smiling at him, as they beat him senseless. His arms and legs went limp, as the Nightmares released him from their grip.

_"Is he...dead?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, to which Nightmare Freddy put his hand on Goldie's neck. _"No, he's alive, I can feel his pulse."_

He looked back towards the opposite end of the ally.

_"Now where's N-Foxy with that bloodily van of ours!"_

There where the sound of screeching tires, quickly followed by the beeping sounds of a vehicle reversing. Soon a black van moved into the alleyway entrance, reversing slowly until half of it was inside. As soon as it stopped, Nightmare Foxy jumped out of the driver's seat, slamming the door shut behind him.

_"You guys ready?" _He asked, running up to join them.

_"Yes, we are, quick N-Chica, you take his legs and N-Bonnie, you carry his arms, Vincent will be waiting for us at the meeting place,"_ Nightmare Freddy ordered, as both Nightmares carried out his instructions.

He then turned to face Nightmare Foxy.

_"N-Foxy, you go and open the back doors, come on let's move it."_

Nightmare Foxy, quickly ran back and threw the back doors of the van open, before hurrying back to help the others.

* * *

"Jesus, what idiot put this here?" Toy Bonnie asked, staring a black van, which was parked at the entrance of a narrow alleyway and was also blocking a road which they needed to cross.

"We'll have to go around it, try to avoid the main road through," said Mangle, walking ahead. She skirted around the vehicle's front, keeping away from the congested traffic and made it to the other side unharmed.

"Come on, it's ok," she shouted, waving to Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica.

Toy Bonnie sighed, shaking her head.

"Well, I see no alternative," she muttered, stepping forward.

"Come on Toy Chica," she called.

Toy Chica stepped forward, when she heard something.

_"Get him in the back...he can't be that heavy, it was so easy to knock him out."_

"Huh," Toy Chica muttered turning in the direction of the sound.

_"It's a four man job this,"_ groaned someone in the alley.

Toy Chica, giving into her curiosity, slowly crept past the vehicle, slipping between the narrow gap, which lay between the vehicle's side and the alley's brick wall.

_"Goldie, can't be this heavy, I mean it's not as if he's made of fucking gold for Christ sake!"_

"Goldie!" Toy Chica whispered with excitement.

Then she saw a Freddy, a Bonnie, a Chica and a Foxy with their backs to her, carrying an unresponsive Goldie. Upon squeezing through the gap, she ran towards them, her heart was accelerating as her eyes sparkled with hope. "You guys have found him, good, let's get him back to the house, the others have been worried sick about him, and it also appears you guys have forgiven each other, I knew you Originals were made of stronger stuff then you gave off two nights ago with that massive argument."

The 'Originals' although they didn't turn around, look confused, casting glances at each-other.

"When we get Goldie back to Jeremy's, we can go out after that bastard Nightmare Freddy, whose wrecked your friendship which has existed for decades, he has it coming. I'd gladly stuff him inside a suit and watch him slowly bleed to death and as for the Purple Guy, well...I have a little something in mind for him."

She leaned forward and tapped the Freddy on his shoulder.

"So, come on let's reunite the family, I'll go and get Toy Bonnie and Mangle and fuck those psychotic sadistic Nightmares, even if there is more than one."

The 'Originals' turned round, smiling, revealing their true forms.

_"We are those psychotic sadistic Nightmares," _the Freddy answered.

Toy Chica's eyes widen upon seeing their ghastly appearance.

"But you're not-"

_"We know and you must be Toy Chica,"_ said the Chica look like, her eyes glowed with interest. _"I wager she's never had kids with that body!"_ the Bonnie lookalike stated, glaring at her with narrowed eyes.

_"Ohh...I'd like to see that in the flesh,"_ the Foxy lookalike grinned, waving his hook at her.

"What are you doing with Goldie?" She asked, stepping backwards, clearly afraid.

_"Not for you to know, N-Foxy kill her!"_ the Freddy ordered.

Nightmare Foxy's eyes glowed with sadistic excitement.

_"Finally, it's my turn for a little 'fun'!"_

Within an instant Toy Chica turned and ran, screaming as Nightmare Foxy chased her, snapping his jaws. _"Shit, our cover has __been __blown, quickly, just throw him in the van and get in!" _Nightmare Freddy shouted, as Nightmares Bonnie and Chica dragged Goldie towards the vehicle.

Toy Chica dived into the gap between the alleyway wall and the van, she burst forth from the opening, just narrowly avoiding Nightmare Foxy sinking his teeth into her head. Nightmares Bonnie and Chica threw Goldie into the back of the van and climbed in, closing the doors shut behind them.

Nightmare Freddy jumped into the front passenger seat and then climbed across to the driver's seat. Upon chasing Toy Chica away, Nightmare Foxy raced round the van's front and got in the front passenger seat and slammed the door shut, just as Nightmare Freddy jammed the van's car keys into the ignition.

Nightmare Freddy, then turned round and leaned through the van's inner window to see Nightmares Chica and Bonnie holding Goldie down.

_"Try to keep him unconscious and if he wakes up, just knock him out, now let's go!" _

Turning back to his front, he pressed down on the accelerator, making the vehicle move forward.

As the van pulled out onto the main road, Toy Chica did the only thing she could do...grab onto the vehicle's side and ride it out.

* * *

Toy Bonnie and Mangle were still ahead and nearing the bus stop, when the Mangle asked the question.

"Is Toy Chica behind us?"

They both turned to see Toy Chica wasn't behind them or anywhere in fact.

"Toy Chica...where are you girl?" Toy Bonnie cried out, looking around for any sign of her.

"Hey T.C, the bus stop is over here!" Mangle yelled.

Instead they saw a black van bash it's way through the congested traffic, causing no end of chaos...with Toy Chica clinging onto its roof. That was completely unexpected, making Toy Bonnie's reaction less than surprising.

"TOY CHICA, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!" she shouted, as the van sped past.

"THEY'VE GOT GOLDIE IN HERE, THE NIGHTMARES HAVE TAKEN GOLDIE!" Toy Chica shouted back, pointing down at the vehicle.

"NIGHTMARES!" Mangle yelled, dropping the shopping bags she was carrying.

"WE NEED TO GET HER BACK!" Toy Bonnie screamed.

"NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" Mangle replied, taking off without a moment's notice, with Toy Bonnie trying to keep up with her. Meanwhile in the van, Nightmare Freddy was most fun he had ever had since setting foot on the earth, smashing into countless vehicles and causing many life-threatening injuries as the van became a mobile battering ram.

_"NOW THIS __IS __WHAT I CALL FUN, WE SHOULD MAKE THIS INTO A FAMILY ACTIVITY!"_ He shouted, bulldozing into a family car and causing it to spin into oncoming traffic. The car spun widely before it collided with a second car, they both exploded into open flame killing the occupants inside and heavily damaging others nearby.

This caused a chain reaction, followed by cars pilling up, crashing into each other, or those that swerved to avoid the pile up, merely ended up turning onto the pavement and crashing into pedestrians, and in some cases killing them.

Toy Chica's eyes widen with horror as the scene quickly turned into one from an natural disaster film.

"Those poor innocent people," she whispered, amidst the sounds of screams, raging fires, screeching tires and the groaning sound of mental being twisted and bent.

Then she hear a new sound…._sirens_.

_"The police!" _she thought, turning round.

She saw several police cars a fair distance's away, pursing the vehicle, with multiple police officers loading their guns as they leaned out of the vehicles' windows. Toy Chica knew she had to stop the vehicle somehow, let the police handle the rest. She slowly slid down onto the vehicle's side, gripping onto the side handles, if she let go she'd fall under the wheels and be crushed to death. Nightmare Foxy heard the sound of police sirens behind him and looked in the left rear view mirror.

_"Shit, we've got the police on our tail and hello...what have we here...a stowaway called Toy Chica," _he hissed, spotting Toy Chica, inching her way forward, whilst trying to keep a tight grip on the side handles.

_"Shoot her, we can't have her on board!_" Nightmare Freddy ordered, keeping his eyes on the road to avoid a major collusion.

_"I don't see a gun in here!" _Nightmare Foxy exclaimed, searching the area around his seat.

_"We're in America, everybody has a gun!"_ Nightmare Bonnie shouted from the back.

_"Try the glovebox, I'll attempt to throw her off,"_ Nightmare Freddy suggested, sharply turning the steering wheel in one direction as they rounded a corner. The sudden sharp turn, caused Toy Chica to lose her grip on one of the side handles, she screamed, as she felt her foot briefly made contact with the van's wheels. She tighten her grip on the one side handle she was holding onto with both hands, steadying her balance.

_"Keep it together," _she thought, although she was scared out of her wits.

Nightmare Foxy tore the glove box open and searched its contents, amongst them he found a pistol...fully loaded with iron sights.

_"Perfect," _he hissed, opening up the gun's barrel.

He snapped it closed, leaned out of the window and aimed at Toy Chica. He fired, his first shot missed her, but actually hit the forward tyre of the leading police car, causing it to slow down. Nightmare Foxy fired again, the second shot, missed Toy Chica's head by an inch, however it caused the police to return fire.

Soon a storm of bullets was passing back and forth with a terrified Toy Chica caught in the middle.

_"I'm way out of my depth here!" _She mentally screamed, as she felt bullets rush through her hair.

"TOY CHICA, JUMP!"

Toy Chica turned to see Mangle running as fast as her legs would carry her, she was trying her best to keep up with the vehicle, but was obviously struggling.

"JUMP, I'LL CATCH YOU!" She shouted, holding out her hands.

"I CAN'T, THEY HAVE GOLDIE!" Toy Chica shouted back.

"YOU'LL GET YOURSELF KILLED GOD DAMMIT, USE SOME FUCKING COMMON SENSE!" Mangle yelled, breathing rather intensely in order to maintain her speed. Nightmare Foxy fired another shot, this one clipped one of Toy Chica's knees, giving her a flesh wound.

"YOU'LL DIE IF YOU STAY ON THAT VAN, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE JUMP!" Mangle shouted.

"USE YOUR ENDOSKELETON ARMS!" Toy Bonnie yelled, who was only now just starting to catch up with Mangle.

"I DON'T HAVE MY BELT WITH ME, I LEFT IT BACK AT JEREMY'S!" Mangle replied, turning to face her.

"WHY?" Toy Bonnie asked.

The fact that she was somehow expected to foresee trouble annoyed Mangle.

"I DIDN'T FORESEE THIS HAPPENING DID I!" she shouted back.

"WE WERE JUST GOING OUT SHOPPING, WHERE'S THE DANGER IN THAT!"

Nightmare Foxy leaned out again and fired, this time at the police, he was able to wound one of them in the arm, but had to retreat back inside as the shooting intensified. Then the van smashed its way past a lorry, knocking it aside into more traffic, causing a massive fiery explosion which roared up the streets.

The force of impact with the lorry, almost cost Toy Chica her life, as she momentarily lost her grip on the handle, only to quickly grab onto it again.

Had she delayed a second longer, she would fallen under the van's wheels.

She slowly pulled herself forward, grabbing onto the side handles as they came in reach.

* * *

"TV sucks," Balloon Boy moaned, flipping through the channels on Jeremy's TV.

He was sitting on one of the couches in Jeremy's living room, while everyone else was in the kitchen, celebrating the reunion of the Originals.

It was very nice for Freddy to personally apologies for his bad tempered words, two nights previous.

"And now if you can see here, are several Indian elephants, these enormous animals are becoming something of a rarity in India due to-"

"Boring!" Balloon Boy groaned, switching channels, there was nothing on which could gain his attention. "Food channel, kids' stuff, a documentary on World War Two, Local news and-"

"GUN FIGHT IN THE CENTRE OF CHICAGO!" The TV screamed out of its sound speakers. "Alright, finally some action!" Balloon Boy shouted, leaning in to get a better view.

Ok, maybe somethings could keep him entertained.

But what he saw next, made him go pale in the face. "Oh shit, that can't be!" he whispered, as his eyes widen with instant recognition.

He paused the TV, leapt off the couch and ran towards the kitchen with his heart pounding in his ears.

It was enough to drown out the festive celebrations.

* * *

Toy Chica was doing ok, or ok as one could be in her position.

She closed her eyes, bracing for the sudden turn, as the van went down another road with what was properly now the entirety of the city's police force in pursuit.

She opened them and looked forward, only to see Nightmare Foxy lean out of the passenger window, put her between the pistol's iron sights and fired. Toy Chica was dead...or she would have been, had the bullet actually fired.

Nightmare Foxy pulled the trigger again, but nothing happened. He opened the gun's barrel to see it was completely empty.

_"Fuck, I'm out, I need to reload!"_ He snarled, opening up the glovebox again and searching for any spare bullets.

Nightmare Freddy meanwhile turned the vehicle left and right, trying to throw Toy Chica off. Although she nearby lost her grip several times, she kept on moving.

_"N-Freddy where are we actually heading?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, from the back of the van, raising a rather important question.

_"Hang on, just let me set up the van's sat nap,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, pressing several buttons into the sat-nap's keypad.

"Destination confirmed, setting a route for Glenview," the sat nap stated in its robotic female voice.

_"No, I wanted this one,"_ Nightmare Freddy ordered, pressing the desired option.

"Destination confirmed, setting a route for Oak Park."

_"No, wrong one."_

Nightmare Freddy pressed another button.

"Navy Pier."

_"NO, WRONG ONE!"_

Nightmare Bonnie groaned, rolling her eyes in displeasure.

_"Oh, let me try, you__ just__ keep on driving,"_ she said, leaning forward through the inner window and pushing Nightmare Freddy aside.

She pressed the desired option.

"Downer's Grove," the sat nap replied.

_"No, we want that one,"_ she said, pressing it again.

"Arlington Heights."

_"No, I clearly _ _didn't _ _press that."_

Nightmare Bonnie let out a angry hiss, jamming the touch screen again with her fist.

"Orland Park."

_"ARE YOU GONNA NAME EVERY PLACE IN THIS FUCKING CITY!"_

"Mount Prospect."

_"WHO DESIGNED THIS PIECE OF SHIT!"_

"Riverside."

"_OH, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!"_

"East Chicago."

_"FINALLY!"_

_"We need get rid of these police cops, they can't follow us back to the meeting point,"_ said Nightmare Chica stating the obvious.

_"Agreed, N-Foxy kill them,"_ Nightmare Freddy ordered. _"I'm on it captain, just let me get Toy Chica first,"_ Nightmare Foxy replied, thoroughly searching the glovebox.

_"Can't we just call Vincent and have him do something, like...hack into their system and send them off on a wild goose chase?" _Nightmare Bonnie suggested.

Then something clicked inside Nightmare Freddy's head, it was like a light bulb being turned on. _"Yes, in fact, here,"_ he said, quickly removing his watch from his arm and passing to Nightmare Bonnie.

_"What's this?"_ She asked bluntly, examining it.

_"It's a watch, but it's also a tracker and can send texts to Vincent, inform him of our situation and tell him to hack their system, or at least get his endoskeleton pals to do it," _Nightmare Freddy ordered. Nightmare Bonnie sat down in the back, opened up the watch and started to type.

_"N-Foxy if you wanna kill Toy Chica, now's your chance," _Nightmare Freddy stated, as Nightmare Foxy found several new bullets and pushed them into the gun barrel.

_"Will do captain,"_ he replied grinning.

He closed the gun barrel, leaned out and-

Suddenly a hand grabbed hold of his wrist. Nightmare Foxy turned and saw Toy Chica directly in front of the passenger side window. She had grabbed his wrist in such a way, that he couldn't actually the turn the gun to face her.

Toy Chica then strengthen her grip, in an attempt to make Nightmare Foxy let go of the weapon. He fought with her, trying to break out of her iron like grip, her eyes betrayed the rage she held towards him and Nightmare Foxy could clearly see she was pissed as hell.

"Let. Goldie. Go!" she said in a very clear tone of determination and anger.

_"You let go, if you knows what's best for you lassie,"_ Nightmare Foxy stated back, with narrowed eyes. Nightmare Freddy, attempted to help his companion by diving sharply to the left and right, trying to throw Toy Chica off balance. In the confusion of Toy Chica trying to keep herself steady, Nightmare Foxy pulled her in through the window.

For a few seconds, Toy Chica saw a sat nap next to Nightmare Freddy, Nightmares Bonnie and Chica in the back, along with an unconscious Goldie, lying on the floor. But that was all she saw, before she was forced out of the vehicle.

Nightmare Foxy was now holding her in midair, above the chaos that littered the road with his hook, which was tearing into the collar line of her clothes. With his now free hand, he grabbed hold of hers, stroking it.

_"So soft...so smooth,"_ he commented, grinning from ear to ear.

"Why do you need Goldie?" She asked, trying not to look at the mess that lay beneath her.

A nearby explosion caused her to flinch, amidst Nightmare Foxy's laughter.

_"Oh, you'll see soon enough lassie,"_ he replied.

_"Do you know what's it's like to have broken bones?"_

Toy Chica shook her head.

"No."

Nightmare Foxy's eyes appeared to shine with vicious intent.

_"Well, you will now," _he said smugly, revealing his full set of fangs.

With that he took her hand, placed it in his mouth and bit down hard.

Toy Chica screamed as she felt her hand being crushed, blood squirted everywhere, as Nightmare Foxy sank his teeth in.

Toy Chica desperately try to pull her hand out, but to no avail. She screamed even louder, as she heard several cracking sounds as the fangs penetrated deep. Nightmare Foxy, then released her hand, licking the blood off his teeth with his snake like tongue.

_"Goodbye!" _He snared, and with that, he threw her backwards, letting go with his hook.

Toy Chica flew through the air in slow motion, amidst the bullets and explosions.

She closed her eyes, knowing that she was properly going to die, either by hitting her head against a car or the solid stone pavement. Suddenly she felt something grab her, wrapping it's arms around her waist. She could feel her world being spun upside down as she rolled, landing on the pavement and rolling still until coming to a complete stop.

"TOY CHICA!" a voice shouted.

Toy Chica opened her eyes and looked up, or rather looked down to see Mangle gripping her tightly.

"ARE YOU OK, LAST THING I SAW WAS YOU HANGING IN THE AIR!"

Then she saw Toy Chica's crushed and bleeding hand.

"SWEET JESUS, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR HAND?" She asked, examining it, as about thirty police cars raced past with their sirens blaring at full volume.

"He...Nightmare Foxy bit it...quite badly," Toy Chica answered, momentarily hazed. Then Toy Bonnie caught up, crashing into the pair and instantly wrapping her arms around Toy Chica, pulling her into a hug.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME, DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" She shouted, whilst sobbing into her shoulder.

"I don't want to lose you, for a moment...I thought I did," she whispered, holding Toy Chica close.

"I'm fine, but my hand, I think it's broken...I can't move it," Toy Chica moaned, as blood ran down her arm.

Toy Bonnie and Mangle, both examined it.

"This looks bad, the bite marks appear to have gone in deep and you say you can't move it?" Toy Bonnie asked.

Toy Chica slowly nodded, as her body started to ache.

"Then it properly is broken or at the very least just heavily bruised and numb," Mangle stated.

Then Toy Chica suddenly burst into tears.

"THEY TOOK HIM, THEY TOOK GOLDIE!"

Mangle allowed Toy Chica to burry herself into her chest.

"Sh, sh, sh, we'll get him back, don't cry," she whispered, stroking her golden blonde hair.

Several ambulances rushed past, some stopping nearby, others continuing down the road, following the trail of destruction.

"Come on, let's get you home T.C, unless we can get served by one of those nearby ambulances," Toy Bonnie said, looking around at the erupting chaos. A humming sound was heard, they all looked up to see two to three helicopters flying above, two of them were police helicopters, the other was news owned.

"The ambulances are our best option, come on, let's get her up," Mangle ordered, as both she and Toy Bonnie pulled Toy Chica to her feet. "Just stick with us and everything will be alright," Toy Bonnie told her, grasping her hand tightly.

But Toy Chica continued to cry, as they made their way towards the parked ambulances, passing multiple car wrecks, burning tyre fires and the unrecognisable body parts of former drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

_"No,"_ she thought.

_"Everything is not alright. . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have expected the kidnapping, but did you expect for it to turn out as it did?  
Thank you to those who are reading.
> 
> Please review.


	16. Comeback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back after a small break and we have a song in this chapter, it's 'Immortal' by Aviators, (He's an amazing song producer).  
I think it helps to cement the main theme for this chapter, although it does start late, so please enjoy. :-)  
Next time I'll look into seeing if I can get another sing along song in, like I did with Disconnected by Keane, I quite liked doing that. :-)

**Chapter 16.**

**Comeback.**

**"Revenge is a dish, best served cold."**

**Mario Puzo**

"This can't be happening, not in Chicago," said Jeremy, with his eyes permanently glued to the living room's TV screen.

"And yet it is matey," Foxy added in a mournful tone.

Everyone was frozen to spot, watching repeated footage of a black van smashing its way through traffic, bashing cars, people, giving no care to anyone. Worse still was the footage of Toy Chica which took everyone by complete surprise.

"What is she doing?" Toy Freddy exclaimed, grasping his head with his hands.

"She's trying to hang on, what's in the van?" The Puppet asked, examining the TV footage. "We don't know," Bonnie answered, her tone was of a mix of concern for Toy Chica's welfare and complete shock at what she was seeing. Then they saw a Foxy look alike lean out of the front passenger seat and shot at Toy Chica, who was struggling to hold on.

"Don't fall, don't fall, don't fall, don't fall," Toy Freddy whispered, his entire body was shaking, he couldn't watch a member of his family die.

"No wait she's stable, she's still on," Balloon Boy cried, watching from the couch, resulting a cheer from the others.

"Good girl," Toy Freddy muttered, his eyes fixed solely on Toy Chica. The footage they were being shown was being filmed from the air by helicopter.

"Police forces on at the scene in pursuit of vehicle, man...it's just...utter chaos out here, I can see burning cars, bodies, several ambulances are following the police, stopping off one by one along the route to provide assistance."

"Is there a possibility that this is a terrorist attack?" Someone asked from the central newsroom. "No, we have no idea yet, they could be supporters of certain terroist groups or drug lords, we don't know as it's too early to tell," the news reporter replied. "It would appear that a nearby citizen is attempting to take down the gunmen by themselves." Close up footage showed Toy Chica wresting with the Foxy lookalike for the gun.

"COME ON T.C, NAILL HIM!" Chica shouted.

"BASH HIS HEAD IN!" The Puppet yelled.

"PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE!" Balloon Boy shouted.

Toy Chica was pulled momentarily inside the vehicle, only for her to be shoved out again and held up in the air by the Foxy lookalike with his hook. "Wait what is he doing to her!" Toy Freddy, pushing people aside for a closer look.

Then everyone gasped in horror, as the Foxy lookalike appeared to bite down on Toy Chica's hand, Toy Chica, herself appeared to be in a world of pain. "NO!" Toy Freddy screamed, as she was then thrown from the vehicle like a child discarding of its toy. Luckily, she was caught by Mangle in midflight, before landing on the ground in a roll, this made everyone give a sigh of relief. "Thank God for Mangle," Mike stated, nervously running his hand through his hair. "Thank for God for Mangle indeed," said Jeremy, watching the unfolding chaos with a shocked expression.

Then Freddy held up his hand.

"Wait, someone pause that," he ordered.

Jeremy grabbed the TV controls and pressed pause.

"Go back, rewind, can this thing do close ups?" Freddy asked.

"Yeah it can," Jeremy answered, fulfilling Freddy's request.

"Keep going, ok stop."

Freddy leaned in for a closer look.

"Do a close up, enhance the resolution."

Jeremy did so, putting it on the highest setting available.

"That's as high as it gets I'm afraid," he said plainly.

Freddy leaned in further, until he was blocking the TV.

"Mmm...wait...," he muttered.

Then he gasped.

"I KNEW IT!"

"Knew what?" The Puppet asked, leaning forward to get a better view as Freddy's head was blocking out the entire TV set. "That's...Nightmare Foxy," Freddy answering pointing at the Foxy lookalike.

"The teeth, the behavior, it all fits to together."

"Nightmare Foxy!" Foxy shouted, gripping his head in confusion.

"THERE'S A NIGHTMARE VERSION OF ME NOW!"

"It is him, it has to be him, I can't think of anyone else," Freddy replied, sitting back, giving everyone else the chance to see for themselves. "Great now there's two Nightmares and possibly four as well," Bonnie groaned, slumping down in her seat.

"But first we need to go and get Toy Chica, Toy Bonnie and Mangle," said Jeremy, getting up.

"Anyone coming with me?" He asked.

"I will," Toy Freddy replied, standing up.

"I'll come too," said the Puppet, joining in by jumping to her feet.

"Anyone else?" Jeremy asked.

Freddy turned to face Jeremy.

"I would prefer it, if everyone else stayed here, we need to plan, these Nightmares have clearly raised the stakes, now that they're harming innocent civilians."

"You lot do that and we'll be back with the other Toys, come on, if I were them, I'll be heading back here." Jeremy stated, he turned and walked out of the room with Toy Freddy and the Puppet following him. A minute later there was the sound of a van driving off, fading away into the distance, as everyone glued their eyes once more to the chaos filled TV screen.

* * *

"It's hurts so much, can't we just cut it off?" Toy Chica moaned, as Toy Bonnie and Mangle supported her through the chaotic streets of central Chicago.

They had been served by an ambulance crew, who had given Toy Chica TCP a mild antiseptic to clear the wound and fight against any potential infection, then put bandages around it. Now she was starting to get pain in her hand, a strong indicator that her nerves where reconnecting with each other.

"No, we can't, besides you need to have two hands, how else can you live a proper life," Mangle replied. "Well Foxy's an exception with his hook."

She smiled at Toy Chica, trying to raise her hopes up. "Quick onto the pavement now!" Toy Bonnie shouted, swiftly pulling them aside and off the main road.

An ambulance raced past, not stopping to help with its sirens on at full blast. From where it had come, loomed a tall tower of black smoke, rising into the sky. Wrecked cars still littered the road, some were still burning, if there were bodies, the police and ambulances crews would have already taken them to the morgue.

Gunfire and police sirens could still be heard in the distance, in the opposite direction to which the girls where heading.

Toy Bonnie smiled at Toy Chica.

"Come on Toy Chica, your alive, think of the look on Toy Freddy's face, on everyone's faces when they see you alive and well."

"Goldie...they got him, and we lost the shopping," was Toy Chica's mumbled reply.

"I know dear, but we'll get him back, besides who cares about the shopping...oh."

Toy Bonnie reached into her pocket. "Apart from this," she placed a golden handbag into Toy Chica's hands...her eyes lit up.

"I picked it up, before I ran."

For a moment, Toy Chica was too lost for words staring at the golden handbag. "Thank you, Toy Bonnie," she replied, smiling. Toy Bonnie hugged her and then kissed her on the forehead. "What you did was very foolish, but also very brave, I know I wouldn't dare cling onto a vehicle filled with psychotic versions of ourselves."

"Even with my extra endoskeleton arms, I wouldn't dare dream of doing a thing like that," Mangle added, grinning. "Thank you Mangle, for saving my life," Toy Chica replied, she stopped to throw her arms around Mangle's shoulders, embracing the whited haired woman in a tight hug.

"Anytime Toy Chica...anytime, although I except you to do the same," Mangle stated, resting her head on Toy Chica's shoulders.

"Of course, Mangle, I promise," said Toy Chica, tightening her grip.

"I'm sorry we have to walk back to the Jeremy's, but none of the public services appear to be running," Toy Bonnie groaned, looking around for any sign of a bus. "We'll have to keep walking then, hopefully they'll already be looking for us, if they saw the TV that is," Mangle stated.

"I'm certain that they are coming for us," Toy Bonnie replied cheerfully.

_"And that Toy Freddy is with them." _She thought, it would be nice to see him again, she found his presence to be calming.

He made her feel safe.

"The fastest way back to the Jeremy's is apparently this way."

Toy Bonnie was brought out of her thoughts to see Toy Chica, pointing at a street sign.

"See, the place where Jeremy lives is three to two miles away from here, therefore we should go this way," she said, looking at both Toy Bonnie and Mangle for their nods of agreement. "Then it's this way we go," Toy Bonnie replied, to which Mangle nodded again, taking the first step forward.

They kept on walking, passing people who were more interested in what was happening further up the street, groups which soon turned into crowds. "I bet their drug lords from downtown," one man shouted, raising his hand in anger to which many people murmured in agreement "I heard they might be terrorists from overseas," a woman cried.

"Maybe their religious zealots, who hate what we stand for!"

"No, I heard they're possibly C.I.A," another man shouted. "Oh please, that's like saying the Bush administration orchestrated 9/11!" someone else yelled in the crowd and soon an argument developed over the identity of the mysterious killers. _"Well we know who they are, but I bet you people would never believe us," _Toy Chica thought confidently, as she and the others passed them by, like sheep among bickering wolves.

As they walked further, the streets became more organized, with armed law enforcement officers being seen frequently among the crowds.

They looked in all manner of directions, on the lookout for anything or anyone suspicious.

"At least we're out of the fire," Mangle commented, referring to the hell, that they were in only a half an hour earlier. "They should be looking for us right now," Toy Bonnie stated, her eyes searching for any sign of Jeremy's van. "I'm sure they'll be here soon," said Toy Chica cheerfully, clearly playing the optimistic card, despite their situation.

She turned to look back at the crowds of people as an idea popped into her head. "Maybe we could ask the locals to help us...you know for directions." She walked towards them, which caused Mangle to reach out, grab her and pull her away with an annoyed look on her face.

"Err...no, people in this sort of situation often look to themselves."

"Are you sure?" Toy Chica asked.

"Positive," Mangle whispered firmly in her ear.

"When the walls fall, everyone blames everyone else, remember how Fazbear Entertainment were gonna 'treat' us despite our years of company loyalty."

"Oh yeah," Chica mumbled in response.

"I remember their sweet words of bitter honey and sugar."

"Hey guys, is Jeremy's van white in colour with a reddish line going around the sides?" Toy Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, why are you asking?" Mangle enquired, turning to look in the latter's direction.

"Because I think that van over there in distance is Jeremy's,"" Toy Bonnie replied pointing at a white van which stood out among the police cars and ambulances. As it approached, Toy Bonnie recognized the faces of Jeremy and Toy Freddy in the front driver's and passenger's seats.

"IT IS, IT'S JEREMY AND TOY FREDDY!" She shouted, grabbing Toy Chica and Mangle and pulling them forward. The van parked nearby, Toy Freddy jumped out and within two seconds, he had reached them, throwing his arms around the group.

"Are you all ok, Toy Chica what about your hand!" He panicked, examining any injuries they had received. "Mangle and I are fine, it's Toy Chica who has a crushed hand, and it's possibly broken, although the medics couldn't say with full certainty," Toy Bonnie replied.

"At least you are all in one piece, I saw everything on the TV, Toy Chica what on earth where you are thinking, you could have been killed!" Toy Freddy exclaimed, tightening his grip on her shoulders. "I have my reasons, but I want to tell everyone why I did it in one place, this has been heard by everyone," Toy Chica replied, she slowly peeled Toy Freddy's hands off her.

"I'm very glad you came through," she said, smiling.

"I see you brought the Puppet along with you," Mangle commented, pointing to the Puppet, as she stepped out of the back of the van.

Toy Freddy nodded

"She volunteered."

Then Jeremy walked up, surveying the scene.

"Thank God you three are alive, everyone was in a state of shock, when they saw you on that vehicle," he said, patting Toy Chica on head.

Jeremy turned to face Mangle.

"Mangle, we owe you a huge thanks for saving Toy Chica, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Tired, running takes a lot out of me," she replied, leaning against his chest for support, as she felt her legs turn to jelly. Toy Bonnie tapped Jeremy on the shoulders, getting his attention. "I'm sorry Jeremy, but we lost the shopping," she lowered her head in shame.

"Forget the shopping, we can go another time, what matters is that you three are all safe," Jeremy replied, smiling as he patted Toy Bonnie on the head.

"Come on, we best get moving...there's no point sticking around."

Jeremy's eyes scanned the horizon, seeing the large tower of black smoke, amidst the sounds of police and ambulance sirens. "Especially considering what's just happened here," he muttered. The Puppet meanwhile was taking a good look around, focusing on the chaos, the people, the sounds and the tower of black smoke which grew in the distance.

She wanted to see this for herself, to understand the damage that had been caused.

"What was all of this for?" She asked herself.

Meanwhile groups of people were gathered outside nearby TV shops, with all the TVs in the front windows broadcasting the local news as being presented by a middle aged blonde woman.

"We now can confirmed that the death toll in the last few minutes is now at twenty five people dead, but that is expected to rise, the police are still pursing the suspects, but have apparently lost sight of them and are now getting multiple reports of sightings across the city, we can except the city governors to announce later today that Chicago will be placed under lockdown, until the suspects are caught and arrested and until then everyone is strongly advised to stay indoors."

The Puppet ignored the newswoman and focused her mind on the conversion between Freddy and Chica, in the aftermath of her attack by Nightmare Freddy.

_"If one can do this much damage, then just imagine what four can do."_

Black smoke rising in the distance, with her mind cutting to Freddy being tortured by Nightmare Freddy.

_"If one can do this much damage, then just imagine what four can do."_

Cars crashing into each other and exploding, with Chica's beating at the hands of Nightmare Freddy.

_"If one can do this much damage, then just imagine what four can do."_

Police cars and ambulances racing by, then showing Toy Chica being bitten.

_"If one can do this much damage, then just imagine what four can do."_

Innocent people lying on the ground, dead, wounded, or in a state of shock, before transforming into Nightmare Freddy standing above her, with his claws raised.

_"If one can do this much damage, then just imagine what four can do."_

_"What four can do..."_

_"What four can do..."_

"PUPPET, COME ON, WE'RE LEAVING!" Toy Bonnie shouted, breaking Puppet's concentration, as she clambered into the back of the van, alongside Mangle and Toy Chica.

"Coming," The Puppet replied, turning round.

She jumped in the back and closed the doors shut, just as Jeremy's fired up the van's engine.

The van turned round and headed back the way it had come, with the tower of black smoke getting smaller and smaller in the distance.

* * *

Everyone else was still watching the news, when there was a fierce loud knock on the front door.

Instantly Freddy ran to it and threw the door wide open.

"Oh thank God that you're all safe," he said with immense relief, as Jeremy, Mangle, Toy Chica, Toy Bonnie and the Puppet walked through.

"Yes we found them, save and sound, although Toy Chica has got a damaged hand, but the medics have treated it as best they could," Jeremy replied, proceeding to sit down at the kitchen table and rest his head in his hands. Then everyone else exited the lounge to greet them, happy to see that the Toys were alright.

Within seconds Toy Chica was surrounded and being bombarded with questions.

"Why did you do it?"

"How's your hand?

"What was in the van?"

"Are there now two Nightmares?"

"What was it like to cling onto a vehicle amidst a gun fight?"

Toy Freddy and Freddy raised their hands to restore order. "Guys please give her room to breathe, she wants to tell us, but you won't let her," Freddy exclaimed, trying to raise his voice above everyone else. "Can everyone shut up for a least a solid minute to let Toy Chica speak," Toy Freddy shouted, also trying to establish a sense of order.

But no one was listening.

Angry that nothing was getting through, Toy Freddy stomped on the floor in a deafening thud.

"SHUT UP!" he shouted at the top of his voice, catching everyone's attention.

"Let Toy Chica speak and your questions will be answered."

He then pulled a chair back, allowing Toy Chica to sit in it.

She clasped her hands together, as everyone gathered around her.

"Well...how do I begin?" She asked herself, whilst clasping her hands rather tightly, undeniably she looked tensed.

**xxxx**

"**We walk along this ashen trail..."**

**"Through war and fire..."**

  
**"They doubted freedom would prevail."**

  
**"We're climbing higher…"**

**xxxx**

"Well, why did you cling onto the van, that would be a good place to start," Bonnie stated.

"Yes, it would, thanks Bonnie," Toy Chica replied.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"They, the Nightmares had someone in that van, someone very important to us, I saw them take him away."

"Him, it's a he?" Foxy asked, Chica elbowed him to be quiet. He was unconscious, as they carried him to the van, throwing him in like a piece of meat."

Toy Chica stopped to wipe away the tears that were forming.

"Toy Chica, who did they take?" Freddy asked, leaning across the table. oy Bonnie put her hand on Toy Chica's shoulder as a form of comfort.

"Tell them T.C, they need to know."

Toy Chica, suppressed her tears and reached down into her pocket. She slowly pulled out a golden handbag, and placed it in the centre of the table for all to see.

It took a second for its meaning to sink in.

Freddy's expression of curiosity changed to one of pure shock.

"Wait...don't tell me they took..."

But Toy Chica on the verge of sobbing, slowly nodded her head.

"Yes," she whispered.

"They took Goldie."

"Goldie?" The Puppet asked, her eyes widen, to which Toy Bonnie nodded, her eyes casted downwards. Toy Chica broke down into a sobbing mess, as everyone shared looks of horror with each other. Toy Freddy went round to Toy Chica and hugged her.

"We'll get him back," he said, letting her sob into his chest.

"We lost one of the crew, dam them, dam them to hell!" Foxy exclaimed, hitting the table with his hook in frustration.

"How did they get hold of Goldie, he isn't weak?" Balloon Boy asked, raising his head to be seen.

Toy Chica, pulled herself together to mount a response.

"I was walking with Mangle and Toy Bonnie, when I heard voices, coming from a nearby alleyway, which was blocked by a van."

She suppressed her emotions in order to continue.

"I went in and saw them dragging Goldie's unconscious body towards the back of the van, at first I thought they were the Originals, seeing how they looked so alike."

This caused Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy to give each other nervous glances.

**xxxx**

**"When the broken call, I will stand up tall."**

**"It's all over, there's change in the air."**

  
**"If we fall tonight, I will shine a light."**

  
**"Upon justice, to make this game fair."**

**xxxx**

"But when I approached them, I saw that they were the Nightmares, I asked them why they were dragging Goldie, but they refused to answer, then Nightmare Foxy chased me away."

Toy Chica, fought hard to keep herself in check. "I turned and saw the van moving forward, so did what I could and jumped on, and yeah, I was holding on for dear life, as a chaotic gun battle exploded around me."

She stopped for a second time to wipe away her tears.

"And you all saw it, I fought with Nightmare Foxy for control of the gun and was grabbed by him as well as having my hand bitten, before I was flung from the vehicle, only to be caught by Mangle."

Everyone was in a state of shock and disbelief, unable to accept Toy Chica's words.

"They took Goldie...why though?" Mike asked, looking confused like everyone else. "I did my best to stop them, but I couldn't save him," Toy Chica sobbed, breaking down once again. Freddy, however proceed to grab a nearby chair and throw it against the wall, catching everyone's attention, apart from Toy Chica who was still crying.

"IT'S NOT FAIR, WHY MUST WE ALWAYS LOSE!" He shouted.

He narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he bashed the table with his fists, making it shake violently.

"THE PURPLE GUY COMES AND TAKES INNOCENT LIVES, FIRST IN 1978, 1983, 1987 AND NOW 2015, WITH MORE INNOCENT PEOPLE DEAD AND NOW THESE FUCKING NIGHTMARES TAKE GOLDIE, WHY MUST WE ALWAYS LOSE, WHY MUST VINCENT ALWAYS BE ONE FUCKING STEP AHEAD!"

He threw his arms up in a rage.

"THERE'S FOURTEEN OF US AND FIVE OF THEM, HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!"

"WE CAN'T EVEN PROTECT ONE OF OUR OWN, HOW, WHY, I'M SICK OF BEING A VICTIM, ITS NOT FAIR!"

He leaned on the table to steady himself and breath in deeply to calm himself down.

"Why does this always happen to us?" he asked.

**xxxx**

**"We are immortal!"**

  
**"When destiny reigns and no one can stop this hellbound train."**

  
**"When history listens, will they know our names?"**

  
**"We are immortal, cuz legends remain."**

**xxxx**

Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, pulled him back, allowing him to rest against their shoulders.

"I would agree with you on that Freddy, the Purple Guy is a cunning foe, there's no doubt he's behind Goldie's kidnapping, bastard, he'll wish he's in hell when I get my hands on him," Toy Freddy snarled, still hugging Toy Chica.

"Nightmare Freddy wants Goldie for something, knowing him from 'recent' experience, he will put Goldie in a lot of pain," said Chica, rubbing Freddy's shoulders to massage his muscles which were already tense.

"Same here, the Nightmares are sadists, they will hurt Goldie for whatever purposes and Vincent is without a shadow of doubt the 'puppet master'," the Puppet added. "Ironic turn of phrase for you Puppet," Balloon Boy humorously stated, earning him a glare from the Puppet, who narrowed her eyes like a hawk.

"Well, there's only one option we can really take," said Toy Chica, raising her head and wiping her tears away.

She now looked angry...hell knows no fury like a woman scorned.

"We gonna go after them and fuck them into the next century!"

**xxxx**

**"We make our own way, we rebuild the cities razed."**

**  
"Our prophecy is self-fulfilled, for better days."**

**xxxx**

"Aye, lassie, we must go and get Goldie back!" Foxy hissed.

"Jeremy get your guns, where ever you keep them and make ready your van," Freddy ordered, releasing himself from Chica, Bonnie and Foxy's grip.

"Wait!" Balloon Boy shouted, catching everyone's attention.

"We don't know where they are, the police forces are just as clueless and they're experts at this," he said, pointing to the TV in the lounge, which was still broadcasting the local news.

Jeremy leaned back in his chair and groaned. "He's right, we would have to search the entire city, that'll take days, or even weeks."

"No...we won't," said Toy Chica sternly, pushing her chair back.

She stood up tall.

**xxxx**

**"When the broken call, I will stand up tall."**

**"It's all over, there's change in the air."**

  
**"If we fall tonight, I will shine a light."**

  
**"Upon justice, to make this game fair..."**

**xxxx**

"When I saw pulled into their vehicle, I saw a sat nap next to Nightmare Freddy, he was the one driving, it was brief, but I remember a few things on its screen...distance...speed readings...time of arrival."

"What was their destination?" Toy Bonnie asked.

Toy Chica closed her eyes and tried to focus, replaying scenes from her memory.

"Something...something to do with...it's was in Chicago...Chicago...come on think...Chicago...East."

"Chicago East, wait, I have a map, Mike pull out the top map from those shelves over there."

Mike proceeded to reach over to one of the kitchen's shelves and pulled out a folded map, which he passed to Jeremy. "Yes, there is an area called Chicago East, it's along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, an industrial area," he said, unfolding the map and spreading it out across the table.

"Is it a bad area?" Mangle asked, her eyes scanning the map in great detail. "It has its bad parts like all cities, but some industrial areas have old factories which haven't been destroyed or renovated for years, they've just been left to rust and decay," Jeremy answered.

"It is the perfect hiding place," Toy Bonnie commented.

Jeremy's eyes lit up as she said it.

"Exactly."

"So, we get some guns, we drive over to East Chicago and search for Goldie, killing the Nightmares and Vincent in the process?" Chica asked.

"That's my kind of plan," Freddy muttered under his breath.

"Who's in?" Jeremy asked.

There was only ever gonna be one definitive answer.

"Me!" Everyone answered raising their hand.

"Then let's do this," Jeremy said with a mischievous grin. He rose from his seat, when the Puppet suddenly raised her hand and pointed in the direction of the staircase in the hallway outside.

"What about Springtrap, shouldn't he be involved too?"

Everyone gave one another nervous expressions, they all remembered the fight between Goldie and Springtrap, they didn't wish to confront him, particularly on the issue of Goldie.

"He knew Goldie...he was his best friend," the Puppet stated.

"She's right Springtrap should know, but I don't think he's in the mood to join us...he seems caught up in the past, and was pretty angry with Goldie, does someone wanna go up and talk to him?" Jeremy asked.

Mangle sighed, before stepping forward.

"I will, but that's only because I talked to him yesterday and was able get a conversation going."

She headed towards the hallway where the staircase was.

"Anyone wish to join me?" She asked, turning round to face the others.

"I will," Freddy answered, stepping forward.

"I know Goldie very well, I've forgiven him for the mistakes he has made in the past, perhaps I might be able to convince Springtrap to do the same."

"Good, you two do that, while we'll gather the necessary equipment, but we can only give you five minutes to convince him, after that we are gone, so if he isn't joining us..."

Jeremy ran his hand through his hair as he let out a sigh, accepting the possible outcome. "We'll have to leave him here, until we get back."

"Ok, we'll try our best," Mangle replied, pulling Freddy along with her. "Let's just hope Springtrap will see sense," Freddy whispered to her.

"Well given the circumstances, we can only hope," Mangle muttered, she was expecting a fight. Once they started climbing the stairs, Jeremy began issuing orders. "Right Mike, Puppet and Balloon Boy, take the car keys and open the van up outside, the rest come with me," he said, tossing the car keys in Mike's direction, who caught them in his hand.

"Where are we going captain?" Foxy asked, following him out of the room.

Jeremy turned to face him and smiled like a kid on Christmas.

"We gonna carry guns Foxy, lots and lots of guns."

**xxxx**

**"We are immortal!"**

  
**"When destiny reigns and no one can stop this hellbound train."**

  
**"When history listens, will they know our names?"**

  
**"We are immortal, cuz legends remain."**

**xxxx**

* * *

Springtrap was sitting on his bed, staring at the picture of Fredbear's grand opening, when he heard several loud knocks at the door.

"Spring...It's me Freddy and Mangle, we would like to talk to you," a voice called.

"Come in," Springtrap muttered, sounding rather downcast. The door swung open, as Freddy and Mangle walked in. "Springtrap, we have something very important to tell you..."

Freddy took a deep breath before continuing.

"It involves Goldie."

"Oh...what did he do this time?" Springtrap asked, without even bothering to turn around. He sounded like an adult being used to their child being a constant trouble maker.

"Goldie has been kidnapped by the Nightmares, Spring they want him for something, no doubt Vincent is behind all of this, will you join us in trying to get him back?" Mangle asked.

Springtrap sighed, slumping forward.

"I...can't join you...I'm too divided on Goldie...what happened in the past will enrage me should I ever set eyes on him again."

"Springtrap, Goldie's your friend," Mangle protested.

"You can't just abandon him like that."

Then Springtrap turned to face her, his eyes now burning with anger.

"WELL HE ABANDONED ME!" He shouted, his expression one of rage. "Springtrap, you and I are in a similar position with Goldie," Freddy begin, catching Springtrap's attention.

"Let me explain."

Freddy proceeded sit down besides Springtrap, before speaking. "Listen, I understand where you're coming from, he lied to you, he left you when you wanted his help and you suffered for decades in isolation."

Springtrap appeared to calm down and nodded slowly in agreement with Freddy's words. "You and I went through something similar, yes I wasn't abandoned like you...but I was lied too, Goldie kept secrets from us, at first I was angry with him for doing that, but now..."

Freddy leaned back and sighed.

"I see why he did it, he wanted to keep us safe from his mistakes, from what Vincent had done, he's been trying to right the wrongs of the past."

Springtrap opened his mouth to speak, but Freddy continued. "Goldie wouldn't miss an opportunity to fix things with you Spring, everyone heard him two nights ago, he wants to fix the past, he accepted that he had hurt you, although he never intended too, he still sees you as family Spring."

Freddy turned to meet Springtrap in the eye.

"And if I know Goldie, he would do everything in his power to make that a reality."

"But he isn't here to do that," Springtrap replied, to which Freddy nodded.

"Then maybe you should show him that your willing to fix things, he wants you to forgive him, and I wouldn't be far off track to say that you want the same thing."

Springtrap lowered his head.

"Save him Spring, please we need your help, the Nightmares will kill him if we don't act and time isn't on our side, we leave in three minutes for East Chicago," Mangle plead, taking hold of Springtrap's hands.

It was then she noticed the picture, as did Freddy.

"May I?" she asked politely.

**xxxx**

**"We rise where heroes fell."**

**  
"Inside a man made hell…"**

**xxxx**

Springtrap only nodded his head, as Mangle carefully took the picture out of his hands, she looked at it, studying it's features in detail before handing it over to Freddy.

"This is the opening day of the diner," Freddy exclaimed, to which Springtrap only replied with a mumbled "yes."

**xxxx**

**"Through streets of blood and dust…where weapons turn to rust."**

**xxxx**

"You and Goldie look...so happy…like best friends," Freddy stated, amazed to see that a piece of Goldie's past had survived for this long.

Springtrap's reply was cocking his head to one side.

"Yeah...we were, times were good back then," he muttered.

"Before...'he' came...and ruined everything."

"We all have a common enemy Spring, he's the one who now has Goldie, doing God knows what to him, but if you still care about him...will you come and join us?" Freddy asked. "Goldie would come and help you, if you were in a similar position...we know he would," Mangle added.

"Your properly right on that one, but I'm still angry with him," Springtrap stated, clenching his fists. "I see your point, yes you two clearly have unresolved issues, but if you want to make things right between you and Goldie, saving him would be a good start," Freddy replied.

A mass of movement could be heard downstairs, followed by the sounds of people groaning, as if they would be carrying something heavy.

"Why is it all crumbled and creased?" Mangle asked, running her finger along the bent folded lines of the picture.

Springtrap sighed.

"I tried to throw it away last night amidst my hatred for Goldie, but..."

"You found that you couldn't?" Freddy asked, also running his hand along the creased lines that stretched from one end of the picture to the other.

Springtrap, slowly nodded his head in confirmation of Freddy's words.

Mangle, glanced at the bedside clock, one minute left before leaving.

_The last throw of the dice..._

**xxxx**

**We're the fire."**

  
**"We're the change."**

  
**"We're the lost ones…"**

**xxxx**

"Spring, Goldie has been an important figure in our lives, especially for Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, tell him Freddy."

Freddy grasped Springtrap's hands, making him look up.

"Spring, Goldie was a father figure to us in our youth, our mentor, he taught us everything he knew...I am angry with some of the things he's done, but I don't want him to die," Freddy found that without initialing realizing, he had put on a begging tone.

"Please, help us Spring, I know you have problems with Goldie, but,"

Freddy found a lump forming in his throat.

"I don't want to lose him, you, him, I and everyone else wants to return to the good old days."

He held up the picture of Fredbear's Diner in front of Springtrap. "We want this, you want this, Goldie wants this, the Nightmares and the Purple Man don't stop until we are all dead and I mean everyone related to Fazbear's."

Freddy desperately waved the picture before Springtrap's grey eyes, trying to cement his point. "GUYS COME ON, WE'RE LEAVING!" Toy Bonnie shouted from downstairs, amidst the sounds of multiple footsteps.

"JUST GIVE US A SECOND!" Mangle shouted back.

**xxxx**

**"We're the storm."**

**  
"We're the last ammunition..."**

**xxxx**

"If we reunite now, we can stop all of this, we can kill Vincent Afton, defeat the Nightmares and set about returning to this...being children entertainers, you want to be friends with Goldie, we want this, I know you want this and now's your chance to regain it, please don't ignore this Spring," Freddy begged, gazing into Springtrap's eyes.

"I want to help you and Goldie, I would like to get to know you a little better Spring, everyone would...I see you as family, don't you see yourself as family?" Freddy asked, searching for any sign of agreement from Springtrap, but he merely sat in a cold, deathly silence.

"GUYS WE ARE LEAVING, EVERYONE ELSE IS ALREADY IN THE VAN WITH THE GUNS!" Toy Bonnie shouted. "Freddy, we should go, if Spring doesn't want to come, then that is his choice," Mangle stated, taking hold of Freddy's hands, as she slowly lead him away.

"DOESN'T GOLDIE MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU SPRINGTRAP!" Freddy shouted, trying to pull away, but Mangle, despite tough resistance from Freddy, maintained a strong grip. Springtrap sat there on the bed, looking towards the window with a long yard stare.

"SAY SOMETHING SPRING!" Freddy yelled.

"Freddy, we have to leave, let Springtrap go," said Mangle, gently pulling him along. Freddy closed his eyes and suppressed his tears, he turned to go, following Mangle to the door.

**xxxx**

**"Through the smoke, through the bruised fallen brothers."**

**  
"Pushing on, to save all of the others…"**

**xxxx**

_"I'll come."_

Freddy and Mangle stopped mid-step, slowly turning their heads round, they saw Springtrap standing up straight, basking in the sunlight's rays which poured in through the window, making him look like a angel.

"I'll come with you, I want...things to return to the way they used to be," he said, smiling for first time in two days. There was the honking of Jeremy's van from outside.

"Then let's go, time is of the essence," Freddy stated, now pulling Mangle down the stairs. Springtrap followed, but stopped upon noticing the Fredbear grand opening day picture lying on the bed.

"Freddy must have left it when he got up," he muttered, walking over.

He picked it up, staring it.

_"Happy days indeed," _he thought, smiling as he ran his hand over Goldie's face.

_"I'll get you back."_

"SPRINGTRAP, COME ON!" Freddy shouted from the bottom of the staircase. Springtrap, folded the picture and placed it in his pocket, before running off down the staircase to join Freddy and Mangle.

"Come on Jeremy's waiting," said Mangle, pulling Springtrap forward towards the front door.

Jeremy was waiting outside, leaning against the driver's door with his house keys. "Good to see you could join us Springtrap," he said cheerfully, clearly glad to see him, although he was also pleased knowing that the Fazbear wouldn't be left alone to his own devices.

He then turned to Freddy.

"You three get in and I'll lock the house up," he ordered, tilting his head to the van's open rear doors. As Freddy, Mangle and Springtrap clambered in, Jeremy proceeded to set up the house's alarm and lock the front door shut.

He then got in the front driver's seat, closing the door behind him. He turned back to see everyone else apart from Mike sitting down in the back, amidst the pile of guns.

"Everyone good to go?" he asked.

Everyone else nodded.

"We're ready Jeremy, just take us to East Chicago," said Mike, sitting in the front passenger seat. "I know a quick route, should take us between ten to fifteen minutes, traffic permitting," Jeremy replied, firing up the engine. He pushed down on the accelerator and fiddled with the gear box, as the van moved out of the driveway.

It reversed onto the road, with Jeremy looking both left and right, before setting off into the distance..._towards East Chicago._

**xxxx**

**"We are immortal!"**

  
**"When destiny reigns and no one can stop this hellbound train."**

  
**"When history listens, will they know our names?"**

  
**"We are immortal, cuz legends remain."**

**xxxx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They are coming...but are they ready?  
I've got some good ideas in store ;-)  
Please review.


	17. Spirit Transformation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, things are now starting to change, beginning with this chapter. Up until now I feel as if I've been wandering away from the lore of FNAF, so with this chapter we start to move back in that direction.  
Also we begin to make more advances into the plot, regarding the background of the Nightmares and as to why the chapter holds its name.  
Finally, we have another sing along song, 'It's Not The End' by Sayonara Maxwell & µThunder, all credit goes to them. Although I have changed the odd lyric for the basis of the story and it is quite fast paced, so I've tired to accommodate for that when putting in stage directions.
> 
> Enjoy.

** Chapter 17. **

** Spirit Transformation. **

** "It's scary, what a smile can hide…" **

**Unknown**

Goldie could see nothing at first, just darkness...thick, black, uninviting blackness.

"Where I am?" he slowly opened his eyes, registering his environment. From what he could see, he was in a large room, although he couldn't see the full breath of it, as parts of it were completely shrouded in darkness. He also noticed that he was tied down, with his arms and legs bound by four metal restraints, bonding him to the rough uncomfortable wooden table which he lay on.

"Why?" he asked himself aloud. As soon as he had asked the question, a wave of intense memories surged back into his head. The attack, the Nightmares, his argument with Springtrap and then running away after an emotional argument.

"God dammit Goldie, you're not one for making yourself vulnerable," he muttered, now realising the hellhole he was in.

"No, you're not...Fredbear!" Goldie froze the instant that name reached his ears, his old name...sure people had used it before, even when it came from Freddy and others he didn't mind. However, they didn't know the reputation that name carried and it wasn't a positive one, almost no one had called him Fredbear in twenty eight years, it was nearly always Goldie.

He turned in the direction of the voice, finding its source in the shadows, invisible...however he knew its owner. "It's you!" he hissed, his eyes narrowed as he try to shake off his bindings to no avail.

"Yes, it's me!" And out of the darkness stepped Vincent, smiling that psychotic smile of his.

"Goldie, you're awake at last, I thought you would never wake up, considering how weak you've become all of a sudden with the lack of your ability to teleport." "

What do you want Vincent?" Goldie snarled, his face becoming a frown of immense hatred for the man who stood before him.

Vincent chuckled as he stepped forward, studying Goldie's behavior.

"You Goldie..." The man's eyes narrowed, as his tone became much more serious. "For soul transfer." "And I'm afraid to say that only you can fulfill this task, no one else is compatible...for this particular procedure."

He walked around the table, his eyes locked with Goldie's. "Now, I'm not a doctor, heaven forbid if I ever was, but there's a hundred percent likelihood that you won't survive the operation." "But then again," he looked up towards the ceiling as if in deep thought. He then smiled, patting Goldie on the head. "That's the desired result anyway." "You won't succeed, the others will soon find out and they'll come for you, with the overwhelming desire to tear you limb from limb, you won't escape their furry!" Goldie warned, narrowing his eyes and scowling at Vincent.

However, Vincent's psychotic laugh wiped away Goldie's aggressive expression and replaced it with uncertainty and fear. "Oh Goldie, my poor little Fredbear, if only it were that movie clichéd," Vincent sneered, pulling a sharp knife out of his pocket. He then frowned, raised the knife up in the air and lunged at Goldie. Goldie, let out a scream of pure terror as the knife came down, however it never hit him.

Still shaking, Goldie looked at the knife which had dug into the wooden table which he lay on, having landed only centimeters from his neck. Vincent chuckled, as Goldie gasped for breath, relieved that he wasn't dead...yet. "J ust testing your nerves Goldie, to see if your fully awake," he said, tugging the knife out of the wood. "Besides, this'll be the last time you'll be awake, I can promise you that with all honesty." He then pulled on the metal restraints, tightening their grip on Goldie's arms and legs as they dug into them, threatening to cut off the man's sense to feel.

"Anyway, we have an important operation to perform, don't we Nightmares," Vincent called, turning his head in the direction of the darkness which loomed behind him like a shroud.

_Oh, yes we do!"_ four voices replied simultaneously, each one was a chorus of delight. Goldie's eyes widen as four recognizable figures stepped out of the surrounding darkness and into the pale light. Nightmare Freddy, Nightmare Bonnie, Nightmare Chica and last of all Nightmare Foxy. They all wore sadistic grins, with their eyes glowing indicating a demonic essence as they stared at Goldie like vultures eyeing a fresh corpse.

As far as his vision could tell, they now wore clothes strongly matching those worn by Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy.

The smart dinner suit, the two skirt dresses, one yellow and the other purple and the iconic pirate costume.

"_Hello Goldie, how are you feeling?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked, waving at him, while baring her two rows of sharp teeth.

"Angry, very very angry," Goldie replied, although it was more of a growl.

"They'll come for you five, there's fourteen of us, your army of endoskeletons won't save you, and the tricks you create can't prevent them from getting in and when they find you…"

Goldie's eyes narrowed, his full gaze was directed solely at the four Nightmares.

"They'll show you what fear really is and you'll regret ever setting foot on this earth."

Nightmares appeared to take no notice of his words, as they walked forward, still smiling like Cheshire cats.

"I mean it, don't think I'm bluffing, you five will make a mistake and you will regret it, your massive egos won't see it coming!" Goldie shouted. "Where do you four even come from, a nightmare of some sort, did Vincent reach out to the supernatural."

Vincent laughed, as he prepared a needle, which he had pulled out of his pocket.

"Well, your right on the supernatural part, keep going Goldie, you'll get the story right."

Then his face went dark and foreboding.

"That's if you can keep yourself conscious when the pain starts."

Goldie ignored his words and kept on going.

"You'll die in a fire, in the fire that awaits you five in hell and that's-"

Nightmare Chica viciously smacked Goldie right across the face with her claws in her bloodlust like rage.

"_SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU MISERABLE PIECE OF NOSTALGIC SHIT!" _she screamed, her high shrill voice echoing throughout the room.

"_IT'S YOU WHO WILL DIE IN A FIRE, YOUR END IS NOW, WHEN NIGHTMARE FREDBEAR COMES TO CLAIM AND DESTROY YOU, WE'LL BE THE ONES__LEFT LAUGHING!"_

"_Vincent, are we ready to begin?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, locking eyes with him.

Vincent twisted his head left to right.

"Almost, I just need to administer one little thing."

He then stabbed Goldie in the arm with the needle and injected the unknown chemicals into his bloodstream, the sensation made Goldie's body go stiff for a few seconds.

"That should make him more compatible to the process, plus it'll overload his senses," Vincent muttered, throwing the needle into a nearby bin before heading back into the darkness. "_Get ready for a wild ride laddie, your entire world will be turned upside down, you'll hate it, but hopefully__Nightmare Fredbear will be quick and spare you any major pain,"_ Nightmare Foxy commented.

"_Although he will bite, it's quite nasty really, but then again, it's nothing you hadn't done__ before__, if you remember 1983,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, staring at Goldie with his dark red eyes.

"_You do remember 1983 Goldie, don't you…with the child?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked, battering her twisted eye lashes.

Goldie didn't answer, he only stared back at the four Nightmares with a blank expression.

"_That poor little boy, he was so scared of that restaurant, his brother kept on tormenting him with that Foxy face mask, he would cry everyday and then those bullies including his brother, pushed him into your mouth, down came the teeth and CRACK!"_ Nightmare Chica shouted, clapping her hands together.

She glared at Goldie, an intense hatred was burning in her eyes.

"_You broke his mind and within that twisted, fragmented, broken mind, we emerged, his nightmares with the sharp teeth, nasty claws and disfigured forms, we__ tortured__ him, night after night in a vicious never-ending cycle." _

Nightmare Freddy smiled, displaying his sharp teeth. "_So, Goldie in a rather ironic twist, your actions gave away to our creation, I guess we…owe you our entire existence."_

He gripped his head, mocking shock.

"_Oh, my God, we're actually indebted to someone!"_

He then smirked and laughed.

"_Oh well, your gonna die an__y__way, and I personally prefer to remain free of owing people favours, it means I'm in charge of my own life, no one has power over me."_

He tipped his head to oneside amid deep thought.

"_Unless you consider..."_

He shook head, dismissing his thoughts.

"_Anyway, you'll be asleep soon."_

He then turned his head back.

"_Ready Vincent?"_ he shouted with glee.

"Ready!" Vincent shouted back from somewhere within the darkness that covered the majority of the room. Goldie heard the sound of something click, then the room was lit up in a flood of immense light, blinding him. When he regained his vision, Goldie froze, his blood turning cold when he saw the machine Vincent had made for the procedure.

It was made of metal and was a gothic black in colour, that was clear to see. The back part appeared to be a massive electric generator of sorts, while the middle was a series of metallic steel tubes and glass pipes each one holding a unique set of chemicals inside, judging by their respective colours. However, it was the front part that caught Goldie's attention most of all, it looked like a spider unfolding it's eight legs which appeared be sharp needles, yet in the middle was a bright white light which looked more like a mouth opening up.

"Shall we begin ladies and gentlemen?" Vincent asked, smiling as he powered up the machine which responded with a humming noise.

"_YES, LET CHAOS REIGN!"_ Nightmare Bonnie screamed, jumping up and down.

"_LET'S EMBRACE NIGHTMARE FREDBEAR!"_ Nightmare Chica shouted, punching her fists in the air.

"_TIME TO SENTENCE THIS CO__W__ARD TO DAVEY JONES'S LOCKER!"_ Nightmare Foxy howled, pointing at the pale faced Goldie, whose eyes were glued to the machine.

"_IT'S TIME FOR THE FOUR TO BECOME FIVE__!__"_ Nightmare Freddy roared, as his Freddy heads slither out of his shelves to emit an ear piercing shriek of delight.

"If you want that, then come and help me push this dam thing, it took several hours for me to build and you four did nothing, but almost blow your cover," Vincent groaned, as he pushed the machine forward with all his strength. The Nightmares eagerly ran forward, got behind Vincent and proceeded to push the machine forward, the sound of metal scratching metal echoed off the old decayed stone walls of the building.

Goldie watched as the spider like machine was pushed forward so it was just above him, the white light staring into his eyes nearly blinded him and all the while the spider legs appeared to hover above like an array of crows, surrounding a dying animal.

"They'll come, Spring will come for me, they all will," he whispered, closing his eyes and thinking of home...the sweet aura of home.

"They care, I've cared for them, they will come for me, I'm not alone."

A crackle of bemused laughter interrupted his thoughts.

He turned and saw Nightmares Bonnie and Chica laughing at him, clearly amused by his attempts to reassure himself.

"_No one is coming to save you Goldie, you're all alone here,"_ Nightmare Bonnie hissed, reaching across to stroke his golden hair.

"_It's just us lot and you…"_

She run her finger like claws through hair, like a scythe running across field of golden wheat in the summertime.

"_Families are interconnected, they act like chains, they're long__,__ strong and binding, but just like chains."_

She then sharped pulled on his hair, tugging several lines out, causing Goldie to scream out in pain as the hair was ripped from their roots.

"_They can be broken and broken permanently,"_ she laughed.

"N-Bonnie!"

The Nightmare in question, turned to see Vincent gazing over in her direction, expressing a look of command.

"Do not proceed to tear out all his hair."

"_Why not, besides Nightmare Fredbear will just grow it all back when he takes over," _Nightmare Bonnie replied gleefully.

"Well…you are right in that," Vincent muttered plainly, turning his attention to the machine's internal settings, preparing it for the job that it was solely made to do.

Meanwhile Nightmare Foxy cradled Goldie's head in his hands or his hand and hook as he leaned in over him.

"_Well, your 'family'."_

He spat the word out like it was poison.

"_Isn't here, but someone cared enough that they tried to intervene, troublesome little bitch that she was,"_ he growled.

"Who?" Goldie asked, focusing his eyes on Nightmare Foxy, who looked towards the others.

"_Should I tell him?"_ he asked.

"_He'll be dead within fifteen minutes, so why not,"_ Nightmare Freddy shrugged, giving off a plain expression.

Nightmare Foxy smiled, revealing his sharp fangs for teeth as his lips moved to form a sinister grin of pure sadism.

"_Well, while you were 'knocked out', Toy Chica stumbled upon our little operation and well__,__ it was one thing after another, first Toy Chica comes along, then we have a massive car chase with the police, cars destroyed, people killed, many innocent people might I add and all of it with Toy Chica hanging onto the van, trying to save you."_

Goldie looked shocked as he spoke.

"Toy Chica, she tried to save me?"

"_Duh idiot of course she did, she was hanging onto the side, while a gunbattle took place between N-Foxy and police, she even fought with N-Foxy for the gun and she was so determined to rescue you__,__" _Nightmare Chica stated, rolling her eyes.

"_Aye, she nearly ripped the dam thing out of my hand, but I gave her a little warning, needless to say it involved her hand and my teeth."_

"You bit her, you bastard!" Goldie shouted, fighting hard with his restraints to break free.

"_Oh, she screamed Goldie, she screamed like a newborn babe, there was blood, fear, the cracking of bones!"_ Nightmare Foxy was clearly taking pleasure in firing up Goldie's rage.

"_You know I won't be at all surprised to find out that she has a'thing' for you Goldie…not surprised at all,"_ he whispered in Goldie's ear.

Goldie growled, as he tugged aggressively against his restraints.

"_Oh…but don't worry, you'll never find out whether such a rumor is true," _the Nightmare cooed softly, which only made Goldie ever angrier.

"_Oh, looks like someone is getting cranky,"_ Nightmare Bonnie sang in her high pitch singing voice. "_I think the toddler needs a little 'time out'," _said Nightmare Freddy, smiling as Goldie pulled restlessly on his restraints.

"_He'll be out cold soon anyway,"_ Nightmare Chica added, to which the other Nightmares laughed. Vincent was checking the machine's internal settings, when the unexpected happened.

The metal restraints which were holding Goldie down…broke.

There was a loud metallic snap as the first one went, followed swiftly by several more. The Nightmares were too busy laughing that they failed to notice that Goldie was now free. They only truly noticed when Nightmare Chica received a swift full on kick to the mouth, cracking several of her teeth and sending her flying backwards. Before the others could react, Goldie smacked Nightmare Bonnie in the chest, before giving her a serious headbutt, there was crack of bone and the smell of blood as Nightmare Bonnie was knocked backwards and fell onto the floor.

She screamed agony as she clutched her nose whilst it bled.

Nightmare Foxy raised his hook to strike Goldie in the shoulder as was his favourtive area to hit, but he was servely punched in the jaw, which caused his mouth to shut, the force of smashing his teeth together, caused several of them to crack. He was then punched in the stomach and knocked backwards, but Nightmare Freddy due to several personal reasons got the worse treatment.

Goldie proceeded to kick him in the groin, grabbed his arm and kicked his feet out from under him.

This caused him to do a somersault in which Goldie dislocated his arm.

Nightmare Freddy screamed in pain, altering the other Nightmares and Vincent, as he fell to the ground, clutching his arm and moaning in agony.

"Oh please, you've put people though worse scenarios, that was merciful when compared to their pain and besides, I thought you liked that sort of stuff!" Goldie hissed, towering over him.

Goldie turned and saw Vincent, who was shocked by what he had just witnessed.

"YOU!" Goldie snarled, approaching him.

Vincent pulled a taser out of his pocket and fired, he was always armed for anything that guy.

The taser hit Goldie square on in the shoulder, he momentarily stumbled, but proceeded to rip the taser off in his anger, defying its power to numb him out cold. Vincent fired another taser, this one hitting Goldie in the chest, again Goldie was briefly stopped in his tracks, but only to tear it off in his rage and continue his hard-pressed march towards Vincent.

Goldie viciously grabbed the man by the shoulders and shoved him hard against the machine, it was done with so much force that it shook from side to side.

"YOU COLD HEARTED BASTARD!" Goldie screamed, his hate filled dark red eyes stared into Vincent's. He grabbed Vincent's head, pulled it back and bashed it against the machine's metal covering.

A sharp metallic clang rang out across the room.

"WHY?" Goldie screamed, repeating bashing Vincent's head against the machine, the clanging noise it made filled his ears.

"WHY DID YOU DO IT!"

Goldie grabbed Vincent's throat and started to squeeze, cutting into Vincent's windpipe.

"DO YOU GET A KICK FROM DOING THAT, KILLING KIDS!" Goldie roared as he strangled the life out Vincent, who proceed to grab at his throat.

"DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE A MAN, BECAUSE YOUR PUTTING SOMEONE SMALLER THAN YOU DOWN, IS THAT IT, BECAUSE YOUR MOTIVATION IS AN ENIGMA!"

Vincent pulled hard against Goldie's hands in a desperate yet pointless attempt to free himself.

"TELL ME VINCENT!" Goldie roared, he could feel his hands pushing against Vincent's collarbone.

"It's…personal," Vincent squeaked, with his hands clawing away at Goldie's, but to no effect.

"I WANT TO KNOW VINCENT, ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Goldie shouted, his eyes were filled with immense hatred.

Yet before Vincent could respond, several pairs of hands grabbed Goldie from behind. The Nightmares pulled him away from Vincent, who instantly fell to the floor, gasping for breath, leaving him almost limp and dazed. Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy proceeded to hold Goldie down and beat him viciously in reprisal. Nightmare Foxy raised his hook, aiming to stab Goldie right in the eye socket.

"WAIT, DON'T KILL HIM!"

Four pairs of enraged murderous eyes turned to face Vincent, who was pulling himself upright.

"We need him for the procedure, for Nightmare Fredbear…remember," he stated, rubbing his aching throat as he leaned against the machine's side for support. It was tough for the four Nightmares to repressed their desire to kill, they had suffered injury and wanted revenge, but somehow, they succeeded and withheld their original intention to kill Goldie.

"Get him on the table and hold him down," Vincent ordered, switching several switches on the machine, making it hum as dials turned from left to right as its internal engine sparked to life. The Nightmares dragged Goldie, who still struggled even though he wouldn't win. Goldie was forced down onto the table as the Nightmares fitted the metal restraints back on and this time they pressed down on his arms and legs to prevent him breaking free again. Vincent, once he had finished with the machine and recover enough, turned to face Goldie with a stern cold look.

"You want to know why I did what I did…why I killed them, well seeing that you have minutes left to live..."

The machine's humming grew louder, as the spider legs were lowered down towards Goldie with the various chemicals flowing into all eight legs in preparation for the final stage.

"I might as well tell you the reason why, you've been rather patient for thirty seven odd years."

Vincent slowly walked round, as the machine's humming soon turned into a hurricane.

"It's quite personal, but you may never understand, given everything I've done," Vincent muttered, although he was just loud enough to be heard. Nightmare Foxy stepped aside, as Vincent took his place. He leaned over Goldie, his face being all that he could see, as he cradled Goldie's head in his hands.

"If I were to sum up my entire life with one simple phrase, I would say if I couldn't have it, then why should anyone else."

"So, you're jealous of other people…something which others have?" Goldie asked, his dark red eyes locking with Vincent's lifeless green.

Vincent laughed, somehow finding the situation amusing.

"Correct Goldie," he answered.

Goldie suddenly felt his senses undergo an overload, his vision was suddenly fading, everything he heard was now loud and unfocused, he felt pins and needles all over his entire body.

"Ah, now that'll be the first set of chemicals overloading your senses, it's only temporary, it's what happens next that you should be more concerned about," Vincent stated. He smiled, a psychotic smile that would be entrenched in Goldie's mind for a long time.

"Well, you've waited long enough Goldie, it's time for the truth, please listen…if you can."

Vincent leaned in and whispered something into Goldie's ear. Goldie could only just hear him, as he slipped into unconsciousness, the spider legs penetrated his skin and began to inject their own mysterious batch of chemicals.

The last thing he saw was Vincent, his eyes staring deep into his soul as the final stage began.

He smiled in a satisfied manner…_for him this had been long been overdue._

* * *

The van rocked gently from side to side, as it entered the district of East Chicago.

Springtrap's eyes slowly drifted over the other Fazbear family members.

Most of them were asleep, resting their heads against each other's shoulders, taking the opportunity to rest while they could, they needed their strength for the upcoming storm, no one knew what to expect.

"We're here, rise and shine everyone, I'll be parking soon," Jeremy called, briefly turning round. "God, this place looks like a dump," Mike commented, his eyes scanning the decayed shops that lined the streets, many had metal bars over their windows…not a good sign.

"Old infrastructure Mike, they never brothed to clear the place out since the 1980s, so it's sort of stuck in time as it were," Jeremy replied, driving past already parked vehicles.

**(Apologies to anyone who does live in East Chicago, this setting is merely described as such for the basis of the story).**

"Where do you think we'll find Goldie?" Springtrap asked from the back.

Jeremy lowered his head in thought.

"I don't know, maybe in the factory section of the district, those buildings can be used as hideouts, right now I would say they're our best option," he answered. "We will find Goldie, he will be here somewhere, I can feel it," Springtrap stated, the determination in his voice caused the others to stir.

"Alright we'll park on the edge of the factory district, then we'll proceed to make the rest of the way on foot," Jeremy said, turning a street corner.

"Parking in five, Mike wake the others," he ordered, to which Mike nodded. Mike leaned round and reached out, shaking the ones closest to him by the shoulder.

"Hey, we're here, come on its time to go," he said, shaking Freddy awake.

Freddy looked round somewhat distorted, only to look up to see Mike above him smiling. "Come on Fazbear, the band can't play without its lead singer," he joked. Freddy sarcastically rolled his eyes at Mike's attempt at humour. Mike proceeded to wake the others, first Mangle, Chica, Toy Bonnie and the Puppet, who then went to wake the other family members. Jeremy soon found a suitable place to park, stopping the vehicle, he proceeded to remove his seatbelt and jump out.

He then opened the back doors, letting everyone else out.

"Get the guns, pass one to every member, no one's going in unarmed," he ordered to which the others quickly obeyed.

"This is the perfect place to hide, old buildings, low police surveillance and of course it's social isolation from the rest of the city, here everyone keeps to themselves," Mike muttered, studying the surrounding structures which were barely livable.

"Right, lets search the area, this place isn't that big, so they won't have gone far," Jeremy stated, throwing Mike a rifle, which he caught. "We need to find their van, that'll lead us straight to Goldie," Toy Freddy said, doing a quick scan of the area.

"They may have parked elsewhere and continued to their destination on foot, these Nightmares are smart, they know what they're doing," Toy Chica added, carrying a shotgun. "Remember the police are onto them, they will want to hide away from surveillance," Foxy growled, his brown eyes acting like their own searchlights, sweeping from one direction to the next.

"Someone must have seen them, they can't just vanish into thin air," Mangle added, trying to think of any ideal hiding places.

"The police can't find them, they were right on them, how did they lose them?" Freddy asked, turning to face Jeremy, hoping that he could provide answers.

"I don't know Freddy, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Vincent was involved in their escape," he answered, shaking his head from side to side. "I would agree with you on that, Vincent is beyond doubt behind this, he certainly has the capacity to reach far, supposedly he hacked the police's security systems and did something," said Springtrap, looking out for anything which appeared odd.

Then he saw something odd, but not how he would imagine it…

It was children…ten children…ten ghostly white see though children…all waving at him from one of the street corners.

"_Follow me,"_ one of them mouthed, whilst no sound came from its lips, it urged Springtrap to follow.

"Springtrap what it is, why the long yard stare?" Mike asked, walking up.

"Don't you see them?" Springtrap asked, maintaining his gaze.

"Who?"

"The ghost children," Springtrap stated, pointing in their direction.

"I don't see any children Spring," Mike replied, looking where Springtrap was pointing, all he saw an empty space. "Nor do I," Jeremy stated, as he equally could see no ghost children to speak of.

But everyone else did, properly because of their link to them, being their anchoring point to the physical realm.

"I see them," said Freddy, looking shocked.

"As do I," Toy Bonnie added.

"Aye lassie," Foxy whispered, his eyes fixed solely on the children.

"_Follow, follow,"_ the children mouthed, urging them to come close.

"They want us to follow them," Springtrap ordered. "They may know where the Nightmares took Goldie!" The Puppet exclaimed, obviously excited at the prospect. "Then let's not waste any more time as it is then," Springtrap said sternly, running forward. He was determined to see this through to the end, as were the others, hence why they followed. The children jumped up and down as they approached, high fiving each other.

"_Follow us,"_ they mouthed.

"Do you know where Goldie is?" The Puppet asked, she knelt down to be at eye level with the children.

All of the ghost children instantly nodded and pointed down one of the side alleys.

"Can you take us there?" Chica asked, gesturing with her free hand. The children immediately nodded again and then headed off down the alleyway, urging the Fazbears to follow them.

"I never thought we would ask dead kids for directions," Foxy stated, as everyone ran after the children in hot pursuit. The children ran quite quickly, darting around corners, always at least five steps ahead of the Fazbears, at some points they nearly lost sight of them.

"_Follow me, and you'll see,"_ one mouthed, waving them forward.

"_Follow __me__, to believe,"_ another mouthed, beckoning them to come closer.

"_Follow us and see the Nightmares in action,"_ mouthed a third.

"They clearly know what we're about to face," Freddy muttered.

"I'm not surprised, they've seen a lot in the afterlife, so it's properly become the norm for them," Toy Freddy added, passing Freddy by in his effort to catch up with the ghost children.

"_See the unfolding Nightmare in action, so follow," _one child whispered silently.

"_However, the truth's hard to swallow, but follow," _a second hissed, but with no sound, it was like they rhyming.

"Where are we going, do bear in mind guys, Mike and I can't see theses ghost children of yours," Jeremy shouted from the back.

"It shouldn't be much further now," Bonnie replied, although she had no idea how far the children would actually take them into the district. After five to ten minutes of running aimlessly through numerous alleyways, turning round endless street corners, the ghost children finally stopped running upon entering a yard. The Fazbears were too busy trying to get a sense of where they were, that they only stopped when one of the children raised their hand to bring them to a halt.

It then pointed to a building just ahead of them.

Upon a closer inspection, they could see why, the building seen ideal as a hideout. It was taller than the other buildings around it, held what appeared to be eight floors and looked old, decayed and neglected for years.

An abandoned factory perhaps?

"So…this is the place," Springtrap muttered, his eyes solely fixed on the building, ignoring the triumphant smiles of the ten children.

"Thank you, but how do you know this was the place?" Balloon Boy asked, turning to face one of them. The child in question merely winked playfully and tapped their head, as if to suggest it was common knowledge.

"_We can sense him,"_ it mouthed.

"Let's hurry inside, get Goldie, kill the Nightmares and Vincent and then just level the fucking place," Springtrap urged, walking forward. However, Mike reached out and swiftly grabbed him by the shoulders, before he could continue any further.

"Let's just plan things out first…I don't want to rush into a potential trap, they may even know that we're coming," he said, dragging a reluctant Springtrap back to join the others.

"Mike's right, we need to think this through, I suggest we all split up, that way we'll cover more ground quickly," Freddy stated, straightening his top hat. By doing so he somehow adopted an aura of leadership.

"But who'll go with who?" Bonnie asked, looking at the rest of the gang.

Freddy smiled.

"I'm glad you asked," he replied humorously.

"Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and I will enter the building at ground level, we'll properly encounter the Nightmares, it'll be four vs four, we'll distract them while everyone else sneaks in via the back and then split up into their own respective groups."

"No!"

Freddy jerked his head round to face Toy Freddy, who was standing with his arms folded, look very determined to say the least. "We'll face the Nightmares, while you four search for Goldie with Springtrap," he said, to which the other Toys nodded in firm agreement.

"Are you sure, laddie, they will kill you?" Foxy asked, waving his hook in a concerned manner.

"Yes, we know the risks as do you, we want to face them, it's time they learnt we're more than 'Toys'," Mangle stated bitterly, narrowing her eyes. They never truly liked the term 'Toy', when it was being referred to them, it somehow implied that they were weak.

"Fine, the Originals with Springtrap will search for Goldie, byia the back, the Puppet and BB will sneak in by means of the outside pipes, so they can gain access to the upper floors through the ventilation system, while Mike and I go in with the Toys, but we'll divert and go up to the third floor and work our way upwards, that way the entire building is covered from top to bottom," Jeremy stated.

"How does that sound?" he asked, looking around for signs of collective agreement. The gang replied with varying degrees of acceptance, it was risky to split up, especially when considering who they were going up against.

"Right, let's move out," Mike ordered, scanning the building's upper floors with the viewfinder on his rifle.

"The main entrance should be somewhere nearby and hopefully it is unlocked."

"Wait!"

Everyone turned to face Balloon Boy, who had remained stationary as he was pointing at the ten ghost children.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but aren't there supposed to be eleven children, not ten."

He was right, twelve Fazbears acting as vessels for eleven dead children, only now it was eleven Fazbears and ten dead children.

"So, where's the eleventh?" Balloon Boy asked, looking at his elders, he looked worried, it was a foreboding omen. Several Fazbears scratched their heads with worried looks, as did the children. No one, not even the ten ghost children wanted to admit what the missing child symbolised.

"Maybe their having some difficulties in trying to take form," Freddy muttered to which several others nearby nodded in agreement. They didn't want to admit what they feared the most. Springtrap raised his head, examining the building from top to bottom.

"We should just…go and…get this over with."

Everyone got into their respective groups and went their separate ways. The ghost children just watched, slowly fading away in the summer sunlight, to where..._only they knew._

* * *

Vincent, walked aimlessly down one of many lookalike corridors of the factory, humming quietly to himself. He could hear the Nightmares singing from the floor's main room, ever since they had discovered Maroon 5 Animals, they had been listening to it non-stop along with the likes of Foo Fighters and Linkin Park.

Somehow, they really liked songs about teen angst.

His mind however, was on more pressing matters.

He knew the Fazbears well enough that an attack on one was an attack on all...pretty much like Nato.

He had kidnapped Goldie and knew full well that the others would come looking, even if they didn't know where he was…they would look regardless.

Best be on his guard then.

In a face off, it would be five vs fourteen…_well to be precise, that was now properly an outdated calculation. _

"They'll come…I know it," he muttered, scanning his surroundings for any sign of movement…nothing yet.

They could miles away, or very close by…he just didn't know.

"_Why did you do it?"_

One of Goldie's recent words, cut deep into his mind.

"_Why did you do it Vincent?"_

_Revenge, pure enjoyment…or something much deeper?._

_It so easy, taking one life at first, then five more and then another five…all of them…now somehow incorporated into his enemies._

What he had passed onto Goldie, held a mind blowing answer. But it was why he did what he did, in fact in a rather ironic twist, the very people who hated him for killing children had helped turn him into what he was…well…one of them did.

Vincent had an agenda, a sick one yes, but he had his reasons…deep and personal reasons.

In every murder, he'd taken certain steps to ensure success, luring his targets in, making sure no one had seen them, and then killing them, before planting evidence to frame someone else...every little detail counted. But now he questioned whether he had stepped into something, which he couldn't back out of. For years, the Fazbears had reacted to his actions and every time he would easily out maneuver them, they were inflexible, stumbling about in the dark. However, unknown to him…that would all change soon.

Deciding to rest his feet, he sat down at the top of one the factory's spiral stained steel stairwell and looked up at the decayed ceiling. Throwing off the police was easy he had to admit, having the endoskeletons hack into their system and send them off on several wild goose chases. But in hindsight, it was the Nightmares who had created the problem themselves, their lust for death and destruction attracted the police.

And they could have lost and the trail would right back to him…dam Nightmares.

At times they were skilful allies, but equally they had the manner of a rapid attack dog or a loose cannon, if their needless massacre of those warehouse workers were anything to go by. They needed to rein themselves in more, they possessed cunning and shrewd calculation, but would give it up to satisfy their destructive urges.

Why couldn't they take a leaf out of his book and learn the brilliance of deception, which he had mastered.

He leaned back and closed his eyes, allowing his weary mind to drift back to the comfort of his younger years…as an employee at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.

* * *

(Song part begins here, you can start it if you wish.)

Sees himself killing the eleven children with a sharp knife.

**"_A stroke of knife and kids are no more, worthless cowards full of horror."_**

Knocks the Fazbears out cold with a hammer.

**"_A stroke of hammer and toys are no more, those things aren't even worth a dollar."_**

He smiles all knowingly.

**"_They sure want to have a peak at, what is hiding underneath that."_**

Standing amongst the crowd, smiling.

**"_Oh, I sure do love my job here, no one will find out who murders..."_**

Shows Vincent walking pass people casually in slow motion, as if nothing has happened.

He puts on the persona of the perfect worker with all the grace and charm.

Shows him walking around the bodies of dead children.

** _"Ah, the lovely, sweet destructions!"_ **

_ **"The grand exit of innocent ones!"** _

Lures them forward, while wearing a suit

** _"Come on, come a little closer, I will make sure that you are gone forever!"_ **

Locks the door shut behind him.

Puts on an innocent face as the manager calls everyone to attention on the incident.

_ **"Who's the killer? That's a toughie."** _

Appears clueless.

_ **"The suspicions? Well, that beats me."** _

Points at the cleaner.

_ **"Maybe that's this other lad, oh boy, boss will sure be mad!"** _

Shows him injecting strange chemicals into Mangle.

_ **"To alter animatronics, I'm sure glad I did mechanics."** _

Viciously grabs hold of one of the children.

_ **"No, you won't escape..."** _

_ **"Lure you in and then destroy you, making sure no one had seen you."** _

Is surrounded by the children's ghosts.

_ **"But could it be that those eleven children, have returned to get to me then?"** _

Vincent backs away slowly.

_ **"Listen there, you guys, relax, I was just messing with ya, I meant to do no haAAArm-!"** _

The ghost children advance on him, clearly enraged.

_ **"So here comes the payback hour."** _

Vincent looks around desperately for safety.

_ **"Do I fight back or hideaway and cower?"** _

Sees the Springtrap suit and hastily puts it on.

** _"Alas, the Spring Trap is merely nothing, I will get out and then we'll see whose laughing!"_ **

He laughs as the Springtrap's eyes glow a bright purple.

Cuts to the 1987 Pizzria, showing the Toys on stage entertaining children.

Vincent watches their performance from the sidelines, vengefully glaring at them.

**"_A stroke of knife - children are no more..."_**

Five more children lie dead.

**"_A stroke of hammer - and toys are no more..."_**

The Toys are all knocked out.

Vincent smiles smugly.

_ **"They sure want to have a peak at, who's the killer, that's a toughie."** _

Lures the five children away.

** _"Lure you in and then destroy you."_ **

Messes with Mangle.

_ **"I'm sure glad I did mechanics."** _

He puts the suit on.

** _"Making sure no one had seen you."_ **

Vincent in his Fazbear staff uniform smiles at newcomers as they enter.

** _"Oh, I sure do love my job here..."_ **

Shows him wearing the Springtrap suit, wielding a blood covered knife, while the iconic Freddy laughter echoes about around him.

Walks around the bodies of dead children.

_ **"Ah, the lovely, sweet destructions!"** _

_ **" The grand exit of innocent ones!"** _

Lures the eleven children away.

_ **"Come on, come a little closer, I will make sure that you are gone forever!"** _

Is surrounded by all twelve vengeful Fazbears.

** _"So here comes the payback hour."_ **

Looks around.

** _"Do I fight back or hideaway and cower?"_ **

Sees the Springtrap suit and hastily puts it on.

** _"Alas, the Spring Trap is merely nothing, I will get out and then we'll see whose laughing!"_ **

He laughs as the Springtrap's eyes glow a bright purple.

Cuts to Vincent casually walking pass Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Goldie who look at him suspiciously.

He then sidesteps Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica and Mangle who give him a similar look, before walking round the Puppet, Balloon Boy and Springtrap who glare at him.

They know he did it...but cannot prove it.

** _"A stroke of knife - and kids are no more."_ **

Eleven children lie dead with their throats cut.

_ **"A stroke of hammer - and toys are no more."** _

All twelve Fazbears are knocked out on the floor.

Shows Vincent holding a double locked box.

_ **"They sure want to have a peak at…"** _

Shows Vincent smiling for a company photo in front of the main stage.

** _Oh, I sure do love my job here …"_ **

** _(Song ends.)_ **

* * *

The sound of rusty metal groaning instantly derailed Vincent's train of thought.

His hearing pinpointed the noise's location. It was right below him, a just few steps down. He immediately looked down and his entire body froze. It couldn't be…how on earth could this be happening, he had to be hallucinating.

_Except he wasn't…_

For there, only a few steps below him was Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica and Mangle, all slowly making their way up the staircase and each one was holding a gun.

"_If I could just crawl back slowly, I might be able to sneak off and then break into a sprint for safety,"_ he wondered.

However, his 'grand plan', was shot down as the Toys just happened to look up at that exact moment to see Vincent, staring back at them with surprise and shock written across his face. He nervously smiled, appearing to recover from the initial shock.

"Hi," he said waving.

"Fancy seeing you lot here."

Toy Freddy smiled back in response, but it was cold and uninviting.

"Hi," he replied, taking aim with his shotgun, putting Vincent right between the crosshairs.

_He fired…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, again it is another cliffhanger chapter, but I like those types, as it holds up the suspense and keeps people guessing at what's to come. ;-)  
If you want me to put more sing along songs into my future chapters, then just let me know in your reviews.  
Things are about to go down, until next time.  
Please Review.


	18. Creeping Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there everyone, chapter 18 is here, and things are starting to get heated.  
In this one, we'll learn some more about the plot's backstory, at some point in the future I do plan to cover the past in much more detail to explain how things got to where they were by the beginning of chapter one.  
No song for this one I'm afraid, I need time to find songs which match the theme of the individual chapter and it's harder than it sounds.  
  
Finally, a huge thank you to those who are reading this story, I appreciate your interest.  
Please enjoy...

**Chapter 18.**   
**Creeping Shadows.**

  
**"Never fear shadows…they simply mean there's light shinning somewhere nearby…"**   
**Ruth E. Renkel.**

Vincent purposely fell backwards, just narrowly avoiding the bullet shower that was aimed to go right between his eyes.

Instead the bullets hit the far wall and mostly shattered in even smaller pieces of shrapnel. He rolled left, immediately picked himself up and ran blindly down the corridor towards the main room.

From behind, he could hear footsteps coming up the stairs in at a quick pace, he needed to get the Toys off his back and the Nightmares were ideal for such a task. They were sitting round a table, playing cards, listening to music via Vincent's phone, however the shot created by Toy Freddy's gun had cut through the sound barrier and caught their attention.

"_What's going on, why do you look shocked all of a sudden?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, scanning Vincent's body language as he raced into the room.

"They're…here…the Toys," Vincent gasped, pausing briefly to catch his breath.

"_WHAT!"_ Nightmare Foxy shouted, quickly rising from his seat, but knocking the table and its contents over in the process, whilst looking clearly shocked and somewhat confused.

"THE TOYS ARE HERE WITH GUNS!" Vincent yelled, pointing back to the hallway, from which the sound of multiple footsteps and voices could be heard.

"_Shit!"_ Nightmare Freddy whispered, fully realizing the situation they had found themselves in.

"_How could they find us so easily, the fucking police couldn't,"_ Nightmare Bonnie hissed, with her purple eyes narrowing in extreme annoyance. Luckily Vincent had already thought of a plan on the spur of the moment.

"We need to act, you guys hold them off, we can't stay here, I'll go to the office and conduct the endoskeletons to take all the necessary equipment up to the roof, I'll also call the airship out of hiding," he ordered, running towards the stairs at the far end of the room that led to the upper levels.

"_If the Toys are here, then where are the others?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked, looking around.

"_Oh, they'll be here…somewhere,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered, his eyes scanning the entire room.

"_But Vincent,"_ Nightmare Foxy called out, catching his attention.

"_What about-"_

"Shock reverse, remember, they won't be expecting it," Vincent replied, cutting Nightmare Foxy off.

"_Do what you have to do quickly, I don't like being outnumbered,"_ Nightmare Chica snarled, frustrated that she didn't know where the other Fazbears were. Vincent quickly vanished through the far doorway and up the stairs, leaving the four Nightmares alone with the approaching Toys.

"_Let's hide…use the darkness, N-Chica, cut the lights please,"_ Nightmare Freddy ordered, his eyes fixed on the hallway.

He knew that even with their guns, the Toys would be in a slightly better shape than them…thanks to Goldie. Nightmare Freddy clutched his arm, twisting it, Goldie had dislocated it and it hurt like a bitch, especially after when Nightmare Foxy had forcefully pushed it back into its socket.

He briefly smiled, Goldie was right, he had put people through worse scenarios then what he had undergone.

Just ask those who had been unfortunate to cross his path earlier today…_expect that they were all dead._

He turned to look at Nightmares Chica and Bonnie, if one were to look at Nightmare Bonnie closely they see that her nose had been re-corrected, apparently Goldie could headbutt really hard. She along with Nightmare Chica had to straighten their teeth as had Nightmare Foxy much to their agony and Nightmare Freddy knew that kind of pain all too well.

But still they could fight, all four were willing to bet that the Toys were immature, less experienced than the Originals were.

_However, they could be wrong…_

Nightmare Chica, turned the lights off, before disconnecting them completely and plunged the entire room into complete darkness. Only their eyes were visible which glowed in the dark like fireflies.

One dark red, one a blueish purple, another an orangery yellow and a fourth, a brownish red.

"_Now what?" _Nightmare Foxy asked.

The blueish purple, the orangery yellow and the brownish red turned to face the dark red.

"_Follow me,"_ Nightmare Freddy whispered, walking off in one direction, to which the other three followed.

"_Follow me and see a Nightmare in action…"_

* * *

"God dammit!" Puppet groaned, as she crawled inside the metal pipe, the small confines heavily restricting her movement.

She was the thinnest of all the Fazbears, yet even this was a tight fit.

"Remind me why we took this route?"

"I told you, we're heading to the 8th floor and to search for Goldie, the Nightmares or Vincent won't even know we're here," Balloon Boy replied, crawling forward, keeping himself close to the floor. "Everything's cold and hard in here, and cramped to say the least," Puppet moaned, clearly annoyed with her surroundings as the consent moving over metal rims was not doing her legs any favors.

"I'm sure we're near the 6th floor, or maybe the 5th by now," said Balloon Boy, proceeding to pull himself forward across the icy cold metal. "Just keep moving, I'm freezing in here," Puppet muttered, shivering as her body reacted to the cold.

Clearly this building didn't have any operational central heating. "Maybe it's because your cold bloodied," Balloon Boy replied, wiggling his eyebrows in a humorous manner. However, the Puppet didn't find his joke very funny, and proceeded to give Balloon Boy, a cold glare, so cold, that his blood froze.

When Puppet was serious, she meant it…

"Sorry, I didn't mean to refer you to the Ice Witch of Narria."

_Oops…_

"I meant Witchking of Angmar."

_Now you're in for it…_

The Puppet appeared to physically shake under her anger, only to control herself and breathe out.

It was like wrapping a shell around an unstable reactor core.

She smiled…but it wasn't inviting.

"Get running BB, I'll give you a five second headstart," she whispered sharply her hands turning into fists.

It took Balloon Boy a few seconds to realize what she intended to do, before he turned and raced up the pipe, crawling away as fast as he could.

"I'm sorry!" he cried, scrambling as fast as he could.

"Well you shouldn't have called me the Witchking of Angmar then," Puppet cried back, following up after Balloon Boy.

She didn't even know about Lord of the Rings, but she could easily guess that the term wasn't positive.

"Well you can be cold sometimes," said Balloon Boy, looking back. Puppet narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, causing Balloon Boy to scuttle even further away. "Sorry Mari, but in a relationship, we need to be honest with one another, you could say I'm an idiot and I would happily accept that."

"You've been an idiot on so many occasions I've lost count," Puppet replied sourly, crawling after him.

"And I accept it Mari, it's called being mature, try it sometime," Balloon Boy called back. "You take that back!" Puppet hissed, who was starting to gain on him.

"You'll have to catch me first," Balloon Boy sang playfully, scuttling even further forward, well beyond her reach.

"I will," Puppet whispered bitterly under her breath following him.

"I will…"

At least they were moving towards their objective.

* * *

"Freddy, are you and the others inside already?" Toy Freddy asked, whispering into the phone Jeremy had given them, so anyone nearby couldn't hear.

"Yeah, we're in the pipes, all five of us, where are you guys?" Freddy asked back, his voice crackling due to the weak signal as they were in a building with concrete walls. "On the second floor, we've searched the basement, ground and first floors, but found nothing, however we did find Vincent," Toy Freddy replied.

"Pardon?" Freddy asked, sounding confused.

"Yeah, I saw him as we were coming up the stairs, just a few steps above me, I shot him, but somehow it missed him and then he ran off in the direction of the main assembly area."

"Bastard!" Was simply Freddy's reply.

Toy Bonnie then joined in, taking the phone off Toy Freddy.

"This building is at best guess a factory of sorts, what we found in the basement hints towards the production of various chemicals for scientific research, some of it even dates as far back as the Cold War."

"That was a 'peaceful' time and all, not that I cared much for it," Freddy mumbled over the static.

World politics had merely passed them by without a second thought, none of it affected them so they took no notice of what was going on in the wider world. Toy Freddy, meanwhile turned to face Mangle, cocking his head in the direction of the hallway before them.

"Mangle, keep an eye on the hallway, we don't want anyone sneaking up on us."

"Sure thing," Mangle replied, casting her eyes towards dimly lit corridor which led into nothing but pitch blackness at the far end.

Then Toy Chica spoke.

"Mike and Jeremy have gone up to the 4th floor, and the Puppet and BB should be at the 8th floor, you guys will be entering..."

"The 6th floor," Freddy answered.

There some disruption as the phone struggled to maintain the signal.

"Good, that way this place is searched from top to bottom, we along with Springtrap will intercept Vincent, Mike and Jeremy will hopefully cut off the Nightmares' escape route to the roof," Freddy stated. "We'll keep the Nightmares busy for as long as possible, we outnumber them thirteen to five, excluding the endoskeletons," Toy Freddy replied, although he was staring into the pitch blackness, his mind imagining what horrors lay beyond.

"Fine, good luck, you'll need it," said Freddy firmly.

"You too, over and out," Toy Bonnie replied, in an equal tone.

She cancelled the call, before shoving the phone into her pocket. "Come on, they're counting on us," she said, walking forward into the darkness.

"Eyes peeled, they'll play tricks on us for sure," Toy Chica added, joining her. "They're Nightmares, they hide in the shadows, what else could we except," Toy Freddy stated, taking the leading role.

"That they feel no remorse or pity," Mangle added, hurrying on behind them.

All four of them knew this would be a hard fight, no quarter, no mercy and defiantly no holding back.

_It was payback time…_

* * *

"Right, the Toys are moving into position, the Nightmares should be occupied with them, we just need to find floor six and then save Goldie, killing Vincent would be a bonus in my books, if we can get him that is," said Freddy, crawling his way forward through the narrow pipes.

"Why must theses be so narrow," Bonnie moaned, finding it difficult to twist and turn round corners.

"Their air vents, they not designed to be crawled around in," Chica answered, who was also finding it a hard time to move properly. "I think it was a bad idea for all five of us to go in, because it's getting cramped in here, not to mention that it's bloodily freezing!" Springtrap called from the back of the group.

Foxy laughed, finding Springtrap's bitching to very amusing.

"I agree with you on that laddie, it's like Christmas in here without the festivities."

"Guys, we need to hurry, Mike and Jeremy should on the 3rd floor by now doing a quick scan of the area-"

Then Freddy's phone or rather a phone which Jeremy loaned him buzzed in his pocket. He reached in and pulled it out to see a text from Jeremy.

_"Moving up to 4th floor now, stay safe."_

"Ok now they're at the 4th floor," he said, pushing it back into his pocket and scuttling forward, whilst trying not to hurt his neck against the rather low metal ceiling.

"Puppet and Balloon Boy are heading up the pipes towards the top floor right?" Chica asked.

"Yes they are, the idea is that-"

Bonnie had to stop mid-sentence, while she squeezed herself around another tight corner.

"Sorry, again, the idea is that we hold the advantage in numbers they don't and even with their endoskeletons they can only cover so much ground."

"Makes sense I guess," Chica answered, shrugging her shoulders. "They will now know that we're here captain," said Foxy.

"Yes Foxy, but they won't know where 'we' are," Freddy replied, turning back to smile.

"Best make use of that advantage then," Springtrap added, crawling forward on his hands and knees. After crawling up several more pipes, Freddy looked around and raised his hand to stop everyone.

"Ok, if my calculations are correct then we should be at the 6th floor now."

"How are you sure?" Bonne asked, raising her head. "Trust me, I counted on our way up, did any of you guys do that?" Freddy asked, turning round.

He received no reply, but rather several silent shrugs.

"I thought so," said Freddy, clearly in smug mode.

He moved forward.

"Come on, I think I see a hatchway up ahead."

"Finally, freedom, my knees are aching because the metal's hard," Bonnie moaned. "Oh quit moaning woman, you've been through worse," Springtrap groaned from the back

Freddy couldn't help but chuckle internally at Springtrap's words.

"I have had worse experiences, I can tell you that now," Chica muttered, casting her mind back to her first meeting with Nightmare Freddy.

The hatchway when they reached it was...smaller than previously thought. "I'm telling you guys, it looked a lot bigger further away," said Freddy, examing the rather small steel grate.

"Well, this'll have to do, there's no other way around this," Foxy stated.

"He's right and we don't have the luxury of time to search for a better exit," Springtrap added.

He gestured to Freddy and Foxy.

"Help me get this open."

"Sure thing," Freddy replied, rolling up his sleeves. "It's what I do every day," Foxy laughed, gripping the metal bars with his hand and hook.

"On the count of three, one, two, THREE!" Springtrap shouted. They tugged at the metal bars, pulled on the hinges…but it didn't come loose.

They tried again, all three pulling back on the bars, hoping that their combined strength would tear the grate off its hinges. "That's strong.…for a mere air vent grate," Freddy muttered, pausing to catch his breath.

"It's bloody tough that's what it is," Foxy groaned.

Then Chica and Bonnie crawled forward, pushing the three males aside.

"Let us do it," Bonnie, gripping the metal bars with her hands as did Chica. They pulled on the bars, appearing to make no progress like the others had.

Springtrap sighed, shaking his head.

"If we three can't do it, then what makes you think that two ca-"

The metal grate can off with a clear metallic snap, symbolizing its hingies breaking off.

"Well…that was easy," said Chica, surprised that it even came off. "I can't see why you three kept on struggling," Bonnie muttered. She and Chica turned round to smile at a clearly shocked Springtrap, Foxy and Freddy.

Springtrap raised his hand.

"I would put it down to our combined strength helped weaken it for you two."

But Chica and Bonnie continued to smile smugly at them, feeling prideful in light of their success. "It was a lot stronger than it looked!" Springtrap stated, pointing at it.

Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"We can roll with that, can't we Chica?" she asked sweetly.

"Yeah, let them live in their little bubble," Chica giggled, she pushed the grate out of the pipe and squeezed herself through the now open hatchway.

She then turned round to helped pull Bonnie out.

"Ok, be carefully it's quite a tight squeeze, keep your head low," said Chica, slowly pulling Bonnie forward.

Bonnie with Chica's help, pushed herself out of the hatchway, landing steady on the floor. "Thanks," she muttered, pulling herself up, also keeping her voice low, as they were technically in enemy territory. "Ok, now you Freddy," Chica whispered, urging him to come forward.

Freddy briefly turned to face Springtrap and Foxy.

"You guys push me out, ok?"

"Sure thing Freddy," Foxy replied, whereas Springtrap just nodded in confirmation. Freddy crawled forward and grabbed Chica's and Bonnie's hands. They pulled him out, although Springtrap and Foxy for a laugh, shoved Freddy out, causing him to fall out into the floor.

"I said push, not shove!" Freddy stated through gritted teeth. "Sorry, the opportunity was there and I just couldn't resist, it's a pirate thing," said Foxy chuckling. "Beside we're entertainers, we need some form of comedy every once in a while," Springtrap added, smiling innocently.

"Your next then," Freddy grinned, reaching in and grabbing Springtrap by the collar and pulling him out completely. "Hey, watch it, this exit isn't small, ow, ow, ow, ow," he moaned, as Freddy pulled him through with little care.

He then dropped Springtrap onto the floor.

"There, safe and sound, right Springtrap?" Freddy asked with his tone being nothing but pure sarcasm.

"Yeah…," Springtrap replied, with the same tone.

"Safe and sound."

Chica and Bonnie, pulled Foxy out with some difficulty, mainly his size.

"Try to lie flat Foxy," Chica groaned, trying to pull him out.

"And don't make any noise."

"Hang on I got it," he said, pushing himself down against the metal floor.

"I'll just inch my way out."

He started to crawl out slowly…too slowly.

"You're taking too long," Springtrap muttered, rolling as his eyes as he shook his head.

Not wanting to lose time, he and Freddy grabbed Foxy by the shoulders and yanked him out in one big tug, with Bonnie and Chica catching him.

"There, that's all of us out," said Freddy, quickly counting every member. "This is the 6th floor, if you take a look at that map over there," Springtrap added, pointing to a panel on the wall, which displayed the number six in bright red, along with a map of the building's interior.

"Judging on how fast Puppet and BB cover their respective floors, we should meet them soon, and possibly Mike and Jeremy," Bonnie stated, examining the map in closer detail. "Here…if Goldie's being held captive anywhere, it would be there," said Freddy, pointing at the desired location.

"The main office…which just so happens to be on this very floor," Bonnie muttered, staring at it.

"Does everyone have their guns?" Springtrap asked. "Yep all here," Foxy replied, pulling out his pistol, while Chica revealed an automatic. Freddy carried a shotgun, while Bonnie held a rifle and Springtrap like Foxy also possessed a pistol with iron sights.

"Let's go," Chica whispered, taking the first step forward. She exited the room, checking round the corner first to see if anyone was here, before moving on, the others followed her lead.

"Isn't this like one of those spy movies?" Foxy asked.

"Pretty much, without the special effects," Freddy answered.

"Shhh," Bonnie hissed, putting her finger to her lips.

"We don't know what's up here, numerous endoskeletons maybe, Vincent or even the Nightmares perhaps, we best trend carefully," Chica suggested. "Does anyone know the way to the main office?" Springtrap asked, looking back to the others.

"I do…sort of, I read the map," said Freddy, raising his hand.

"Which way then captain?" Foxy asked.

"Mmmm…that way, to the left," Freddy replied, pointing to one of the many corridors that lead into the building's core.

"Good, we better move then," said Springtrap marching off. Then, there was a pair of aloud unexpected screams from somewhere above them, followed by the sounds of something bashing against metal, succeeded by even more screams, it echoed throughout the floor, carrying itself to the lower levels.

Everyone with their instincts on edge, pushed themselves against the walls to avoid being detected.

"What the fuck was that?" Bonnie whispered, her eyes darting about in confusion.

"That scared the living shit out of me!" Foxy hissed, annoyed that he had allowed something to scare him. "I don't know, but it sounded like BB and the Puppet," Chica said, trying to recall the sound of the screams. Then came several loud metallic sounds, machines humming, motors grinding, metal scraping against metal, creating a high pitch squeal.

It moved above them, steadily moving down through the walls, bypassing the gang's location. It felt like they were only cemeteries from whatever was creating that sound. Once it passed onto the floors below, the gang blew an immense sigh of relief.

"What the hell was that 'thing'?" Freddy asked, looking clearly shocked.

"I have no idea, but it's for the best that we should move on," Springtrap stated, tilting his head towards the suggested corridor.

Everyone else nodded in agreement, before setting off with Springtrap leading them into the bowels of the former factory.

* * *

_ Three minutes earlier..._

This was amusing, funny, entertaining for Balloon Boy…but not so for the Puppet.

She had been chasing him for what seemed like ages through one pipe after the other and they all looked the same.

A grey, bumpy and uncomfortable metal labyrinth.

At first it was because Balloon Boy had annoyed her by calling her the witch queen of Narria, then the Witchking of Angmar…why the last one had annoyed she had no idea. Now she was just trying to catch up with him to ensure that he didn't do anything stupid.

"BB SLOW DOWN, I CAN'T CATCH UP WITH YOU," she shouted, her voice echoing along the pipe's metal casting.

She pushed herself moved, trying to desperately catch up with him.

"BB STOP IT, WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER!" she shouted, reaching forward with her arms, trying to grab onto his legs.

Yet each time she tired, she just kept on missing. She then forced herself to the absolute limit of her ability to crawl. As BB neared one of the building's many hatchways, Puppet was finally able to grab his legs.

With one fierce tug she pulled him back, twisted him over onto his back and pinned him down.

"Alright stop, let's just stop it right now," she growled, forcing him to remain still, every time he wiggled.

"Yes, you have my attention," Balloon Boy answered smiling curiously.

Puppet groaned in annoyance, rolling her eyes.

"Stay together, no more childish tricks ok," she hissed, keeping her voice low, even though it had echoed through the pipes only moments earlier.

"Sure thing, I was just trying to make you go faster, as well as make you stop complaining about the temperature," Balloon Boy replied, merely shrugging his shoulders. That was surprisingly true, since the Puppet had solely focused on catching up with BB, she had forgotten about everything else.

"Your right, but no more running off, you're with me now," Puppet ordered, pointing at herself. "Besides," she muttered, looking around to observe her surroundings, even though there wasn't much to see. "We can easily get lost in here, God alone knows where we are," she whispered, keeping her voice low.

"Everything looks the same in here."

"Follow me then, I know the way," Balloon Boy stating, breaking of her hold and crawling ahead, only for Puppet to quickly grab him by the shoulders.

"I'll lead this time, you follow me," she ordered, crawling around him to get at the front.

Seeing how she was very thin, it was easy to bypass him.

"How do you know the way; some parts are even unstable and I wouldn't wanna fall through those?" Balloon Boy asked.

Puppet thought for a moment.

"Do I know the way, sort of, besides this place seems stable enough," she replied optimistically, lightly hitting the pipe wall, making the sound echo around them.

"See…stable," she said smiling.

Then Balloon Boy's ears picked up the faintest sound of something…_snapping._

"Did you hear that?" he asked, looking about.

"Hear what?" Puppet asked, registering his facial expression which didn't look confidence.

Then came another snapping sound.

"That," Balloon Boy replied, pointing in its direction. Puppet turned to where he was pointing and only now the sound of something snapping was much clear for them both to hear.

The snapping sound increased in frequency, bouncing off the walls as it got louder and louder.

Then the pipe collapsed at one end, causing it to bend and shake as it buckled.

"Oh no!" Balloon Boy yelled, as the supports for the pipe broke under the increasing strain.

"We need to go now!" Puppet exclaimed, stating the obvious.

They turned and both quickly raced towards the pipe's hatchway, feeling the pipe tip downwards into the darkness. Balloon Boy got there first, he pushed it opened, letting it drop to the floor and poked his head out…only to find the room filled with endoskeletons, all standing in rows back to back. They all appeared to be in offline mode, not moving or speaking, heads and eyes down cast while their arms remained motionless by their sides. Best guess there were around fifty endoskeletons in total, all standing still, completely unaware of the world around them.

Out all of the rooms in this factory, they just had to pick this one…filled with endoskeletons.

Balloon Boy stared about, taking in the situation. Yet slowly he pushed himself out of the vent, but the second he placed his hand on the cold metal floor, the whole room lit up in the whitish glow of endoskeleton eyes. Balloon Boy in his shock looked up and saw all the endoskeletons raising their heads…and they saw him.

They were on standby mode, set to be triggered by any form of motion or sound. Quickly, he attempted to push himself back inside the pipe, but the endoskeletons were fast, reaching him in seconds and grabbed hold of his arms. They seemed to be very edger to capture him as they tired to pull him through the hatchway.

"PUPPET!" Balloon Boy screamed, trying to break free of the endoskeleton's grip as he desperately tried to dig his heels in.

Puppet instantly grabbed hold of BB's legs, trying to pull him back.

"NO, YOU SHALL NOT TAKE HIM!" she screamed, pulling back with all of her strength. She positioned her legs against the pipe's walls to steady herself. Her strings would offer an advantage, but she knew that in an enclosed space they were of little use. The pipe groaned, struggling to cope with their weight as it was quickly losing the support to do so as each new snap, signalled its approaching collapse.

Currently the Puppet was locked in a contest of strength and the endoskeletons were clearly winning as she felt herself slowly being pulled forward. Glancing behind her, she saw that the end of the pipe was sliding down, breaking off from the rest of the pipe system, with the rear end staring down into the black unknown which dwelt at the centre of the building…a dismal abyss.

Yet, it offered an escape route, it was her only other option besides being captured by Vincent's endoskeletons.

Taking a deep breath, she reached forward, quickly wrapping her arms under BB's armpits and whispered in his ear.

"Push back now with everything you've got!"

They did, with their combined strength allowing them to fully break free of the endoskeletons' grip and fall backwards down the pipe.

The endoskeletons tired their best to reach out and grab them, but to no avail, as both BB and the Puppet fell out of the pipe and into the darkness which swallowed them whole.

Then the pipe broke off completely and fell into the darkness, knocking into the surrounding pipes with a series of deafening clangs and causing them to also fall, this earned several screams of terror from BB and the Puppet, as numerous metal pipes fell around them, heading into the unknown.

Their cries echoed through the centre of the building, blasting out of nearly every hatchway on almost all floors.

The endoskeletons collectively agreed to pursue them, climbing into the hatchway and pulling themselves into the nearby pipes that where still stable, following the sound towards its source.

Downwards…towards the basement.

The movement of multiple metal beings against solid metal created a loud screehing sound, which would cause any human's ears to crinch in agony.

This unbearable sound passed through the pipe system, echoing out of every air vent in the surrounding area. One by one they followed the sound, homing in on its location, which was quickly falling towards the basement.

There was only way out of the basement and they knew that blocking the only exit would trap their enemies…_oh yes, Vincent hadn't wasted his engineering/I.T skills on their programing._

* * *

"Ok, this room is clear and that's…"

Jeremy paused to think.

"The sixth room we searched on this floor so far."

"All empty, no sign of Goldie, Vincent, Nightmares or even any endoskeletons, I don't like this," Mike muttered, walking pass with his gun in hand.

"You suspect a trap?" Jeremy asked, turning to face Mike, watching the younger former nightguard walk down the corridor.

"Yeah…it's way too quiet…something's wrong, there appears to be nothing on this floor or the floor before that, the others haven't texted me anything new," Mike answered, he was on edge, his instincts as an nightguard were on full throttle.

"_Search for any shadow, any sound, the slightest thing that's out of place and you slam that door down."_

Mike reconstructed his thoughts in line with the present situation, he wasn't at Fazbear's anymore. Yet there were still people out there who murder him in less than a heartbeat. Jeremy then walk up, his eyes scanning Mike's sombre expression which was one of deep thought.

"If there's nothing on this floor, then that means our enemies are near the Toys, the Originals and BB and the Puppet, as big as this building is, they can't hide forever," he stated.

"Although I wouldn't put it best them to have lay some sort of trap in advance."

Mike coming out of deep thought, slowly nodded in agreement.

"True, they must be somewhere, I just hope that whichever groups encounters them, they can take them on," he replied.

Jeremy then patted Mike on shoulder.

"They're Fazbears, they been through hell and back, they're the strongest people I know, I would never underestimate them, especially when their angry," he joked, shedding some humour into the situation.

"True, that I do know, yet I'm just worried should someone…die," Mike replied, although the last part was more of a whisper.

"As am I, but everyone knows the risks we're taking, we all wouldn't be here if we accepted the fact that death was a likelihood," Jeremy muttered, casting his eyes around the gloomily hallway.

"Of course, it's just…"

Mike appeared to pause, lost in his train of thought.

He turned to face Jeremy.

"Do you find it all to surprising and sudden how we quickly made friends with them, I mean we were all at opposite ends when we first met?" he asked.

Jeremy laughed.

"Of course I do, I just don't question it, I sort of see it as major misunderstanding," he said, passing his gun between his left and right hand.

"I mean, the company never told me anything about the franchise's past when I first signed up, although Phone Guy's records offered me some details, but I found everything else from the others when I started talking to them, I'm still surprised by how quickly things changed."

He laughed again.

"I mean it wasn't like relations turn around overnight, they were still hostile towards me, suspicious of course, but I won them over and so did you, although you said it was a lot harder with the purple color of your uniform, it sent them ballistic apparently."

Mike smiled, the memory replaying in his mind, so were nail biting days, living on the edge of potential death.

"You know I had the choice of informing the police about the various nightguard disappearances…they were so tense about that happening, begging me to stay and listen, to believe them..."

"Freddy even got down on his knees and gave me a heartfelt plea for me to spare and the others the idea of going to jail and getting the death sentence…"

He chuckled lightly to himself.

"Thee Freddy Fazbear of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, the icon of many people's childhood, on his knees before me, hands clasped with the fear of death in his eyes."

"He would have properly tried to kill me, if I had used the Pizzeria phone in the office."

"Looking back now, it seems so childish, now we're friends, companions, in 1993 I never would have thought that such a thing would be possible," he said, turning to face Jeremy, who only nodded.

"Well neither did I in 1987,w but sometimes, you just gotta roll the dice…sometimes it is fate."

He then brought his gun up into his arms, ready to use if it was required.

"Vincent Afton is in there somewhere and believe me, he will be caught and hung…or rather stuffed into something," he replied, cocking his gun, ever ready.

"That sounds good enough for me," Mike stated, he turned his eyes towards the remaining untouched rooms.

"Let's go, we need to reach the fire exit and cut the Nightmares off from the roof, that's if they're on the floors below us," he said, walking forward, gun in hand.

"I like you're thinking," Jeremy added, grinning as he followed him close behind.

* * *

"Wait," Toy Freddy ordered, holding his hand out to stop everyone else from going forward.

"Hold up…"

"What?" Toy Bonnie asked, leaning out from behind him to get a better look.

"What is it?"

They all stood in the doorway of the assembly area, the room itself was vast, taking up most of the 2nd floor.

Although it was dark inside the room, the lights outside could raise the Toys' field of vision to see several desktops, outlines of large and bulky looking machines for processing data, numerous chemical jars and workplaces with burners, clamps and tripods, however it was hard to see everything clearly.

"Stick close…I don't like this," Toy Freddy whispered, gripping his shotgun close to his chest.

"It's too quiet," Mangle whispered back, her eyes scanning every inch of ground that was visible. "Baby steps, remember," Toy Chica muttered, slowly taking her first step into the room, followed by everyone else. Their footsteps sent out a foreboding echo as soon as they hit the concrete floor.

Toy Freddy reached out for the light switch, which was on the wall nearby. He pushed the switch upwards…but nothing happened.

"It's dead…yet the lights everywhere else aren't," he said under his breath.

Something was wrong, there was an uneasy feeling in this room.

"Mangle, use your endoskeletons arms to reach out ahead of you," Toy Bonnie whispered, to which Mangle nodded. Her metal endoskeleton arms slowly reached out across the room like snakes in the grass., touching anything they came into contact with.

The Toys kept close together with their guns at the ready, waiting for anything.

"I feel so nervous," Toy Chica murmured, she could feel her legs shaking like jelly with each step, not too surprisingly Toy Bonnie was feeling the exact same. Toy Freddy maintained his gaze at his front, checking for anything, although it was a struggle with all the darkness surrounding them which acted as a veil.

"_Freddy and the others should be on the 6__th__ floor by now, Mike and Jeremy are properly on the 4__th__, while the Puppet and BB could have reached the 8__th__, however I haven't got word from them since we entered the building,"_ he thought, keeping track of everyone's progress.

"_I just hope that everyone is ok-"_

Suddenly there was a loud crash of glass, as one of Mangle's endoskeleton arms knocked over a jar of powdered chemicals from one of the workbenches, which caused everyone to freeze on the spot. Mangle turned and gave everyone a cheesy grin.

'Sorry,' she mouthed, smiling to which Toys Freddy, Bonnie and Chica returned with shaking their heads in strong disapproval.

They continued to walk forward, unsure if their enemies were nearby or somewhere far away. They passed broken machinery, rotting wooden chairs and old 1950s to 80s computers, which were scattered around the floor like toys, cracked screens with red, blue and yellow wires sticking out.

The room appeared to be split into different sections in terms of brightness and now it was becoming too dark see, so Toy Freddy decided to use the phone as a torch, using its bright screen to push away the darkness.

"I wonder why no one bothered to actually clear this place out?" Toy Bonnie asked outloud, surveying the chaos.

"I have no idea why, but it must have been important to just leave everything here to decay," Toy Chica replied, stepping over broken jars and piles of scrap metal.

"Do you think they're hiding?" Mangle asked, looking around, inside she was starting to panic, the sole sound of their footsteps and nothing else was deafening.

"Properly, nightmares always hide in the shadows, it moves about avoiding detectionu and we must flush it out," Toy Freddy answered.

Toy Chica yawned in pure sarcasm.

"Gee, Toy Freddy could you be any more poetic."

Toy Bonnie and Mangle laughed, finding her words to be humorous much to Toy Freddy's annoyance. "Could you phrase it better then Toy Chica?" he asked sternly, daring her. "Easy, find Nightmares, aim gun, fire, dead, it's as simple as that," Toy Chica replied playfully.

"You better hope it is," Toy Freddy muttered, turning back to face her.

So far, they had covered slightly over a quarter of the room and hadn't found anyone or anything and as far as they were concerned there were only four people in the room.

_Yet your own eyes can play tricks on you…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are building up to a climax and I've got several plot threads lined up for implementation, but the wait will be worth it, I promise.  
Can you guess at what's to come? ;-)  
Also, when I wrote in the endoskeletons, I imagined them to be the more advanced ones from FNAF 2, as they closely resemble an actual skeleton.  
Please Review.


	19. Sudden Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is and I've made sure to keep my promise that the wait was worth it...hopefully you lot won't be disappointed.
> 
> Thank you to those who have read so far.
> 
> This is more of an action packed chapter...again, sorry for any grammar mistakes which I missed.  
Enjoy and a huge thanks to those who are actively reading this story. :-)
> 
> I used some lyrics from 'Sweet Dreams' by Aviators in this chapter.
> 
> Enjoy. . .

* * *

** Chapter 19 **

** Sudden Revelations **

_"**Life is full of surprises…isn't it?"**_

_ **Charles Heston** _

"Come on, the main office is this way!" Springtrap called, pointing in its direction as the others followed up behind, trying to keep up with him.

"Keep your voice down, we don't wish to attract any unwanted attention!" Bonnie hissed, narrowing her eyes at Springtrap, who only appeared to stare back.

"Where are we exactly?" Chica asked, trying to search for any clue of their current location. "Errr…main corridor, and we've passed twelve to fifteen rooms on the way here…I think," Foxy replied, trying to remember.

"We should be close," Freddy stated, catching up, although in all honesty this place was like a maze. He quickly locked his eyes with Springtrap, annoyed by his impatience. "Springtrap, don't rush off, we need to stay together if we are to stand a chance of staying alive."

Springtrap dropped his fierce gaze and sighed.

"Sorry, I just don't want to waste time, Goldie's in here somewhere and-"

"I know," Freddy remarked, raising his hand to stop him midsentance.

"But we need to stick together, we wouldn't want to lose you too and I'll be damm if that happens."

"True, ok, I'm sorry for running off," Springtrap muttered, lowering his head like a misbehaved child.

"Apology accepted," Freddy answered.

He then reached out and patted Springtrap softly on the shoulder.

"Come on tough guy, let's find Goldie," he said smiling. Springtrap gave a small smile, finding humor in Freddy's words.

"Ok guys let's go and-"

Looking behind him, Freddy saw that Bonnie, Chica and Foxy weren't there anymore. Turning back to look at Springtrap, he leaned round and saw them all behind him, some way off down the corrider.

"HEY, WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT RUNNING OFF!" Freddy shouted, ignoring the fact that his shouting might reveal their location.

"It's not running off, it's walking off," Chica shouted back. "Anyway, we got bored with you two gazing into eachother's eyes," Bonnie added playfully.

"IT'S CALLED A BRO TALK!" Freddy and Springtrap yelled in unsion.

"Oh, in the navy, you can sail the seven seas!" Foxy sang out loud.

"SHUT UP!"

Both Freddy and Springtrap ran after them, although they made no attempt to run away.

"Come on, if we've all sorted everything out, then we can continue," Bonnie said, tliting her head in its direction. "Fine, it should be nearby, everyone just follow my lead," Freddy ordered, marching forward.

"Now who's walking off," Chica giggled, following Freddy in his footsteps.

"Shut up Chica..."

A few minutes later, the group had walked down several corridors, passed a countless number of empty rooms and didn't see a soul, no Nightmare or endoskeleton was present in their push towards the main office. The whole floor was deserted, like it was of no importance to the defender.

"Strange, I thought if Vincent was up here, he would have someone guarding him or at least have the majority of his endoskeleton horde up here," Springtrap muttered, looking around.

"I know it's strange, maybe he thinks we're somewhere else," Chica suggested.

"No, he'll have something up his sleeve, he always does," Freddy replied sternly. "Then we best be quiet and on our guard, we can't have the element of surprise wrecked," Bonnie whispered, walking very softly and cradling her gun in her hands.

Then Foxy raised his hook, instantly catching everyone's attention.

"Foxy what is it?" Chica asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you hear it…that sound," Foxy replied.

"Listen…all of you."

Everyone made themselves as still as possible.

But in the silence, there was something, a barely audible sound.

"Is that…music?" Bonnie asked, sounding confused as she tried to hear the sound correctly. "Whatever it is, it's properly coming from the office," Springtrap muttered, trying to pinpoint the sound's source. "Then let's follow it," said Chica, walking forward.

"Aye lassie, whoever it is, has just given themselves away," Foxy growled, following her.

"If it's Vincent or the Nightmares then oh goodie," Freddy laughed, hoping it was one of the two, as he gripped his shotgun tightly in his hands. They moved through the corridors, following the sound which grew louder with step, but their feelings of uneasy were made even higher.

All out the five of them, Foxy had the best hearing, so they relied on him.

"Foxy, can you make it out?" Bonnie asked, creeping along.

"Something…pop music, it's echoing, catchy if I dare say so," Foxy replied, his ears twitching at the sound.

"Pop music, why, who likes pop music and why in here of all places?" Chica asked, clearly confused. "That's a very good question," Springtrap muttered, his eyes having turned into narrow slints…like an eagle.

"Clearly someone's having a party up here," Freddy added, walking alongside Foxy. "Only a mad lonely person would want to hold a party all the way up here," Bonnie commented casually who was at the back, bringing up the rear. "Well, that narrows down the selection process quite a bit," Springtrap whispered sternly, although nobody heard him.

Along the corridor, Springtrap's ears picked up faint words…barely audible.

"_Going down."_

"_Won't remember."_

"_They fall."_

"_She won't."_

"_It's going down."_

They were pieces to a puzzle which he couldn't solve.

"Come on, there's only one way to solve this," he said, marching forward.

"Curiosity did kill the cat," Freddy muttered, keeping his eyes on Springtrap to ensure that he didn't run off. As they drew closer to the main office, the song grew louder and it definitely pop music…certainty from this century.

"_Slicker than an oil spill."_

"_One more shot, another round."_

They quicken their pace, narrowed their eyes, gripped their weapons, moving as a line of five, taking up the entirety of the corridor.

Up ahead was the main office, it's door almost closed save for a spark of light which shone through the crack between the wall and the door..._someone was inside!_

The song was ringing out, suffocating any other sound nearby.

"Jesus that's loud," Bonnie yelled into Foxy's ear.

"What, I can't hear you!" he shouted, straining his hearing to the best of it's ability. "I wonder if the person inside is deaf?" Chica asked.

"Springtrap, would you kindly do the honours?" Freddy asked, gesturing towards the partly open door.

"With pleasure," Springtrap grinned, walking forward, gun in hand, with the others following close behind. He switched the gun to one hand and with the other, he slowly pushed the office door wide open.

His eyes widen and his jaw hit the floor.

"Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me!"

Everyone else's jaws also dropped.

For there was Vincent, dancing to Ke$haw's Timber with the office's radio playing at full blast. "It's going down, I'm yelling timber, you better move, you better dance."

"What the fuck!" Foxy whispered, clearly as shocked as everyone else. "Let's make a night you won't remember, I'll be the one you won't forget," the radio sang. Vincent who was clearly enjoying himself, didn't appear to notice the five people behind him.

"It's going down I'm yelling timber, you better move, you better dance."

"Should…we interrupt?" Bonnie asked, looking at everyone else.

"Errr...let's…wait it out," Freddy replied, eyes guled to what was going on in front of him. This was kind of interesting, the whole unfolding situation could make one forget about everything, it was that bizarre.

"Let's make a night, let's make a night, you won't remember, I'll be the one, I'll be the one, you won't forget, you won't forget."

Vincent's dancing got even crazier with the chorus, shaking his purple hair about like a rockstar...in all fairness, he certainty had a natural talent for dancing. If you could do a 360-degree camera sweep, you would get Vincent dancing to Timber in front of the main desk with all of the security cameras and see the WTF faces of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Springtrap in the doorway.

"Wooooah timber, wooooah c'mon, wooooah it's going down, wooooah timber, wooooah you won't forget, wooooah timber..."

Vincent paused in a dramatic fashion at the song's ending. He then returned to standing up straight and stretched his muscles. In doing so he turned round…only to come face to face with five angry expressions, each one armed with a gun.

"Oh I see I have-"

He was instantly cut off by Springtrap smacking him square on in the chest with his fist, forcefully knocking him back into the office swirl chair.

"Company, yes you do!" Springtrap hissed, pinning Vincent to the chair with his hands. "Where's Goldie!" Freddy shouted, grabbing Vincent by his neck and pointing the gun in his face. "Where did you put him!" Bonnie shouted, pushing her gun against the back of Vincent's head.

"Where is he?" Chica asked, growling as she aimed her gun to fire between Vincent's legs. "Aye, you've got thirty seconds before you walk the plank to eternal agony," Foxy roared, pushing his gun into Vincent's chest. "Let me guess, your all going to kill me?" Vincent asked cheerfully, somehow finding the whole situation to be rather entertaining.

The collective response was all five guns clicking instantly. "Where. Is. Goldie?" Freddy asked, his eyes filled with rage.

"If I were you, I wouldn't play any mind games."

"Mmmm…do you want the short or the long answer?" Vincent asked, tipping his head from side to side. "Both!" Bonnie hissed, grabbing his hair rather tightly.

"My, my, someone's angry today," Vincent replied, chuckling to himself.

"Well, the short answer is that Goldie isn't here."

Instantly he received a smack in his rib cage from Chica.

"And the long one!" she snarled.

"Goldie…isn't on this planet…anymore," Vincent answered, recovering from Chica's punch. There was a uneasy silence as all five stared at Vincent processing his words.

Springtrap was the first to explode.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" he shouted, putting his finger on the gun's trigger.

"YOUR IN FOR IT NOW!" Foxy growled, moving his hook next to Vincent's neck so he could tear out his windpipe.

"WHERE IS HE!" Freddy yelled, shaking Vincent by the collar.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!" Chica shrieked, smacking Vincent again in the ribs.

"YOU'VE GOT SECONDS TO LIVE!" Bonnie screamed, pressing her gun even further against Vincent's head.

Springtrap cast his eyes around the room, despite the overhanging light, it was actually dimly lit with most of the room shourded in darkness.

Behind Vincent on the desk was a series of TV screens, all displaying key parts of the factory, including the 2nd floor assembly area where the Toys were.

"You say I have got seconds to live…I sadly know you guys well enough to know that you won't kill me," Vincent stated, his eyes darting back between his five opponents.

"And what makes you think that?" Springtrap asked, returning his gaze to meet Vincent's.

Vincent smiled, slowly rising up to be eye level with Springtrap, who didn't attempt to hold him down. "You want to know where his body is…don't you…and guess who holds the answer to that."

Vincent smiled, ever confident in his position.

Springtrap lowered his head, appearing to accept Vincent's words. Then his eyes narrowed in anger, as he smacked Vincent down into the chair and pointed his gun at him. "I'll search this entire place from top to bottom to find him and you won't be alive to stop me," he snarled, putting his finger on the trigger.

If Vincent were to show any fear at all, now would be the time, but he merely smiled.

"You'll never find him, I'll guarantee you that."

"Besides, you five won't win the upcoming fight," he said, turning his head to smile at everyone, who only returned intense stares of anger.

"You're surrounded by five of us, who are all holding guns pointed at you and you can't even reach your own gun, so how exactly are the odds in your favour?" Freddy asked. Vincent tipped his head back and laughed, his confident laugther echoing off the office walls. "Oh Freddy, haven't you worked it out already...were you always so slow?"

"What!" Foxy asked, running his hook ever so lightly against Vincent's neck.

"If there's one thing you should never put into a trap…it's me."

There was a glint of insanity in Vincent's eyes as he spoke.

"Who knows…I may just come back and haunt you for it."

Vincent leaned out of his chair and tilted his head sideways, so he could look past Springtrap and into the darkness beyond.

"Isn't that right…_Goldie!"_

"_Correct Vincent," _a smooth yet low voice replied from the dark shadows of the room.

Instantly Springtrap spun round and aimed his gun at the surrounding darkness. "Come out now with your hands up," he shouted with his eyes narrowed. The others held Vincent down in the chair, but their eyes turned in the direction of the new voice.

"_Don't you recognise me…'SpringBonnie'," _the voice hissed, moving about in the dark. Springtrap pushed the flood of negative thoughts to the back of his head. "Come out now," he ordered, he turned his gun towards the ceiling and fired to enforced his demand.

The shot rang out along the corridors nearby.

"_Well…if you insist,"_ the voice replied, followed by several loud footsteps.

It was that this point that Vincent decided to talk

"You see guys, I was actually telling you the truth, Goldie is effectively dead-"

Foxy pulled his hook against Vincent's neck, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"If I were you, I would keep your mouth shut!" he whispered harshly into his ear.

Then out of the darkness appeared a figure…_with scarlet red eyes, dark golden hair sharp teeth, menacing claws, a tattered golden suit and a purplish coloured top hat and bow tie._

"_Hello there, Springtrap, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy," _it hissed warmly.

Springtrap was lost for words, his hands was trembling, struggling to hold the gun which he was pointing at that 'thing'.

"_Why the shocked faces, don't you recognize me?"_ the figure asked, its intimidating eyes shifting from one person to the next. Vincent threw his head back and laughed, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were so taken back by what they saw that they didn't even notice.

Only Springtrap could utter an audible word.

"_Gol…die?"_

* * *

"Jesus, where am I?" Balloon Boy moaned, slowly opening his eyes, as the first thing to return to him was the immense pain flowing throughout his body.

He remembered falling with Puppet, falling…just falling through nurmous pipes and having their bodies bashed against the hard metal.

Ok, now he knew why his body ached so much.

Turning to his left, he saw the Puppet lying on her side, eyes closed, unresponsive.

"PUPPET!" he yelled, crawling over and quickly shaking her by the shoulders.

"Mmm…what…," she mummered, slowly coming too.

"WAKE UP!"

"Balloon…Boy," Puppet mumbled, slowly opening her eyes.

"Puppet, come on, we've gonna find a way out an-"

Suddenly there was a rattling sound above them, their eyes turned upwards to see the pipes shaking about rather violently.

Upon quickly looking around, Balloon Boy could only guess that he and Puppet were somewhere in the basement…and that something else had followed them down here. The pipes continued to shake all the way down to the entry vent, which hung just above them from the celling.

Sensing the inevitable, Puppet instantly sat upright and pushed herself away as quick as possible, now she was fully alert. It was a good that she did, as several pairs of thin, metal, skeleton like hands reached out of the entry vent and pulled themselves through.

About ten pairs of greyish eyes appeared, brusting forth from the metal confines of the vent, scanning the area, ten heads swepping from side to side, making their motors grind against one another. Within a second, all eyes fell upon the Puppet and Balloon Boy, the latter shaking due to intense nervousness, while the Puppet remained still with a determined look on her face.

The endoskeletons appeared to be indecisive, as if debating on what to do next, giving the Puppet ample time to reach out and grab BB's hand. "Run," she whispered to which BB only nodded, eyes locked forward.

No sooner had she said it, the endoskeletons launched themselves out of the vent, flying through the air and landing on the floor on all fours like a cat.

Once they did that they quickly got up simultaneously and advanced to attack the pair.

BB had no time to mount a reaction as the Puppet got to her feet, pulled on his hand and dragged him away.

"Come on, we need to find the exit and the lights," she stated, desperately looking around in the hope of making anything out in the dim darkness. Although they couldn't exactly see the endoskeletons they could hear them, mainly their motors wiring away in the darkness somewhere behind them.

"We need to hide, or we'll be caught," BB cired, trying to keep up with the Puppet as she pulled him along, heading blindly into the darkness. He was right, out in the open they didn't stand much of a chance of survival, especially if the endoskeletons had night-vision, which they unfortunately did, removing the darkness as a obstacle.

Only to make matters worse, the endoskeletons were extremely mobile and now appeared to coming in from nearly every direction, the swift mechanical pitter patter of their feet.

Then Balloon Boy spotted something recognisable in the darkness.

"Quick over here, I think I see a door," BB exclaimed, pulling the Puppet along. It was a door and one could only guess it lead to another part of the basement or maybe the exit. The sounds of metal feet pounding the ground, only forced the duo to run even faster. BB pushed it open, pulled the Puppet inside and slammed the door shut, blotting it closed. The sound of the door slamming shut reached the endoskeletons who wasted no time heading over to investgate.

"Quick barriacade it!" BB yelled, looking around for anything of use.

Based on what he could see in the pitch blackness, BB guessed he and the Puppet were in a storageroom as he could make the outlines of metal boxes, cupboards Puppet immediately grabbed one of the many cupboards and started to push it towards the door.

"Help me dammit!" she stressed, using all of her muscle strength to push the cupboard forward.

BB instantly joined in and together they shoved the cupboard against the door, which was a good thing as the endoskeletons immediately started in attempting to break it down.

The entire door bulged forward, creaking, moaning and cracking against the combined weight of metal which were the endoskeletons. Within seconds Balloon Boy and Puppet had piled in their desperation anything they could find against the door, hopeful that it would slow the endoskeletons' progress.

The banging grew louder, as the door's metal frame groaned against the ever increasing force that was being hurled against it. It was then that both Fazbears realised that there was only one exit and they had just run through it.

"SHIT, THERE'S NO WAY OUT!" Balloon Boy screamed, feeling the walls with his hands in the ever fading hope of finding of a hidden door.

"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Puppet yelled, smacking the wall with her fists, despite the immense pain which she received. Several fist sized imprints appeared on the storeroom door, as the metal continued to buckle under the strain. "HOLD THE DOOR!" Puppet shouted as she charged into it, the impact ricocheting through the door, knocking one or two endoskeletons back in shock.

However, they quickly recovered and proceeded to follow her example and to much greater effect. Balloon Boy could feel his feet slipping under him as he couldn't match the endoskeletons' combined strength.

"PUPPET WHAT DO WE DO?" he asked, trying to hold the door with all his might. Puppet look about, there was no way out, a horde of endoskeletons to their front, a brick wall to their back and there only being one exit.

"I DON'T…I DON'T KNOW!" she replied, clearly scared as she shook her head amidst the banging and electric screams of the endoskeletons as they bashed against the storageroom door.

_They would need a miracle..._

* * *

"Gol..die?"

The figure chuckled in amusement at Springtrap's pale face, shaking its head.

"_No Springtrap, not Goldie…not anymore,"_ it answered smoothly, grinning. It walked forward, ignoring the gun which Springtrap was holding as it revealed more of itself.

"_Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, are you feeling?"_ it asked warmly.

"Let me guess, you're Nightmare Goldie?" Chica asked harshly, studying the newcomer.

"_It's Nightmare Fredbear to you dear__, the term Goldie is much more recent__,"_ the figure sneered, flexing his claws.

"Where's Goldie?" Freddy sternly asked, giving 'Nightmare Fredbear' a death glare.

Nightmare Fredbear's scarlet red eyes merely narrowed as he smiled.

"_Dead,"_ he answered, with the look of a sadist.

"You're lying," Bonnie hissed, glaring at him.

"_No…not really, he's dead and buried…well…perhaps not buried,"_ said Nightmare Fredbear, pausing to think. "You look like something that was half buried matey," Foxy muttered, scowling at this new opponent.

Nightmare Fredbear flashed him a smile.

"_As you will soon be Foxy…very soon."_

Freddy turned to face Vincent who was still being held down in the office chair by the others. "What did you do to him?" he asked, although it was more a growl.

Vincent smiled in the face of Freddy's anger. "Easy, I just swapped souls, Goldie for N-Fredbear."

"How?" Freddy asked, eyes narrowing as he pushed his gun into Vincent's face.

Vincent however just rolled his eyes.

"It's…complicated and lengthy-"

"HOW!" Freddy roared, gripping Vincent by his neck.

"Well, it goes a little something like this, took me a while to figure it all out, but basically Goldie's soul goes out, finds N-Fredbear's and brings it back to the body, however."

Vincent's eyes glinted with mischief.

"N-Fredbear's soul overpowers Goldie's soul and in the process…he effectively…kills him."

An uneasy silence settled in as Vincent and Freddy stared each other down. It was suddenly broken with Freddy smacking Vincent hard across the face with his fist.

"YOU'RE FUCKING LYING VINCENT!"

He then pointed at Nightmare Fredbear, who looked ready to pounce.

"GOLDIE IS STILL ALIVE IN THAT…MONSTROSITY!"

"_Well that's the first of many insults to expect,"_ Nightmare Fredbear muttered, eyeing his targets. Then he heard a loud clicking sound next to his right ear. He turned and saw Springtrap with a determined look on his face, pointing his pistol at him.

"Where's Goldie?" He asked, in a clearly demanding tone.

"_You're looking at him,"_ Nightmare Fredbear replied stubbornly, showing his sharp teeth or... were they fangs?

"Where?" Springtrap asked again, showing no desire to accept Nightmare Fredbear's answer.

"_Why are you here Springtrap, why you of all people, considering the last few words you exchanged with Goldie,"_ Nightmare Fredbear inquired, tilting his head to one side.

"_As I possessed his body, I saw his memories, I relived his pain, pain inflicted by none other than you Springtrap."_

"I came back to set things right," Springtrap answered, gripping the gun.

"_Your too late,"_ Nightmare Fredbear hissed.

"_You are all too late to do anything about Goldie!"_ he snarled, glaring at everyone.

"But not too late to deny you victory," Springtrap stated, putting his finger on the pistol's trigger.

Nightmare Fredbear laughed, his deep laughter echoing throughout the room.

"_You won't pull the trigger, you still think Goldie's soul is inside me, killing me would mean killing him and let's be completely honest Springtrap, you really don't want to inflict anymore pain on your 'co-worker'."_

"I know what I did and I'm sorry Goldie, truly for what I did, but…"

Springtrap narrowed his eyes, his hands were shaking, the others including Vincent looked on in wonder, fearing what would happen next.

"I won't let you tarnish his good memory!"

There was a bang which rang out, but once the noise died down, it was clear to everyone that Springtrap had just shot Nightmare Fredbear. Nightmare Fredbear looked down to see a blood strain dripping out of a bullet hole in his suit.

Returning his gaze to Springtrap, he let out a chuckle which turned into a full blown laugh.

"What's so funny?" Springtrap asked sternly, not getting Nightmare Fredbear's humour.

Vincent answered for him

"Oh Springtrap, I forgot to mention, as part of the procedure the subject does get quick healing abilities, but only for a day, it's part of the side effects."

"WHAT!" Bonnie shouted in clear disbelief.

"Yes, I was just as shocked as you were, but you'll get used to it," Vincent replied, smiling at the gang's pale expressions. There was the sound of something metallic hitting the floor. Everyone, but Nightmare Fredbear looked down to see a small blood covered bullet. Springtrap looked up, seeing that the blood flow from Nightmare Fredbear's wound had stopped...in fact the wound had already healed.

However, what really caught his attention was the death glare Nightmare Fredbear was giving him.

"_Bad move…for a novice." _

He smiled, showing his full set of sharp pointed teeth.

"_My turn!"_

Springtrap had no time to react, as the gun was sent flying out of his hand and he was kicked to the ground. Equally Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy couldn't prepare themselves for Nightmare Fredbear's attack. Freddy's eyes could only register a goldish blur coming towards him, before he was knocked backwards landing on the floor, however he kept a firm grip on his gun.

Bonnie was thrown back in the direction of the doorway, feeling a rather sharp punch to the chest.

Chica suffered no less, as her legs were swept out from underneath her, in her panic she pulled the trigger sending bullets flying all over the office. Vincent had to dive towards the floor to avoid being hit. Foxy's eyes only saw Nightmare Fredbear rush towards him, claws expanded, there's a collision and a swipe of his claws.

Foxy felt his back slam into the office wall behind him, in his blurred vision he could see Nightmare Fredbear towering over him, his claws raised.

"_You always were 'out of order' let's make it permanent," _Nightmare Fredbear snarled, putting his foot on Foxy's gun so he couldn't use it.

"FOXY!" Chica screamed as the Nightmare moved to rip into Foxy's chest. Then several loud shots were heard, Nightmare Fredbear roared in pain as shotgun rounds penetrated his side, he turned to see Freddy firing his shotgun at him.

That caught his attention long enough for Chica to sweep in, grab Foxy and pull him to safety. Bonnie also grabbed her rifle and proceeded to put holes in Nightmare Fredbear's back. She watched in shock as the bullets were just pushed out of his suit, each time a new one went in, another fell out.

Instant healing abilities that only last a day, which meant Goldie was turned/killed a few hours ago. Then Chica responded with her automatic as did Foxy with his pistol, firing shots into Nightmare Fredbear's body, covering him in bullet holes from head to toe.

Vincent meanwhile had taken the rather courageous decision to hide under the office desk, grabbing his gun in the process.

Then the firing stopped as everyone had just ran out of ammunition.

"_Done?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked solemnly, looking round, as everyone checked their guns.

His entire body pulsed, as hundreds and hundreds of bullets were pushed out, with his wounds healing at an astonishing rate. "_Quite a waste of bullets, I thought you lot were smarter than that,"_ Nightmare Fredbear inquired, his eyes passing over his enemies.

"_You don't shoot what you can't kill,"_ he growled, stepping forward.

"I must agree with N-Fredbear, that was quite foolish," Vincent added, crawling out from under the office desk. He instantly pointed his pistol directly at Freddy, putting him right between the iron sights.

"And if I may add, quite fatal."

He pulled the tigger, only for his pistol to be knocked out of his hand. Vincent turned and saw Springtrap still on the floor, but aiming his pistol in his direction. It was clear that he had just shot the pistol out of Vincent's hands.

"I still have ammo Vincent, so don't even think of shooting," Springtrap hissed, maintaining his grip on the trigger. Then he saw Nightmare Fredbear approach him, eyeing his pistol.

He extended his claw out to him.

"_Give that to me,"_ he ordered in an authoritarian manner.

_"You are in no position to resist."_

"No…'Fredbear'," Springtrap hissed, glaring at the nightmare who growled back, his scarlet red eyes studying his greenish grey.

Nightmare Fredbear heard several clicks, he guessed that the others had reloaded.

"_Don't even think of shooting me or Vincent, because I will kill you all without hesitation if you pull the trigger." _

"Vincent doesn't have instant healing abilities like you, so one shot and he's dead," said Chica, smiling as she turned to face Vincent who had recovered his gun. Nightmare Fredbear however smiled, going through his mind retiring recent memories.

"_Goldie screamed as I took over, killing him in both mind and body, his last thoughts were…"_

He paused to think.

"_Of you four and preforming with his 'best' friend."_

That caught the attention of the Originals, they turned to face him, and clearly they were interested by his words. He turned away from Springtrap to face them, his eyes locking with theirs.

"_You were the world to him, the love, the fun, the laughter and the entertaining of children, yet it all ended in tragery."_

"Yeah, by that bastard over there," Foxy cursed, glaring at Vincent, who only smiled back.

"_Are you so sure about that?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked, catching Foxy's attention.

"OF COURSE, WE'RE SURE, HE'S MURDERED ELEVEN CHILDREN AND WRECKED OUR LIVES, WHAT DO YOU KNOW!" Freddy shouted, glaring at Nightmare Fredbear, who only smiled. "_Everything…more than you know Freddy, have you ever considered that __maybe __there's more to this, to why things turned out the way they did?"_ he asked.

"What do you know?" Bonnie asked, throwing the question back at Nightmare Fredbear.

"_Secrets that'll turn your whole world upside down my dear, some of which are best left...forgotten."_

"Yeah like what?" Chica asked. Nightmare Fredbear smiled, taking opportunity in the lull to walk around.

"_I represent Goldie's darkest secret, it was an accident, but it had terrible consequences for everyone…including you four."_

He turned and walked toward Vincent, intending to shield him from any harm. "_However, I will give you credit if you can figure the truth out, but if you think you've brushed death before, seeking the entire truth will take you to places you don't wish to vis__i__t or…revisit."_

Nightmare Fredbear smiled as he lay out a tricky puzzle for them to solve.

"_I'll give you all a hint, it was in 1983 and that's all I'm saying." _

He then turned to face Foxy.

"_Foxy, being the one with the sharpest hearing, can you hear anything…anything unusual?"_

Foxy listened, focusing on every sound. At first it was nothing, but he heard it, a steady pattern…of motors grinding and metal bending.

That meant only one thing.

"ENDOSKELETONS!" he shouted as reality hit him like a lighting blot.

Freddy leaned out of the office doorway and saw ten, no twenty, no forty, no eighty, no...a hundred endoskeletons running down one of the corridors and crawling over the walls.

"JESUS THERE'S ABOUT A HUNDRED OF THEM!"

"Well played for time N-Fredbear," Vincent chuckled as Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Springtrap aimed their guns in his direction. There was a storm of bullets, all aimed at Vincent, but all ended up hitting Nightmare Fredbear who stood like a stone wall, weathering every shot.

He was quick too, making small movements to counter every bullet, despite the speed in which his enemies changed their angle of shot.

"GUYS WE NEED TO GO!" Freddy shouted, casting his eyes back to the ever-growing horde of endoskeletons who upon hearing the shooting, quicken their pace.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME FREDDY, WE JUST GOT HERE!" Bonnie shouted back.

"WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!" Freddy screamed, trying to be heard over the shower of bullets. Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Springtrap stopped firing, but only due to running out of ammunition.

"_I really thought you guys were smarter than this, oh well, it's my time to shine,"_ Nightmare Fredbear grinned, stepping forward as his body rejected the bullets. He advanced on Bonnie and Chica who were too busy reloading to defend themselves.

"_No need for sleep tonight, sweet dreams are overated,"_ he sang in a ghoulish tone, raising his claws to attack the pair. However, Springtrap quickly moved in between Nightmare Fredbear and his prey and aimed his pistol right between the man's eyes.

"Sweet dreams then," Springtrap hissed, pulling the trigger, sending the bullet on its way. Nightmare Fredbear screamed in pain, clutching his head as his body pushed the bullet out of his skull.

Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Springtrap took the opportunity to join Freddy by the office door. Freddy was considering running around the Nightmarsh version of Goldie and shooting Vincent under the desk. However, Nightmare Fredbear was quick to recover from his injury and continued to advance upon them.

Now they faced an unkillable Nightmare Fredbear to their front and a horde of endoskeletons to their rear. "Great now we're caught between a rock and a hard place," Chica groaned, looking both ways.

"Now what captain?" Foxy asked, switching his gun from one target to the next, both were approaching the group at a quick rate.

"_NOW YOU DIE!"_ Nightmare Fredbear screamed demonically, glaring as he neared them.

Then an idea entered Foxy's head.

"Captain I strongly suggest we join the others on the lower levels, this is a fight we can't win," he argued. "Good idea, Foxy take Chica and Bonnie down, Spring and I will follow, buy us some time," Freddy ordered, unleashing a round of shotgun shells on the nearest endoskeletons.

Foxy grabbed Chica and Bonnie by the hand and pulled them back the way they had come. Springtrap turned and fired at Nightmare Fredbear, although it would do little damage.

"_Hey kids, do ya wanna sing with us, Spring Bonnie here has a new guitar."_

It was clear that Nightmare Fredbear was using Goldie's memories to mock him.

"_Hey Freddy, why don't you run along with your friends, later I__'ll __train you how to sing,"_ said Nightmare Fredbear in fatherly tone.

"YOUR NOT GOLDIE!" Freddy shouted, locking eyes with Nightmare Fredbear.

"_I'M THE NEW GOLDIE, BOY, NOW LISTEN TO YOUR MENTOR!"_ Nightmare Fredbear shouted back, his golden hair swaying as he moved forward. Vincent leaned out from behind Nightmare Fredbear, smiling with full satisfaction at the current situation.

"You heard him Freddy, run along with your friends," he playfully commented.

"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU VINCENT, THIS ISN'T OVER!" Freddy screamed, angry that once more justice was out of his reach. Vincent looked back to the cameras on the desk, particularly at the camera for the 2nd floor assembly area where the Toys were. "Well perhaps not over for you," he muttered, forseeing what would take place.

"Freddy, we have to go now or we'll be overrun," Springtrap stated, shooting several endoskeletons in the their respective neck joints which rendered them dead, but more and more kept on coming. "Go Springtrap, I'll be right behind you," Freddy replied, keeping his eyes on Nightmare Fredbear.

Springtrap's eyes widen in shock.

"But Freddy-"

"GO!" Freddy ordered, causing Springtrap to bolt in the opposite direction, following behind Foxy, Bonnie and Chica. Nightmare Fredbear approached Freddy, leaning in so their faces were almost touching. "I'll find out the truth before you and your wretched kind can kill anyone else," Freddy hissed, glaring at his enemy.

Nightmare Fredbear simply smiled.

"_Are you so sure about that Freddy, the truth hides in many place__s__, plus I could kill you right now,"_ Nightmare Fredbear growled, running his claws through Freddy's hair like a parent would do to a child.

"I am sure, I've uncovered so many things the last few days, nothing could surprise me," Freddy replied, swatting Nightmare Fredbear's claw away.

"_What happened in 1983 will shock you and when you discover it's meaning and what it lead to, don't be too surp__r__ise to find everything you thought you knew being turned inside out," _Nightmare Fredbear stated looking very stern all of sudden.

The endoskeletons were nearing, Freddy could hear them clearly.

He stared into Nightmare Fredbear's scarlet red eyes, seeing anger, hatred and desire.

"I know your in there Goldie, give me a sign."

Nightmare Fredbear however just laughed in his face, a laugh of pure amusement which mirrored the look of despair which resided in Freddy's face.

"_He's dead Freddy, dead and gone, now get running."_

His eyes narrowed, as he barred his sharp teeth.

"_Before I change my mind and kill you right now on the spot!"_

Freddy jumped back, denying Nightmare Fredbear the chance to kill him and started walking backwards away from the approaching endoskeletons which tracked him like predators in the wild.

"_Freddy, a final word of advice, curiosity did kill the cat,"_ Nightmare Fredbear stated smugly, watching Freddy's move ever backwards.

"And you will reap what you've sowed," Freddy replied sternly, making sure that he kept his distance from the endoskeletons. He then turned and ran after the others, with numerous endoskeletons chasing him, all of them breaking into a sprint on mass.

Nightmare Fredbear watched him go, vanishing down the corridor before turning back round to face Vincent.

"_Are you staying here?"_ he asked curiously. "Yes, I'll monitor things from here for a while, keep some endoskeletons around to guard me and lock the door," Vincent answered, now putting all of his focus on the security cameras.

"_Then if you don't mind, I have some issues that need sorting,"_ Nightmare Fredbear aggressively stated, flexing his claws and muscles. "Feel free to do whatever you want with them," Vincent solemnly replied, to which Nightmare Fredbear's eyes glowed with forseen pleasure.

"_I won't be long,"_ he said, taking off in a dash.

Vincent smiled, approaching the desk.

He checked all the cameras to see if they were operating perfectly. He could see the endoskeletons in the basement were hammering at one of its doors.

"Well they've clearly found something interesting."

He then saw the Toys walking around the 2nd floor assembly area.

"Like moths drawn to the flame," he commented happily.

He switched his eyes over to Mike and Jeremy patrolling the 4th floor, with no opposition in sight.

"Mmmm, I can't have them wandering around so freely."

Vincent turned to the twenty or something endoskeletons that were now guarding the office, they had taken the collective decision to stay behind. "Five of you go and get any other which remain inactive and have them joined in with the group that's going after the Originals...once they were sorted with go and take the two men on floor 4, got it?" he asked.

Five endoskeletons all nodded in conformation and quickly left to gather reinforcements, before falling in. With everything in order, Vincent smiled as he sat down in the office chair and learned back.

"Excellent, now that everyone is occupied, I can just sit here and listen to fourth wall songs," he laughed, feeling very relieved that the pressure was off. He then pulled out a small package of CDs from one of his trouser pockets.

He studied them, going over each one.

"Mmmm…let's see what I've got here, Die In A Fire, I'm The Purple Guy, Purple, Not Here All Night, It's Time To Die, Sweet Dreams, The Monsters Under My Bed, It's Been So Long, Just Gold, Our Little Horror Story, Mechanial Instinct, Jaws, Behind The Mask, Game Over, March Onward To Your Nightmare, Home, Follow Me, It's Me, Survive The Night, The Show Must Go On, Noticed, Balloons, Break My Mind, Dream Your Dream, I've Got No Time The Puppet Song, Make This Puppet Proud, No More, Nightmare, Salvaged, The Final Chapter, Goodbye, This Is The End and Finale."

"So many choices," he muttered, trying to decide which one to play on the building's intercom.

Then he saw one that was perfect for the occasion...it was enough to make him grin.

"Aaa, now this will do just nicely," he whispered, opening the CD case.

* * *

"Freddy come on, the stairs are over here," Chica called, seeing Freddy run round the corner.

"I see you guys, I'm coming!" Freddy shouted, waving at them. He knew the endoskeletons were closing in behind him.

"Your doing good Freddy, just keep running," Bonnie shouted, watching Freddy catch up. However, Nightmare Fredbear appeared around the corner with his eyes glowing bright red. He quickly spotted Freddy and the others at the far end of the corridor.

"_Don't fear what's coming, we can't fight off the urge inside, it's dark and your afraid of the devils that come out at night, let's make this easy, soon you'll haunt this beasts you hated, no need for sleep tonight, sweet dreams are overated," _he sang, now in a more sinister tone then before as he walked forward.

Freddy turned round the instant he heard Nightmare Fredbear's voice, his eyes widening in fear.

"_I thought I might come to see if you and your friends need a bedtime story, to chase away the night terrors, I've heard you four are having bad dreams."_

Again he was digging through Goldie's memories and using them as a weapon.

"FREDDY RUN!" Bonnie screamed.

"RUN LIKE THE WIND!" Chica yelled.

_"All too easy!"_ Nightmare Fredbear smirked as he instantly ran forward, swiftly closing the gap between him and Freddy.

Freddy turned round to fire, but Nightmare Fredbear was far too quick for him smacking the shotgun right out of Freddy's hands. He then swept Freddy's feet out from under him, making him hit the ground with a solid thud. Within seconds Nightmare Fredbear was towering over him, opening his mouth of sharp teeth.

"_I never thought I would deprive someone of their forntal lobe 'again'_," he sneered, grabbing hold of Freddy's head with his claws and pulling himself in close. Freddy of course kicked and thrashed about to break free, but couldn't as Nightmare Fredbear maintained his grip of steel and continued to open his mouth, showing his immense range of jagged teeth...like that of a Great White Shark.

"_Sweet dreams...'Freddy Fazbear'."_

Then out of nowhere, a reddish blur slammed into the Nightmare's chest, sending him flying backwards and freeing Freddy. Foxy having landed on the Nightmare' chest, within an instant raised his hook and guided it right into one of Nightmare Fredbear's eyes.

There was a loud shriek of pain as Nightmare Fredbear grabbed Foxy and threw him against the wall in a deafening thud like a toy. Freddy felt something grab him by the shoulders and pull him away from the action.

He turned and looked up to see Chica dragging him to safety. "Come on, while he's in pain," she said, quickly pulling him upright. Then a shot rang out, as Bonnie fired their rife, covering the other as she aimed to hit Nightmare Fredbear in the eyes as he rose up.

"_Shoot me, burn me, stab me, burry me, drown me, hang me, but nothing can kill me, __all __you__r__ merely __doing is __delaying the inevitable,"_ Nightmare Fredbear hissed, as vision soon returned to his left eye. He stood upright, blood covered bullets falling out of his skin and hitting the metal floor, all the while Foxy picked himself up, clearly bruised by his impact with the wall.

Nightmare Fredbear ignored Foxy and continued to advance on the others, mainly Bonnie seeing how she was the one firing at him. "I cannot kill you," Bonnie muttered, firing at Nightmare Fredbear repeatedly. "_Clever girl,"_ Nightmare Fredbear chuckled, approaching her with vicious intent.

Then Bonnie pulled on the trigger sending a bullet right into Nightmare Fredbear's right eye. "But I can hurt you," she replied, as Nightmare Fredbear screamed amidst the agony he had received.

At that point Foxy leapt onto Nightmare Fredbear's back, digging his hook into the Nightmare's shoulder blade. Nightmare Fredbear grunted, although he was more concerned with the pain he was receiving from his right eye. He reached round with one hand and grabbed Foxy by the arm, not caring that it would tear the hook out of his shoulder.

He then pulled Foxy away and threw him forward, forcing Bonnie to stop her fire as she didn't wish to hit him. Foxy landed next to Chica and Freddy, whom the former immediately proceeded to try and help him up.

Nightmare Fredbear took the lull as an opportunity to charge, heading straight for Bonnie.

She had no time to react as Nightmare Fredbear bashed her to the floor.

He proceeded to kick her rifle away.

"_However, with you my dear,"_ Nightmare Fredbear sneered, flexing his claws.

"_I can kill you."_

He slammed his foot onto Bonnie's chest, aiming to crush her ribcage.

"_Die!"_ he hissed sadistically, his scarlet red eyes glowing with immense enjoyment as he watched her struggle.

Bonnie try to push Nightmare Fredbear's foot off, but he continued to apply a steady pressure to her chest. He could feel her bones begin to buckle under the weight.

"YOU GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!"

Suddenly Freddy slammed into Nightmare Fredbear, knocking him backwards and freeing Bonnie who wasted no time in crawling away to safety. However, any momentum Freddy had gained, he lost it within seconds.

Nightmare Fredbear smiled, as he griped Freddy's wrists, twisting them backwards.

"_You can't beat me Freddy, in the end I will win." _

"You've seen nothing yet 'Fredbear'," Freddy replied, gritting his teeth as he dug his feet in.

As Freddy wrestled with Nightmare Fredbear, Bonnie retrieved her rifle, while Foxy now fully recovered, picked up his pistol and Chica checked her automatic for ammunition.

"We can't kill him," Bonnie cried stating the obvious. "Yeah, but we can't let him roam free around the factory either, what if he runs into BB and the Puppet or Mike and Jeremy?" Chica asked. "I know that, but we have contain him, at least for twenty four hours," Foxy added shrugging his shoulders.

Then Bonnie realised something.

"Wait a minute, guys where's Springtrap?" she asked, looking around.

"He was right with us," Chica replied, also noticing that Springtrap was nowhere to be seen. "GUYS, A LITTLE HELP WOULD BE NICE!" Freddy shouted as Nightmare Fredbear twisted his hands back. "_You'll die first, then Bonnie, then Chica and finally Foxy, it always was in that order,"_ Nightmare Fredbear hissed, his eyes gleaming with joy.

"_You cannot delay me killing you…slowly…painfully."_

"Your right and I can give you an example of that," Freddy replied smiling.

He then kneed Nightmare Fredbear hard in the groin, causing him to fall onto his knees.

"Yep that old trick still works," Freddy muttered jumping backwards to avoid Nightmare Fredbear's attempts to swipe at him with his claws.

"_You bastard!"_ Nightmare Fredbear hissed clutching his groin, clearly in pain.

Freddy turned and ran back to join the others, with Chica throwing him his shotgun, which he caught.

"Thanks Chica," he said to which she smiled warmly in response. Nightmare Fredbear rose up slowly, at the same time the endoskeleton horde arrived at the far end of the corridor. Their robotic eyes spotted the firefight taking place and they eagerly rushed forward to join in.

Only now there appeared to more of them than last time, about two hundred at best.

"_Here comes the cavalry,"_ Nightmare Fredbear muttered, his eyes meeting that of the four Fazbears. He decided to yet again attempt a physiological approach, digging once more into Goldie's memories.

"_Freddy, I see you've been using the microphone that I gave you, keep it up and you'll go far."_

"_Bonnie, how's the guitar practice going, I know you wanna make it big as a rockstar."_

"_Chica, remember to look pretty, smile and hold your cupcake high, we don't want the children to steal it."_

"_Foxy, I love your pirate act, but I think wearing an eye patch might help boost your performance even further."_

It was creepy how much he sounded like Goldie, even more so that he looked a lot like him.

It was like they were mirror opposites...well they were.

"_I see you four have been practising hard recently, why not give me a show before the real thing_," Nightmare Fredbear asked, casually walking forward with his arms out stretched. Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all smiled at one another.

"Sure, we'll give you a show," said Freddy, raising his shotgun as did the other three with theirs..

_They fired…_

Bullets of all variants, shotgun shells and pistol rounds pierced Nightmare Fredbear, hitting him in the chest, the head, arms, legs, shoulders and stomach. The endoskeletons having wised up from their previous encounters backed off, not wanting to experience the punishment of fire that Nightmare Fredbear was obviously enduring.

The four Fazbears were unrelating in their defence, all eyes forward and standing their ground as one. A blast from Freddy's shotgun severed all five fingers from Nightmare Fredbear's right hand, a high powered shot from Bonnie's rifle shattered his left kneecap.

A spray for Chica's automatic rendered him completely blind in both eyes, while a round from Foxy's pistol penetrated his left lung, causing it to cease functioning temporarily. Nightmare Fredbear staggered forward, but when a shotgun blast clipped his head, he fell onto his hands and knees.

They continued to shoot at him, decreasing his ability to push himself upright.

He groaned in agony as parts of his body struggled to kept themselves functioning, even with the instant healing it didn't numb the sheer scale of pain which he received.

Then like a monsoon it abruptly ceased, giving way to an uneasy silence.

Nightmare Fredbear slowly raised his head, in his recovering vision he could make out the figures of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy holding their now empty guns.

"Was that a good enough show for you Fredbear?" Freddy asked, briefly switching his vision over to the endoskeletons to see if they'd make a move, now that the firing had stopped. Nightmare Fredbear laughed with strained breath as he pushed himself up off the floor, his body a complete mess of mangled limps and bullet holes.

"_Good, I thought it was fucking brilliant, you've clearly been listening,"_ he hissed, straightening his purple top hat and bow tie as his body now repaired itself with relative ease.

"_I however can stage the finale."_

Then he bolted forward, in the process of doing so it hit the Fazbears that they had made the costly mistake of not taking the opportunity to reload.

There was no time to move as Nightmare Fredbear slammed into all four of them, pushing them up against the wall and trapping them there. Their guns were once again knocked out of their hands, landing too far away for them to reach.

Now one would think that four would be able to overpower one, but even after taking in something like two hundred bullets Nightmare Fredbear was still very strong, a clear sign of his instant healing abilities as well as awesome unnatural strength. "_Look at you four wiggle and squirm like little children, in a way it's fairly ironic seeing you trapped like rats,"_ he stated, smiling as he increased the pressure.

"How is this ironic?" Bonnie asked, feeling the tension increase on her chest. Nightmare Fredbear's eyes glowed with sadistic delight as he spoke.

"_Because you gonna die in the same way as one would do in a suit… crushed to death."_

He pushed himself against them, aiming to crack their bones. Meanwhile the endoskeletons took the opportunity to rush forward in support of their Nigtmarish ally.

"How come you can overpower us, it's four vs one, this isn't realistic?" Chica stated, trying to break free from Nightmare Fredbear's iron like grip.

"_Good question, it's because we Nightmares don't live in the world of reality, in the mind there is no such thing as reality and I've carried that across to this world,"_ Nightmare Fredbear answered. "_Pity, your Nightmarish counterparts would have loved to see you like this, they'll be jealous of me I bet, but then again there is another version of you guys for them to kill."_

Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy struggled to breath as their chests could no longer expand. Nightmare Fredbear started to go blurry, a sign their brains weren't receiving enough oxygen.

"_Now you know how those poor innocent night guards felt as you four stuffed them into those suits in your blind possessed rage." _

Blackness started to creep in around the edges of their vision, their lungs were screaming for air, but couldn't receive any. Their hearing started to go deaf, almost blocking out the sounds of endoskeletons' motors or Nightmare Fredbear's deep laugh.

_"Ha, ha, ha...ha, ha, ha..."_

They could just make out his voice, singing to them a deadly lullaby.

"_You can't wake from this dream, no one will hear you screaming, so hold on for the ride, I'll take you with me tonight, this nightmare, this prison, inside the suits we live in, don't fear me, together we'll have sweet dreams forever."_

Freddy only had enough air left in his lungs to utter two words.

"Mercy..….please!"

Nightmare Fredbear shook his head and smiled revealing his full set of razor sharp teeth.

"_Escape denied!" _

Then there was a loud smack which filled the air as Nightmare Fredbear's head jerked forward, he looked somewhat stunned...dazed even. He turned his head round only to be greeted with a solid metal bar to the face, knocking him out cold.

His unconscious body slid to the floor, releasing Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy from his grip and allowing them to breathe as they fell forward onto the floor, their chest racked with agony. As oxygen surged back into their lungs, they looked up, their vision cleared to reveal Springtrap towering over them while wielding a large metal bar in one hand.

He held out his free hand, to which all four grabbed instantaneously. "Come on, while he's out cold, you guys get your guns and run down stairs to either Mike, Jeremy or the Toys," he said, pulling them all upright.

"What about you?" Bonnie asked, picking up Freddy's shotgun as well as her rifle.

"I'll hold him off, you guys are properly needed elsewhere," Springtrap replied. Nightmare Fredbear raised his head, only for Springtrap to bring the steel bar down upon him, knocking the Nightmare right out.

"No, you don't wise guy!" he hissed. Chica then gripped him by the shoulders. "It's suicide Spring, he'll kill you, you saw what he nearly did to us," she protested. Springtrap looked away, lowering his head admist in thought.

He didn't look sad, but rather determined. "I know, but I have a debt to repay and besides he won't be chasing you or anyone else."

Then came the sounds of Nightmare Fredbear picking himself up again. Springtrap reacted with smacking the metal bar against his skull, knocking him out for the third time in a row.

"Where did you go by the way?" Foxy asked, eyeing the metal bar that Springtrap was using. "I went off searching, found this in one of the rooms nearby, you should be using this on them, not guns, you'll waste ammo," he replied, passing it from one hand to the next.

"Provided you can get in close though, that's the tricky part."

He turned to face the endoskeletons in an aggressive pose, whom upon seeing the metal bar instantly backed off. "Yeah that's what I thought," Springtrap muttered sternly under his breath.

Again, Nightmare Fredbear stirred.

"Go, go now, quickly, find the others," Springtrap ordered, pushing them in the direction of the stairs. "We didn't get to thank you for saving our lives," said Freddy.

"You can thank me later, now go!"

Foxy exited first, then Chica, followed by Bonnie. Freddy turned to face Springtrap, he gripped his hand with his.

"Good luck, Spring," he said, shaking his hand as he smiled.

"You too Freddy," Springtrap replied, returning the favour. Freddy turned and left, running down the staircase to join the others below. With the staircase door closing shut, Springtrap turned round to face his opponents of which there were many…

He saw Nightmare Fredbear rise up slowly, clapping as he did.

"_Bravo, well done, didn't see that coming, but I can only be fooled once, so you better pay attention from now on," _he said, locking eyes with Springtrap. "I will, you're the only one I consider to be a major threat," Springtrap replied, gripping his metal bar tightly.

Nightmare Fredbear twisted his head from left to right, testing his spine as it healed, feeling it click.

"_Your right, because I'm the only one you'll be facing." _

He then pointed towards the staircase door as all the endoskeletons scuttled away from Springtrap and flowed through the doorway like a swam of ants. "They won't stop my friends if that's what your thinking," Springtrap replied, watching them go.

"_Perhaps, their smart though, they've learnt from their mistakes, more concerned with their own safety."_

Then the door slammed shut with a deafening clang.

Springtrap returned his eyes to meet Nightmare Fredbear's.

"Now it's just you and me," he said calmly, raising his metal bar of strong steel. "_As it was before Springtrap, as it was always meant to be, I see you brought your banjo,"_ Nightmare Fredbear stated firmly, eyeing his metal bar.

"_You can't escape me."_

Springtrap smiled, which Nightmare Fredbear returned with his own.

"I never intend to, I'm here for my friend."

"_He's dead, I'm the newer version…more kid friendly."_

"With those teeth," Springtrap shook his head in amusement.

"My my grandma, what big teeth you have."

Nightmare Fredbear's eyes glowed a fierce red.

"_All the same for ripping your head off my dear!" _

Then he charged at Springtrap, mouth wide open and claws out stretched. Springtrap swung his metal bar at the nightmarish version of his friend. He missed with the nightmare choosing to duck under and roll away before returning to stand on his own two feet.

"Impressive, how can you move so fast?" Springtrap asked, turning to face him. Nightmare Fredbear laughed heartily. _"Like I told the others, I'm a nightmare, the laws of reality do not fully apply to me or the others."_

He then dashed forward again and slid left, only for Springtrap to swing in that direction but the nightmare did the unexpected.

He didn't duck, doge or even jump.

_He teleported..._vanishing before Springtrap's very eyes, but Springtrap could easily guess where he had gone. He spun round, swinging the metal bar with him and his suspicions were confirmed to be correct as he came face to face with his foe. Yet his swing stopped short, it's momentum becoming undermined with Nightmare Fredbear being quick enough to catch in his claws.

Soon his fingers were wrapping around it, strengthening his grip. It soon turned into a tug of war over the metal bar. Seeing only way to resolve the issue, Springtrap charged home and pushed Nightmare Fredbear back, aiming to trap him against the wall.

Nightmare Fredbear however wouldn't go quietly. He proceeded to dig his feet in and gripped the metal bar tightly.

"_You know this is a nice change from my former occupation, much more challenging,_" he said, trying to yank the metal bar out of Springtrap's hands.

"Well I won't disappoint you," Springtrap replied, simply refusing to yield. However, Nightmare Fredbear took the opportunity to take a leaf out of Freddy's book and delivered a swift kick to Springtrap's groin.

This caused him to let go of the metal bar as he fell to his knees in agony. "That's cheating!" he hissed with narrowed eyes.

"_Freddy did it, so why can't I?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked, tossing the metal bar from hand to the next. He looked it, swung it about a few times to feel it's weight.

"_Nice weapon, but not really needed for me as you can see I already have melee capabilities,"_ he said showing his claws for hands. Then he tossed the weapon away, it bounced on the floor several times with a metallic clang before stopping.

"_Now let's get one thing straight,"_ Nightmare Fredbear stated, lowering himself down to Springtrap's level. "_I'm gonna give you a ten second head start, because I'm nice, but once those ten seconds are up."_

His eyes narrowed.

"_Your mine!"_

"I'm faster than you," Springtrap replied, raising his head up to be eye level with his opponent. "_We'll see about that,"_ Nightmare Fredbear muttered, pulling Springtrap up by his bunny ears. "_Now run along little bunny,"_ he ordered smiling at Springtrap's obvious discomfort.

"_Ten."_

"Fuck you!"

Nightmare Fredbear smiled as he shook his head.

"_No fuck you, nine, eight."_

Springtrap turned and ran down one of the many corridors as fast as his legs would carry him.

"_Seven," _Nightmare Fredbear called out.

Springtrap knew he couldn't go down stairs or he'll run the risk of leading Nightmare Fredbear to the others.

"_Six."_

"Gonna hide, gonna hide!" he was panicking.

"_Five."_

"Can't beat him here."

"_Four."_

"Can't kill him either."

"_Three."_

"Can't let him escape."

"_Two."_

"Mustn't die either."

"_One!"_

Nightmare Fredbear turned in Springtrap's direction who was now a dot in the far distance.

"_READY OR NOT, HERE I COME LITTLE BUNNY!" _

That sent shivers up Springtrap's spine.

He looked back to see Nightmare Fredbear at the corridor's far end, his eyes glowing a demonic red and smiling like a Chestshire cat.

"_IT'S TIME TO DIEEEEEE!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there you go, Nightmare Fredbear has now finally arrived, I really enjoyed writing him in. 
> 
> To me he is somewhat similar to the other four Nightmares, being over confident and brutal, yet he's actually more down to earth than the others are...and he's quite smart, having a way with words.
> 
> The idea of using someone's memories as a weapon came to me shortly after I began to write this chapter, I think it's an interesting approach to beat your enemy.  
I know that the instant healing ability was kind of thrown in, but I'll explain in much more detail as to how the whole process works.
> 
> There's a need to keep things grounded in reality for it to make sense, but the suspension of disbelief is also part of the story's lore, so some things are just taken at face value. 
> 
> The scene with Vincent counting off all the fan-FNAF songs is just a nice fourth wall reference to the size of the FNAF fandom and the release of Sister Location only increased it's song list.  
Also, there were some references to Aviator's Sweet Dreams and DaGames March onward to your Nightmare if you didn't spot them.
> 
> What you think of Nightmare Fredbear?  
Please Review.


	20. To Fight Or To Flee?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is largely an action packed chapter for those of you who love that sort of genre.
> 
> Some interesting interactions, but I'll leave that to your respective imaginations.
> 
> There is another FNAF song in this chapter and it is 'Bringing Us Home' by TryHardNinja, I think it suits the setting as does the chapter's title.  
Enjoy and again apologies for any grammar mistakes.

**Chapter 20.**

**To Fight Or To Flee?**

**"He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight."**

**Sun Tzu's Art of War.**

"Well I would say we've got the easiest job Mike, two floors, fifty to one hundred rooms searched and not a single endoskeleton in sight," said Jeremy swinging his gun over his shoulder. He smirked as he strode forward like a victorious conquer on a victory march. "I'm still nervous, plus it's bad luck to say things like that in such circumstances," Mike replied, feeling edgy.

Jeremy merely sighed and stretched his arms out. "Come on Mike, there's clearly no one here."

"We haven't see anyone or anything and we were thorough in our search."

Mike just shrugged his shoulders as he pulled out his phone. "Anyway, we must really make contact with the others, hang on, I need to use the phone, can you guard the corridor for a bit."

"Sure, gives me something to do," Jeremy replied taking up his guard position as he brought the gun sights up to his eyes. "If anything comes down that corridor I'll shoot it."

Mike proceeded to press the contact button for Balloon Boy and the Puppet.

However, it kept going to voice mail every time he tired. "Dammit, come on guys pick up," he groaned, even though the signal in here wasn't great, he expected them to have their phone nearby, ready to hand. "Hello…guys, it's Mike and Jeremy, what's going on over there?" Still no answer, just white static once the automated voicemail had stopped talking.

"I'm going to try and call the Toys, to see if they're doing any better."

"You do that," Jeremy added, keeping all of his focus on the ground ahead of him. Then came the sounds of running footsteps at the far end of the corridor. In preparation, Jeremy made sure that his eyes were aligned with the viewfinder. "Hang on, we have company," he said, expecting a fight.

The footsteps drew nearer as Jeremy steadily placed his finger on the trigger.

"Come on, come a little closer and feel my wrath," he whispered harshly, his eyes locked forward.

Suddenly Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all burst out from around the corner, looking like something was hounding them at their heels. Luckily Jeremy could muster the willpower to prevent himself from pulling the trigger.

"Guys, what you doing here and where's Springtrap?" he asked, lowering his gun, surprised to see them. However, all of them were in no position to talk given that they stopped to catch their breath. "Springtrap.…is keeping…Nightmare Fredbear busy, while…we search…for you…and the…Toys," Freddy answered, leaning heavily on Foxy for support.

"Nightmare what?" Jeremy asked, looking clearly confused.

"Nightmare Fredbear, we're too late, Goldie's…"

Freddy lowered his head and sighed deeply as if in regret.

"I don't want to admit it, but Goldie's…properly dead."

"BUT I DON'T BELIEVE IT FOR A SECOND!" he shouted, anger blazing in his eyes. "Easy there Freddy easy," Jeremy insisted, putting his hands on his shoulder to calm him down. "Look start from the beginning, who is this 'Nightmare Fredbear guy'?"

Although now saying it out loud gave him a pretty good guess as to who it was. "Guys I'm calling the Toys now," Mike said, tapping on their contact number.

"Things aren't going to plan."

Then came a loud electric, robotic shriek from somewhere behind them, the endoskeletons.

"We better hurry up," Chica stated, looking back.

Bonnie took the decision to explain.

"Long story cut short, we got up to the sixth floor, found the main office, only to discover Vincent inside, but Nightmare Fredbear was with him and he attacked us with a horde of endoskeletons."

"Ok I'm with you so far," Jeremy replied trying to follow Bonnie's story. Again, came several more electric shrieks only this time they were a lot closer, Bonnie continued regardless. "We ran, the four of us nearly died at Nightmare Fredbear's hands, believe me he's strong, plus he has instant healing abilities."

"And now you've lost me," Jeremy stated to which Bonnie facepalmed herself.

"Anyway. . ." she muttered with clear frustration in her voice.

"Springtrap intervened, saved us and he's now got Nightmare Fredbear on his tail."

Then Foxy jumped in, pointing down the corridor.

"And the endoskeletons are chasing us as you can see."

Jeremy just rolled his eyes in response. "Why must you guys always bring the drama?" he groaned.

"Hey, we didn't ask for this!" Foxy argued.

Then Mike interrupted.

"Guys, the Toys are still on the second floor, in some sort of assembly area, they haven't found anything yet." He then resumed to press several more buttons on the phone's interface. "I'll now try to speak to Balloon Boy for the fifth time, the signal in there isn't all that great, so could you quiten it down please."

"Try telling that to the endoskeletons," Foxy scoffed sarcastically, folding his arms.

Mike ignored him as he pressed the phone against his ear. "Yeah BB, how are you and the Puppet?" he asked, sounding satisfied that he had finally reached them. The others could just make out the voice of Balloon Boy, but what he appeared to be saying made Mike's face go pale with worry as his eyes widen in disbelief.

"YOU'RE WHAT!" he shouted, the loudness of his voice made the others jump back in surprise.

"WELL HOW THE HELL DID YOU END UP DOWN THERE?"

Again, more talking from BB followed by more static.

"JESUS CHRIST, IS THERE ANOTHER WAY OUT?"

Balloon Boy sounded like a panicking child on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Mike sighed. "Alright, you and the Puppet stay put, we're coming to get you."

He then ended the call.

"Bad news, Balloon Boy and the Puppet are in the factory's basement, trapped by endoskeletons and they can't get out."

"You're kidding, how did that happen?" Jeremy asked sounding dumbfounded, as well as looking confused. "Well apparently, the pipes they were in collapsed and they were ambushed by endoskeletons," Mike replied, shoving the phone into his trouser pocket.

"What are the odds?"

"We were hoping to help the Toys," Chica stated, ignoring the electric screams of the approaching endoskeletons.

"Well, the four of us could go and rescue BB and the Puppet instead, while you two search for Springtrap, I don't like the idea of him facing Nightmare Fredbear alone," Freddy suggested.

"That guy is effectively a tank when it comes to raw strength."

"What about Goldie Freddy?" Chica asked, casting him a worried look.

"We came all this way for him?"

Freddy sighed, he was still in the clutches of disbelief when he saw what Vincent had done to his father figure. "He's not dead, I know he's not dead, he won't give in that easily, we...we need to capture Nightmare Fredbear and find a way to reverse what Vincent did."

Then the endoskeletons arrived at the far end of the corridor, running across the floor and crawling over the walls and on the ceiling. Soon they covered all surfaces from head to toe like a horde of ants on the warpath.

"Well, I see no alternative, you guys go, we'll hold them there," Mike ordered, pulling up his gun to aim.

"Good luck," Foxy cheered, grabbing Chica by the arm and sharply pulling her along with the others. "Finally, something to do," Jeremy shouted, aiming his gun to fire.

Freddy, along with Bonnie, Chica and Foxy ran further down the corridor and away from the fight already starting to take place. Quickly the combined sounds of shots being fired and electric wails filled the air.

"Come on the staircase is properly this way if I remember the map correctly," Freddy shouted leading the way forward.

* * *

Meanwhile in the main office, two floors up, Vincent was readying the intercom for his announcement.

"Checking the sound system, seems to be fairly operational."

He pressed a few more buttons, testing the connection between the sound console and the numerous loud speakers which were placed throughout the entire eight storey building. "Everything appears to be in working order and now to add the song."

He placed the disk into one of several disk drives with the main computer automatically popping up the file explorer, taking Vincent to the drive section. He clicked on the disk icon using the mouse, which brought a window up and selected the song he wanted.

Vincent pressed pause before it could actually play, double checking everything else to avoid any faults. Why was he doing this…well…sometimes a little music can go a long way in making things a lot more interesting. He then connected the microphone to the intercom and turned the sound up to ensure that he could be heard clearly through the speakers. He tapped the microphone three times, testing the sound, his actions generating a loud electric sound which cleared upon stabilising.

Vincent with the microphone in hand turned to face the cameras, from here he could see everything.

He smiled and then spoke in a smug yet cheerful tone.

"Hello there Fazbears, Nightmares, Former Night Security Guards and Springtrap, how are we all feeling today!"

"What the fuck!" Foxy shouted looking around the sound's source.

"Is that Vincent?" Bonnie asked also searching for the origins of the noise.

"Yes," Freddy answered coldly, narrowing his eyes.

"It is…."

"By the looks of things, we have some kind of dispute going on in the basement, a chase going on at floor six, oh yes you run Springtrap," Vincent chuckled, watching Springtrap do his best to outdistance Nightmare Fredbear who was always three to two steps behind him.

He was like a rogue bull on the rampage.

"What the hell is going on?" Toy Freddy asked, as Vincent's voice echoed out of nearby loudspeakers. "It seems that Vincent wants to have a go at broadcasting," Mangle replied trying to block the sound out by covering her ears.

"I see Mike and Jeremy fighting on floor four, I'm afraid ammo can only save you for so long guys."

"Is it me or does he love the sound of his own voice?" Jeremy asked, firing repeatly at the approaching endoskeletons.

"Out of all his characteristics your chose that to question?" said Mike returning the question, while hastly reloading his gun.

"And of course, we have the Toys on floor two going…into some sort of wreckroom, really imaginative guys, an't gotta find anything in there."

"_Unless you look hard enough_," he mentally smirked.

"And finally, we have the Orignals on floor four going…where to I have no idea," he muttered plainly, curiously watching as the four Fazbears made their across the floor.

"Now I know that things between us are…somewhat…tense."

"UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE FUCKING MILLENNIUM!" Toy Chica shouted shaking her fist in anger.

"ARE YOU HIGH!" Toy Bonnie shouted, glaring at any nearby loudspeaker.

"But…I think I can make things much more interesting for us, so here's a little music for the enjoyment of…"

"_A selective few,"_ he whispered, sinisterly.

Then he pressed the play button for the song.

The loudspeakers emitted a high pitch wail before adjusting to the volume.

_(Begin the song here if you wish.)_

"_**There is a legend, a legend born long ago."**_

"Come on, we need to reach the basement," Freddy urged racing off ahead of the others.

"_**About a wicked, a wicked man no one knows."**_

"COME ON, IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT!" Mike yelled shooting down several endoskeletons in one go.

"_**He went and unraveled, six innocent little souls..."**_

"HOLD THE DOOR!" Puppet screamed trying to prevent the endoskeletons from entering.

"I'M TRYING!" Balloon Boy shouted shoving his entire body against the door.

"_**The souls found bodies, the bodies started to move."**_

Springtrap looked behind him.

"_**Some say they still walk, walk these halls staying from view."**_

Nightmare Fredbear was still following him.

"_**I got one secret, that I am here to tell you."**_

The Toys mentally prepeared themselves for the worst.

"_**THAT PLACE IS THIS VERY PLACE, AND ALL THE STORIES ARE TRUE!"**_

"Everyone keep together," Toy Freddy ordered.

"_**This world is a scary place, were not monsters just changed, bigger hands for grabbing a hold."**_

"Guys hold up," Foxy yelled, trying to match their pace.

"_**We were lost to foul play, but we got an upgrade, lots more teeth for eating you whole!"**_

"They're trying to outflank us!" Jeremy yelled.

"_**Here comes another chapter!"**_

Then an idea popped into Toy Freddy's head.

"_**Your heart is beating faster!"**_

There's one place which they hadn't searched.

"_**'Cause you're the one we're after!"**_

He turned the phone's brightness up to maxunim.

"_**Five nights at Freddy's 4!"**_

And then shone it up at the ceiling.

"_**Thank you for bringing us home!"**_

The instant he did that all four Nightmares dropped down, landing right on top of the Toys… literally.

The Toys in the pitch blackness struggled to shoot their nightmarish counterparts.

They soon found themselves dicing with death as the Nightmares lashed out of the darkness with their glowing eyes, sharp claws and pointed teeth.

"EVERYONE STAY TOGETHER!" Toy Freddy yelled, turning just in time to face Nightmare Freddy's attack.

All the while the Originals were running as fast as their legs could carry them down the stairs towards the 3rd floor.

"COME ON, BB AND THE PUPPET ARE COUNTING ON US!" Freddy shouted, rocketing down the steps.

"_**We were just like you, like you just playing a game, that's when the wicked, wicked man led us astray, without a warning, our lives had been rearranged."**_

Springtrap barely dogged Nightmare Fredbear's claws as he sharply turned a corner.

"_**As for our story, the story's not over yet, there's still one secret, one secret left to be said."**_

Nightmare Fredbear smiled, watching him run.

"_**Tonight, when you are, safely tucked into your bed, CLOSE ALL THE DOORS THAT YOU WANT, WE'RE ALREADY IN YOUR HEAD!"**_

"_**This world is a scary place, we're not monsters just changed, bigger hands for grabbing a hold."**_

The basement door continues to buckle.

"_**We were lost to foul play, but we got an upgrade, lots more teeth for eating you whole!"**_

The Toys picked themselves up.

"_**Here comes another chapter!"**_

"DO THEY EVER END!" Jeremy shouted over the gunshots.

"_**Your heart is beating faster!"**_

"_Getting tired Springtrap?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked, pursuing his prey.

"_**'Cause you're the one we're after!"**_

"Is everyone alright?" Toy Freddy asked.

"_**Five nights at Freddy's 4!"**_

Something moves behind them

"_**Thank you bringing us home!"**_

The Nightmares leapt out of the darkness yet again, delivering all manner of pain to the Toys.

They bite, claw and slash like feral animals, while the Toys struggle to drive them back.

"_**Thank you for bringing us home!"**_

Vincent smiled, watching the chaos unfold from the main office.

The Originals were tiring themselves out, while Springtrap was struggling to out race his pursuer, Mike and Jeremy could barely keep the endoskeletons at bay and BB and the Puppet were awaiting the end.

"_**Here comes another chapter!"**_

Nightmare Bonnie bites Toy Bonnie, making her scream.

"_**Your heart is beating faster!"**_

Nightmare Chica slashes Toy Chica in the chest.

"_**'Cause you're the one we're after!"**_

Nightmare Foxy sinks his hook into Mangle's shoulder.

"_**Five nights at Freddy's 4!"**_

Nightmare Freddy strangles Toy Freddy by the throat.

"_**Thank you for bringing us home!"**_

Springtrap glanced back to see Nightmare Fredbear, still bearing down on him.

He turned another corner and spotted a door at the corrider's far end.

"_**Thank you for bringing us home!"**_

Upon reaching it, he tugs on the handle…only to find it's locked.

"What the, come on give me a break!" he exclaims pulling on the handle.

"_**Thank you for bringing us home!"**_

Then a large shadow falls over him.

Springtrap slowly turns round…straight into the hellfire eyes of Nightmare Fredbear.

"_**Thank you for bringing us home!"**_

* * *

Balloon Boy slid down the wall to the floor and sighed in acceptance of his impending fate.

"Well, I had an interesting life, sold balloons, entertained countless children…met you and the others...that's pretty much it," he muttered, recounting his life's history.

"Well, at least you did something with your life," Puppet added, sitting down beside him as she slumped back against the wall.

The basement door was still groaning from the sounds of the endoskeletons' attempts to break it down. The boxes and cupboards were holding, but for how long was anyone's guess.

"At least I can die knowing that I wasn't alone at the end," Balloon Boy moaned.

Puppet smiled, turning to face him.

"Who says this is the end?" she asked.

Balloon Boy pointed at the door which was being subjected to all kinds of damage.

"They do."

"But why do they get to decide if we are at the end?" Puppet asked, feeling somewhat philosophical.

"They hold the upper hand, just like Vincent always holds the upper hand."

The Puppet closed her eyes and breathed out deeply.

"He doesn't always decide and he doesn't even always hold the upper hand."

"True, he killed eleven children and singly handily sent Fazbear Entertainment down the financial plughole, but even he can make mistakes."

The door shook as its hinges rattled.

"Pride before a fall."

Puppet tensed momentarily when Balloon Boy rested his head on her shoulder, his light brown hair interlocking with her jet black.

"So, the four of us are going to die right, counting the two children's spirits that reside inside us both?" Balloon Boy asked. "Yeah, unless Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy get their arses down here," Puppet groaned, to which Balloon Boy laughed.

"You laugh like a girl," she stated, moody rolling her eyes.

"So what, besides you are a girl," Balloon Boy replied playfully.

Puppet gave him a small smile.

"With a dead boy's soul inside."

"That properly explains a lot," Balloon Boy answered, shifting about to make himself more comfortable. Puppet however just gave him a shocked expression, wiping the smile off her smile.

"And what do you mean by that?" she asked sternly.

"Your tomboy attitude," he replied, turning to look forward.

There was a large thud against the basement door, making the metal boxes rock temporary from their holdings.

They wouldn't have long...ten minutes at best.

"Well you've properly got a girl's spirit inside of you," Puppet muttered, resting her head against the wall.

"That may explain a few things," Balloon Boy muttered, scratching his head. That sentence caused the Puppet to blink twice.

"A 'few', more like everything about you."

She sighed as the thuds grew louder.

"Besides I know who I am."

Then Balloon Boy shot her a look of…mischievous intent.

"Do you…really?"

Puppet rolled her eyes yet again.

"Of course, I do, I'm a moody; grumpy, traumatised, vengeful bitch of a person."

"Well I don't think so," Balloon Boy stated, there was something smug in his tone. "What do you mean?" Puppet asked, just where was he going with this conversation. Balloon Boy leaned in, breaking into her personal space as he did, Puppet could feel a tight knot form in her stomach.

"You are a tomboy in some ways, especially with the attitude at times, however..."

He smiled sweetly.

"There are moments when I've seen you adopt a more…girlish manner."

"BB, you're creeping me out, the endoskeletons are right outside, now's not the time for sweet talk," Puppet whispered, shifting away. Balloon Boy merely shook his head.

"That doesn't matter, I've seen you flutter your eyelashes, smile sweetly, seen your eyes widen when you encounter certain boys."

"Oh, okay BB, now you're going too far," Puppet stated, narrowing her eyes, now really wasn't the time for mischief. However, her gaze crumbled the moment Balloon Boy took hold of her hands, interlocking her fingers with his.

"And I know that behind those fierce ghost like eyes is a girl simply wanting company."

Balloon Boy smiled even more.

"I saw that look when I sang twinkle twinkle little star to you on the airship."

Puppet could feel her cheeks blushing, heat was flowing into them.

"And I can see it now," Balloon Boy whispered, sounding ever more confident.

Good God he was good, how the hell was he able to get under her skin, when so many else had failed?

There was another loud clang at the door which shook from the endoskeletons' momentum. "I want to be with you…Mari…I maybe a kid, but I know you have a softer side."

Puppet looked down at his hands they were small, smooth and white, unlike her hands which looked like black gloves, yet felt like human skin. Balloon Boy smiled at her widening expression. Ignoring the screams of the endoskeletons outside, Balloon Boy reached up, pulled the Puppet closer and kissed her softly on the lips before withdrawing.

"The real you…is what I fell for, watching you at Prize Corner, looking abandoned, sad and distant from everyone else."

The Puppet reached up and touched her lips, no one had gotten this close and to think it would be the person she'd least suspect to look past her cold brittle nature.

She slowly turned to look at BB, feeling tears build up in her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered, although it sounded more like a sob.

Balloon Boy looked confused yet also concerned.

"What for?" he asked.

"For allowing me to open up to world…again."

"What do you mean?" BB asked again, was he deliberately being navie?

"I lost faith in the world since the murders, the injustice of it all, watching that bastard walk in with a knife and leave with it covered in blood," Puppet sobbed, now wrapping her arms around herself for comfort.

The door shook again, this time causing several cupboards to tumble backwards, thus weakening the door.

All the while electric screams could be heard nearby, muffled by the thickness of the door, but still clearly present.

"No one stopped him, no one questioned him, they didn't do anything," Puppet snarled

"They were a shifty company Fazbear Entertainment that's for sure," BB added, putting his hand on the Puppet's shoulder for support. "My experience left me angry and bitter, just like the spirit trapped inside of me, but most of all I could never understand why he did it, for what purpose, sick pleasure or something else?"

She sighed deeply as she raised her head, undeniably sad and angry at the same time.

"And I'm been asking that question since the beginning."

"But you don't have to seek it alone, you never really did," Balloon Boy stated warmly.

"We're still here…I'm still here."

Puppet turned round and pulled him into a hug, engulfing him into her chest.

"I know," she whispered, her voice croaking with emotion.

"And thanks to you it's clearer, at times in the past I've blamed myself for not being able to save them…I've hated myself."

"Yet you were able to give them a second chance within us," Balloon Boy replied, resting his head against her shoulders. "It was the best I could do."

"You cared about them and it hasn't gone unnoticed."

More electric screams were heard as a loud metallic groan cried out, signalling that the basement door was losing strength. "You shouldn't blame yourself for the past," Balloon Boy whispered into her ear.

"It is what it is and Vincent will get what's coming for him...all tyrants get their just desert."

"You know that's just a fairy tale lesson taught to children, the idea of good always triumphing over evil," Puppet muttered sully.

"Then why are we here, if not to do just that?" Balloon Boy asked with a smile as he held her close.

Within the confines of the room, it was just them, no Nightmares, no endoskeletons and no Vincent…just the two of them and their shared memories which had lasted over nearly a lifetime. One of the cupboards toppled backwards, making it slam onto the floor with a loud crash, causing it to break apart with hundreds of wooden splinters flying in all directions.

The Puppet, broke out of the hug and reached out, grabbing hold of one of the many wood splinters that had become scattered on the floor.

"I've always wonder why evil succeeds when it shouldn't, all we wanted was to live peacefully and entertain children…was that too much to ask?"

In her anger, she tossed it upwards…only for there to be a loud metallic clang from somewhere up above.

"What was that?" BB asked immediately looking upwards. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, turned its brightness setting up to its highest and shone it upwards at the ceiling.

"Is that…a vent?" he asked, trying to get a better view of the object.

"Yeah, I think it is, hang on, can you give me a boost up?" Puppet asked, now standing up straight and stretching her legs.

BB nodded and allowed the Puppet to climb onto his shoulders. She reached up, grabbing onto the vent's sides and pulled herself inside.

"Yeah this is a pipe and I think it goes all the way up to the top floor, maybe even the roof."

"So, we can escape?" BB asked, clearly excited at such a prospect.

"I think so," Puppet replied slowly lowering herself back down onto BB's shoulders. "What about the endoskeletons though?" BB asked, as the Puppet jumped back down onto the floor.

"The door will keep them busy for a while," Puppet answered, examing one of several boxes.

Her curiosity took over, so she opened it.

"What the…" she muttered, unable to take in what she was seeing.

"What in the name of Scott…"

"What?" BB asked, coming over to look.

Inside the box were several stacks of dynamite. Puppet looked round and opened another box only to find even more dynamite. "Why would anyone keep this stuff down here and in large amounts, if anyone were to set this all off it would…"

"Level the building's foundations and bring it swiftly crashing down," BB added, finishing her sentence for her.

"That'll kill everyone won't it?" he asked, turning to face her.

"Yes…unless we can control the direction of the blast…call Freddy and tell him that we've found an escape route and to get away from the basement as fast as possible, " Puppet ordered, picking up a box.

"Ok and what will you do?" BB asked, already interacting with the phone's contact menu.

"Pile this stuff up against the door of course," Puppet replied, smiling as she proceeded to pile every box she could find before the door which would at best guess last for about five more minutes.

BB meanwhile called Freddy.

"Hello?" a voice called amidst the static.

"Hey Freddy, listen we've found a way out, don't come down to the basement, go and help the Toys."

There was a brief pause

"What…BB are you sure that you've found a way out?" Freddy asked.

"Yes positive, we'll be fine, don't worry about the endoskeletons, we'll deal with them, just get away as fast as possible," BB replied.

"Why?" Freddy asked, his heavy breathing indicated that he was running. "Something along the lines of…boom," BB muttered, struggling to piece his words together.

"Boom, you mean explosive, right?"

"Yes."

"BB, please tell me that you're not thinking about blowing up the building...are you?"

Balloon Boy could hear several shouts of disbelief obviously coming from Bonnie, Chica and Foxy.

"Maybe…look we'll try to contain the blast-"

"BB you can't contain a blast, it'll go off in every direction at once, wait where's the Puppet?" Freddy asked, his tone was one of immense disbelief. His comment made Balloon Boy replied in a sassy tone.

"You sure do like to ask questions, don't you Freddy."

Which propped an angered tone from the Fazbear.

"Hey, we're trying to save your arse, where's Puppet, where is she?"

"Oh she's," Balloon Boy turned round to see the Puppet humming cheerfully to herself as she pilled more and more boxes of dynamite up against the basement door.

"She's creepily ok with the whole idea."

Freddy sighed before speaking again.

"BB, we can come and get you, we're only three floors up and are heading down as fast as we can."

Balloon Boy shook his head. "No need Freddy, you and the others go and help the Toys, we'll be fine…trust me…just this once."

"Pleaseeee," he cooed in his most childlike voice.

There was a long dramatic pause, before Freddy spoke.

"Ok…I trust you…just get out alive ok."

"Ok…see you soon."

Balloon Boy then cancelled the call.

"Ok, ready to go?" he asked firmly.

"Almost…just need to find a timer or a box of matches," Puppet answered, suverying her handy work.

"Hm...I'm actually proud of that."

She opened the last box she'd used and looked inside, searching about with her hands. "Ah, how convenient, I've found the timer, wait there's something else."

She pulled out two objects, the first being a timer and the second being an instructions booklet.

"Ok…" she muttered examining the two objects.

"Now what?"

The instructions booklet was clearly for the timer.

There was a loud groaning noise as the door bent forward, slowly being pushed apart and through the gap being created appeared several pairs of white glowing eyes…_endoskeletons, all edger to get inside._

They reached forward and try to grab hold of Puppet, who jumped back in shock at their sudden success

"QUICK, YOU HOLD THE DOOR, I'LL FIGURE THIS OUT SOMEHOW!" she shouted, backing further away as the door continued to groan in metallic agony.

BB ran to the door, intending to use his momentum as a way of keeping it close.

It worked…for the next ten seconds as the endoskeletons started pushing back, regaining ground and forcing the door to open again. "Ok, your using the 1,000 dynamite detonator, warning this stuff is made to kill, yeah no kidding," Puppet muttered, scanning the instruction manual as she flipped through its pages.

"To set the timer, press the green button on the left-hand side."

"PUPPET, COULD YOU PLEASE HURRY UP!" BB shouted, struggling to keep the door closed as his feet were losing their grip.

"Hang on, I'm nearly there!" she shouted back.

"THAT'S…GREAT!" BB screamed, trying his hardest to prevent the endoskeletons from breaking through.

"Twist the dial to set the time you wish, detonator time ranges from one to ten minutes, mmm, I'll set it for five to be safe."

Puppet turned the dial to the selected time, attached the timer to one of the stacks of dynamite and pressed the green button to start the countdown.

"Time to go," she said cheerfully, shoving one of the last remaining cupboards in the room towards the door. Using all her strength she tipped it, making it fall forward and crash into the door, pushing it shut and forcing the endoskeletons back to square one.

She then grabbed hold of Balloon Boy and quickly pulled him away.

"I'll go first, then I'll pull you up," she stated, climbing onto his shoulders. She reached up, took hold of the vent's sides and pulled herself inside, before turning round and grabbing onto BB's arms and pulling him up to join her.

"Come on, we need to get away from here right now."

So, they climbed upwards as fast as they could, going so fast that they're unable to tell how far they've climbed. They only stopped when they heard an almighty earth shattering boom from down below.

Both Puppet and Balloon Boy turned back to see a bright orangey reddish light, it soon became so bright that it filled their vision completely.

"We may have just killed everyone," Balloon Boy muttered with concern, stating the obvious, looking away to protect his eyesight.

"If we all die, but take Vincent and his Nightmare friends with us, then I'll consider it to be a pyrrhic victory," Puppet replied plainly.

One after the other, they turned round and continued to climb upwards towards the roof.

* * *

_4_ _th_ _ floor, ten minutes before the explosion…_

Springtrap had been in better situations that was for certain.

However, this was by the far worst situation he could ever be in, for standing before him was a nightmarish version of his former best friend and best co-worker…_Nightmare Fredbear._

The last thing to top it all off was that the door behind Springtrap was locked…_how unfortunate._

_"Well, well, well, what an ironic twrist of fate,"_ Nightmare Fredbear chuckled darkly, eyeing Springtrap as he pushed himself back up against the locked door.

"And how exactly this is 'fate'?" Springtrap asked sarcastically, whilst his eyes searched for an escape route.

_"Because if Goldie's memories serve me correctly, he was in your position right before his capture with his back against a wall,"_ Nightmare Fredbear answered, ready to deny Springtrap any opportunities to escape.

_"It was only two to three hours ago, so it's fairly recent."_

"Why are telling me this exactly?" Springtrap asked again, still looking for any opening to be exploited.

_"This isn't good, he's gonna kill me and then he's going to murder everyone else," _he mentally panicked.

_"I'm telling you this, because you'll know his pain, knowing that there's no one around to save you."_

"Then go on, kill me, bite my head off." Springtrap dared gritting his teeth in strong defiance.

Yet Nightmare Fredbear merely shook his head in dismissal.

_"No…not yet, death is something which must be prolonged…not shorted."_

He appeared paused, thinking his next words over.

"Why are you helping Vincent?" Springtrap asked, deciding to get to the heart of the matter.

Nightmare Fredbear's eyes widen at the question.

"There must be some reason why you've teamed up with him…so what's in it for you lot?"

_"There is…but I'm not gonna tell you,"_ Nightmare Fredbear answered sternly.

He grabbed Springtrap's arms and pinned him up against the door, trapping him even further.

_"You're not ready to die and even if I do tell you, I can't have you running off to tell the others and I'm not an idiot."_

The Nightmare opened his mouth, revealing his full set of razor sharp teeth, clearly aiming to crush Springtrap's head into multiple pieces.

_"Get ready for hell!"_

Springtrap just laughed, catching Nightmare Fredbear completely off guard.

It was…a strange reaction for anyone to give in the face of their impending death.

_"What's so funny?"_ he asked, narrowing his scarlet red eyes, how dare his victim laugh at him when certain death was fast approaching.

He was a Nightmare, terror incarnate, how dare he laughed at like a jester.

Springtrap stopped laughing and smiled.

"I've just come back from the hell that is my own mind, I've lived through it for the last three decades, your threat is nothing to me...compared to what I've seen."

Then he smacked Nightmare Fredbear right between the eyes with a solid headbutt, this caused Nightmare Fredbear to stumble backwards, allowing Springtrap the opportunity to deliver a swift kick to the Nightmare's stomach. After knocking him backwards, Springtrap ignored the pain which was screaming from his head and broke free, skirting around his confused opponent, before taking off.

However, Nightmare Fredbear was not so easily subdued and with his lighting reflexes, he reached out.

He grabbed hold of Springtrap's leg and pulled back sharply.

The result was Springtrap being brought down, crashing to the floor, bringing a wave of pain to his kneecaps.

He turned round, just in time for Nightmare Fredbear swipe him with his claws, which he only just blocked with his arm, giving it several deep scratches which made him hissed out immediate displeasure.

Springtrap kicked his opponent in the shoulder causing him to grunt briefly in pain.

He then proceeded to punch Nightmare Fredbear, but he caught his fist in his claws.

_"Bad move, but still, I'm impressed, you fight well most of the time, it's as if you got nothing left to lose," _Nightmare Fredbear muttered, smiling as his dark golden hair partly hung over his scarlet red eyes.

He started to crush Springtrap's hand, slowly increasing the pressure, bit by bit, as his long bony fingers encased his.

"Just what are you?" Springtrap asked, trying to break free, which was an uphill struggle as he could feel his bones begin to buckle.

"How can you exist?"

Nightmare Fredbear leaned in close, still maintaining his steel like grip.

_"I belong to someone who should have died a long time ago, an event that's best left forgotten."_

Even in a situation like this, Springtrap just rolled his eyes.

"Oh, fuck you and your riddles."

With his free hand, he smacked Nightmare Fredbear in the elbow joint, hitting a nerve which caused Nightmare Fredbear to unconsciously let go as a numbing sensation quickly took hold. Now free, Springtrap broke off and ran, Nightmare Fredbear swiftly followed after recovering from the initial shock.

"Somehow, I've got to stay alive and bring Goldie back," Springtrap muttered to himself as he ran blindly through numerous hallways.

That was a lot easier said then done.

His heart was pounding, his lungs were being pushed to their limits and worse still Springtrap didn't know where he was going.

_"YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE SPRINGTRAP, YOU'LL GET TIRED…I DON'T!" _Nightmare Fredbear roared, from not too far behind.

"I just need to maintain my momentum," Springtrap whispered, as he inhaled rapidly to keep up his speed. Then and without warning, Nightmare Fredbear reappeared right in front of him out of thin air with his claws open wide.

"Shit!"

He only just avoided colliding into him by putting the brakes on his feet. Yet Nightmare Fredbear just smiled as he took a swipe at him, his claws cutting the air like a hot knife through butter.

Unfortunately, he couldn't doge it in time with the claw craving into his shoulder as he attempted to side step.

_"Got you,"_ the Nightmare whispered smugly, watching Springtrap's pain stricken reaction, as he moved in time with his enemy's movements.

Up close, Springtrap could see that there was little in terms of difference between Nightmare Fredbear and Goldie. They looked almost alike, removing the eye colour of course.

Yet Nightmare Fredbear was perhaps a little bigger and taller than Goldie was. However, he was undeniably the more powerful of the two, when it came to strength.

Properly not intellectually though Springtrap was willing to bet.

So, he was decided to test that theory.

He made it looked as if he was going to try and make a break for it, heading off further down the corridor, like he was trying to do previously. However, instead he back peddled, diving backwards just as Nightmare Fredbear made his move to drive his claws into his chest, expecting him to rush forward.

"_Just as I thought,"_ Springtrap mentally smirked as he continued to carry out his flanking attempt.

"_More brawn than brain, is his mindset."_

He then ran forward down the other side of the Nightmare, who would have his back to him by now and wouldn't get the chance to react.

Springtrap's eyes glanced left to see if he was still there.

He wasn't…only empty space.

"_Wait…how the-"_

Suddenly he was shoved sharply in his side, making him lose his balance as he fell sideways into the wall, with his shoulder baring most of the impact.

He turned and saw…only empty space.

Then he kicked harshly in the back, forcing him to fall onto the floor with his chest serving the worst of it.

"_But –"_

Another nasty kick came in from the side, making him roll over onto his back, but again he couldn't see Nightmare Fredbear anywhere. Then something grabbed hold of his bunny ears, he hissed in immense pain as he was pulled upwards off the floor.

He spun round to come face with Nightmare Fredbear, who for once wasn't giving him his smug sadist grin. Instead, he was looking rather serious and authoritarian in his manner.

"How the hell did you-"

But Nightmare Fredbear proceeded to cut him off mid-sentence.

_"Haven't you figured it out yet Spring…I can teleport, one of many powers which I possess for being a Nightmare,"_ he sneered.

_"Although, it would appear that my ability has been clipped_," he mentally noted to himself.

Normally he could teleport to anywhere as long he held the image of his destination within his mind's eye, but here on Earth, it would only appear to work if it was within his direct line of sight. Springtrap tossed and turned in his attempts to break free, but the Nightmare just held him there with his feet kicking about in the air.

_"Were you always this stubborn?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked curiously.

"You have Goldie's memories, so you should know idiot," Springtrap shot with a tone of clear anger.

The Nightmare smiled as he spoke.

_"Trying to enrage me now, are we?"_

_"Unlike my brethren I am not so easily provoked into taking rash action."_

_"I'm more…laid back about things."_

"Really, because to me you're all alike, aggressive, hedonistic, mentally disfigured and evil to the core."

Nightmare Fredbear just chuckled to himself as he held Springtrap tightly in his grip.

"Oh and not to forgot that-"

And then he threw aside and into the wall.

_"This isn't a personality contest Spring,"_ the Nightmare cooed in dark satisfaction.

"You like…to…toy with…your enemies…before killing them," Springtrap croaked, forcing himself off the floor

_"Well…you are right about that,"_ Nightmare Fredbear muttered playfully as he approached the now dazed Springtrap.

_"And I only get one try in killing you…"_

He then kicked Springtrap full on in the stomach, crushing him up against the wall again.

_"So, I want to get as much joy and time out of it as possible."_

"Also…you're a…sadist nutjob," Springtrap whispered, gasping for air as it has been kicked out of his lungs.

Nightmare Fredbear just laughed heartily.

_"Well, that's goes without saying."_

He felt one of the Nightmare's monstrous claws grabbed his throat and begin to cut off his airways.

_"How many times have I've been beaten up today now…going on five,"_ he mentally noted as he could feel his life being squeezed out of him.

He couldn't keep this up, withstanding this level of agony, he needed to get away…and somehow defeat this demonic son of a bitch.

In his peripheral vision, he could spy out a lone corridor leading off to one side, it was empty.

_"I must say and I will be entirely honest with you Spring, I do admire both your determination and fearless to face me when it obvious what the outcome will be."_

Springtrap pushed against Nightmare Fredbear's grip, but he only pushed back even harder, slamming his back into the wall.

_"You should have stayed asleep…my old 'friend'."_

* * *

"MIKE, TO YOUR LEFT!"

Upon hearing Jeremy's warning, Mike spun round and fired point blank at the endoskeletons which were rapidly crawling across the wall in an attempt to out flank him.

His first shot destroyed the face of the one closest to him, the bullet tore through its head, impacting into its central logic unit and rendering it completely dead.

The second shot cut into the leg of the third endoskeleton, loosening its grip on the wall and slowing it down.

It was then finished off with a clear shot the head.

The third shot went straight into the chest of the second, hitting its power unit, resulting in a mini explosion which ripped through its mechanical insides.

Sparks and small flames burst out from its chest as it fell to the floor dead and lifeless as its companions before it.

"Cheers Jeremy," Mike called, switching his focus back to his front, his eyes meeting a swam of mechanical beings.

"Just how many of you bastards are there," he muttered scornfully under his breath as he loosens off more shots. He didn't need to bother aiming so much, because they filled the entire corridor from back to back.

"How did Vincent make you lot?" he asked himself, meeting their grey, lifeless eyes which moved and blinked like that of a normal human. But a human being has a soul, these things were just empty to the core, a hivemind, a mass of robotic zombies.

Just a mechanical body of metal and wires, which looked humanoid in appearance.

"Jeremy, watch out, grenade," he shouted, pulling the pin out and tossing into the horde, any blast would be devastating.

"Three, two…"

Then the unexpected happened, one of the endoskeleton threw itself down onto the grenade, encasing it inside its chest as it pushed itself down onto the floor.

And then it went off, with the resulting ripping it apart as mechanical body parts went flying off everywhere.

But no other endoskeleton had been destroyed in the blast.

Endoskeletons don't sacrifice themselves willingly…do they?

Could they think for themselves and make their own choices?

Humanity having advanced so far and yet the closest they got to an A.I, was a voice interaction system on your smart phone. Yet somehow, Vincent had fully fledged robots in the dozens at his commend…that alone made no sense.

Jeremy unleashed a spray of rapid fire, taking five endos out in one go, all hitting them in the chest. These things, didn't wear armour exactly, some did through, having a reinforced ribcage, stronger arms and legs.

Not to mention a tougher head for withstanding a lone bullet or two.

Not perfect, but clearly stronger than last time.

"JEREMY, UP TOP, ABOVE YOU!"

The man in question looked up to see four endoskeletons drop down.

Mike had to cover his own front as well as Jeremy's, whilst the latter fought off his endo attackers.

Jeremy abandoned any attempt to open fire and went straight to melee, swinging this rifle around and smacking one of the four endoskeletons right in the face.

The impact was strong enough to dislocate its jaw and snap it's neck sideways. Yet the other three took their chance and before Jeremy knew it, he had an arm come in from behind and wrap itself around his throat.

The endoskeleton was choking him!

Before he could even mount a response, the third punched him hard in the stomach, it's metal fist ramming into his innards, making Jeremy hissed out in pain.

"Shit, you just don't give up do you?" he grunted, remembering that he still had hold of his rifle.

Using all his strength Jeremy swung rifle up and pulled the trigger.

It worked like a charm with shot rendering the endoskeleton headless with its lone head falling to the floor in shattered pieces. However, Jeremy didn't get a second chance, as the fourth endoskeleton just grabbed the rifle, he fired, but the endoskeleton had pushed the rifle upwards, making the shot impact into the ceiling instead.

And then it ripped the rifle out of his hands, he tried to resist, but the first endoskeleton only further strengthened its grip on his throat, cutting deep into his airways.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mike could see his friend's situation and right now he was only thing holding the endoskeleton horde back, if he gave way now, they would all flood through.

They needed to retreat and fast.

Wait, was that a door?

Somewhere behind them, he could spy out the hazy outline of a doorway…it was open wide.

"_That'll do."_

Quickly he turned and fired, with all of the shots hitting the endoskeleton which was holding Jeremy by the throat.

It's arm which had been squeezing his airways, fell dead as it slumped down to the floor with its head and jaw still twitching amidst its death throes.

Being released, enabled Jeremy to punch the last endoskeleton square on in the face, it was enough to make stumble backwards into the wall.

Jeremy upon picking up his rifle, fired, soon putting an end to it.

Mike ran past, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him along.

"COME ON, WE NEED GO, THERE'S TOO MANY OF THESE FREAKS!"

And like a pack of hungry wolves the endoskeletons followed.

"Go where if I may ask?" Jeremy enquired, trying to keep up with Mike's speed.

The electric wails and howls greatly disturbed Mike's ability to think clearly.

"You go first, I've got an idea," he said, shoving the other man forward.

Jeremy sprinted through the open doorway, by the looks of it was a failsafe door, heavy, bulky and very thick, designed to withstand any serious attempts of breakage.

Mike followed, but he stopped before the doorway itself.

Instead he threw his rifle through and pulled the door in close.

He turned around and faced the oncoming tide of living metal.

They were everything at once, surging forward like a swam, running and crawling over anything in their combined haste to get at him. Mike merely took all of the grenades out of his pocket, pulled the pin out of one of them and then proceeded to roll them all forward.

Then he leapt back and closed the door shut, locking it tight and secure until it was sealed. There was a loud earth shattering boom and the whole corridor shook from the resulting blast with door being bent from the outside pressure.

"Jesus Christ, I hope that was worth it," Mike muttered under his breath, he turned to look at Jeremy.

"You ok?"

"I'm mostly fine, but those dam endos can really dig in when they want to," Jeremy replied rubbing his neck.

"Yeah, they can really do so damage if they're able."

Mike slowly rose upwards and put his ear to the door…listening…there was nothing.

No electric screams, no mechanical grinding or anything else for that matter.

Just cold deathly silence from the other side. "Either the blast destroyed them all or they've wised up and have now backed off," he stated, still trying to make anything out.

"Or searching for another way in," Jeremy remarked, rising to his feet, using his rifle to steady himself.

"I wonder how the others are doing,"

He sighed as he rested himself against the wall, allowing his strength to return to him.

"Hopefully better than us, although it's fair to say that BB, Puppet and Springtrap are properly in an even worse position, being trapped or chased by a nightmarish fiend."

He turned to face Mike, who was still listening out for anything from the other side.

"We should properly search for Springtrap with them off our backs."

Mike maintained his gaze forward, but he slowly nodded in silent agreement.

"Ok, so there should be a way up by means of a stairca-"

A loud metallic groan ruptured through air, followed by several more.

"What was that?" Mike asked, trying to listen through the door.

"Can't hear anything through here."

Jeremy looked around, there was no side entrance to be seen and the only other doorway was the one situated at the corridor's far end.

Another metallic moan came…but Jeremy couldn't pin-point its location.

Metal collapsing, struggling to cope with something...something heavy.

Then it dawned on him.

Slowly, he looked up with his rifle at the ready, to see the square tunnel layout of the ventilation system above him.

Another groan came…from directly above him.

"SHIT, THE VENTS, THEY'RE COMING THROUGH THE VENTS!" he yelled, firing as he did, with bullets penetrating the metal covering and sure enough he heard electric screams of agony.

Mike joined in, grabbing his rifle off the floor and firing nonstop.

Very soon the vent covering was filled with countless bullet holes like Swiss cheese. Yet their firing had the direct effect of seriously weakening it, with the loosen joints cracking under the strain of too much weight.

"We need to leave now before they fall out and trap us," Jeremy urged, leading the way forward.

They couldn't have wasted any more time as the vents just collapsed, breaking off from one another and out poured endoskeletons, scrambling over one another in their desperation to break free. Both men fired back to slow them down which worked for a short while as they gained more and more distance.

"Looks like Springtrap will have to hang on for a little while longer, not until we get these guys off our back," Jeremy cried in a frustrated manner, putting all of his focus into running.

"Yeah, a blast door would be very handy about now," Mike joked, running alongside.

"Blast door?"

"I had blast doors remember, when I signed up, to keep them out of the office."

Jeremy didn't answer, you could swear that a sea of cogs was going off in his head as he tried to remember.

"This is common knowledge, you should know this," Mike stated, looking back to see the endoskeletons having already picked themselves up and were now giving chase.

"Oh yeah…that didn't exactly work for you did it."

"No, not always."

"Well, let's keep going, at least they're distracted from Freddy and his lot."

"What about Springtrap?"

"Well…if I know Spring, he's probably doing ok."

* * *

Jeremy's statement couldn't have been any further from the truth as Springtrap was shoved once more up against the wall by Nightmare Fredbear, who held him in place, using just one arm.

"Why don't you just kill me now and be done with it?"

"In truth, I am distracting from the others, keeping you off their tail."

_"Oh, I knew that from the very start Spring, but you'll do as my first kill,"_ Nightmare Fredbear remarked, using his free hand to squeeze Springtrap's chest, he could feel his ribcage.

_So many delicate bones to break…_

So, this was it, he would be killed by a nightmare version of his best friend…what are the odds.

Springtrap laid back, fully embracing his fate. His arms hung by his side as his legs hung in the air, sometimes catching the floor and anything else.

Wait…what was that thing he could feel, just underneath his left foot.

Metallic….

He knew that if he looked down then Nightmare Fredbear would do the same, following his movements. Yet he was curious, even though he had bigger priories right now. Slowly he peered down, looking through his peripheral vision, from what he could tell it was an object.

A metal object…then his eyes widen when he recognised it.

It was his metal bar from previous use, when he first knocked Nightmare Fredbear out.

Wait, so he had just been running in a circle this entire time?  
If he could just lift it up with his foot and then get it into his left hand which wasn't trapped, he could use it with deadly force.

_"You seem to be accepting your death, how strange,"_ Nightmare Fredbear muttered, noticing that he had suddenly become distant.

_"I can't have that."_

He then punched him sharply in the stomach, making Springtrap groan in pain as he gritted his teeth in defiance.

He wouldn't give him the satisfaction of beating him senseless.

"_Come on, come on, just a little bit more,"_ he mentally pleaded, trying to get under the bar with his foot so he could push it upwards into his hand.

"_Don't give out on me now."_

Nightmare Fredbear chuckled to himself as if in amusement.

_"Still I might as well kill you, this has gone on for quite some time and I want to move onto other targets."_

_"Especially Freddy…although that would be to just see the look of jealous rage on N-Freddy's face when he sees that I took out his preferred target."_

"_Just a little bit more, almost…" _he mentally strained.

It took a lot of his strength to lift it up off the ground, if it were to slip out of his grip and fall, it would make a noise and Nightmare Fredbear would notice.

"_You're an old relic SpringBonnie, you have no purpose here…it's like what they always say."_

The Nightmare smiled, fully revealing his array of sharp teeth which matched that of a Great White Shark.

_"Almost there…come on dam you!" _Springtrap mentally screamed, growing evermore frustrated as Nightmare Fredbear muttered his next line.

_"Out with old and in with the new."_

With the last throw of the dice, Springtrap kicked the bar upwards with all his might, it was enough for him to grab hold of it.

"I am new…I AM REBORN!"

And then smacked Nightmare Fredbear right in the side of the head.

The impact was devastating, with the Nightmare being knocked off his feet and onto his side, his hands flaying about as he landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

Springtrap of course was dropped down onto the floor and he legged as fast he could, not daring to look back.

He had never been so happy to see a metal bar in this entire life!

He turned and ran down the corridor which he had spotted earlier.

Looking further down, Springtrap saw an open door at the far end which was great, but further down he spotted an open vent...even better.

He could escape into the ventilation system re-join the others.

As the thought of meeting up with Freddy took up residence in his mind, a loud demonic roar of rage was heard not too far behind.

Nightmare Fredbear was mad and this time, he wouldn't fool around. Sprinting as fast as he could, Springtrap burst through the doorway, slamming it shut behind him and jamming it with the metal bar to deny Nightmare Fredbear entry.

It wasn't perfect, but it'll do, even though the Nightmare could just teleport and bypass the blockade.

Then suddenly a face appeared in the door's little circular window, looking up, Springtrap could see that it was Nightmare Fredbear, staring back at him.

He looked angry to say the least, his expression being very stern and murderous. "What's wrong, can't you break down a door, some Nightmare you are!" Springtrap shouted, smiling at Nightmare Fredbear's enraged expression.

Although, he knew it would be foolish to dare him into breaking through.

However, the Nightmare suddenly sighed, dropping his expression and tilting his head from side to side.

By all appearances, he seemed to be stretching his neck, properly because it had been damaged when he was hit with the metal bar. His jaw moved in an unsettling manner, as he opened his mouth and reached in with one of his claws.

Then he slowly pulled out three teeth, all coated in blood and gore.

And he smiled at Springtrap, revealing the holes were the teeth once stood, a bloodily mess surrounded by bleeding gums.

He must have struck him hard enough to break his teeth…dam.

"Well…I'm dead," Springtrap whispered to himself as he could hear the Nightmare growling from the other side.

Then he just turned around and walked away.

"Yeah you can't do it, gotta find another way to get to me," Springtrap laughed.

Although, he knew that laughing wasn't wise.

He relaxed and then turned to observe the vent entrance which hung from the ceiling, judging by its height he would have to jump up to grab it.

"Easy done than said this time I think," he scoffed, cracking his fists.

He jumped only to fail, he jumped again only to fail, and he tried again, only to fail.

It took him five more gos to finally grab hold of the side.

It was a struggle, trying to pull the rest of him up, as he did, something caught his attention. Through the door's small circular window, he could see Nightmare Fredbear, standing at the corrider's far end with his head down.

He appeared to pushed his left leg out backwards stretching it, before pushing his right leg forward which he then bent.

He put his hands down on the floor and looked up…directly at Springtrap.

Only now wearing a psychotic grin and his eyes appeared to be glowing with enthusiasm.

Then it suddenly dawned on Springtrap what he was about to do.

"_He's gotta charge it!"_

And he did, with Nightmare Fredbear racing down the corrider, his eyes fixed solely on the door.

_"HERE COMES FREDBEARRRRRR!"_ he roared, barring his teeth, of which the missing three were starting to grow back.

This not too surprisingly urged Springtrap hurry up with getting into the vent.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" he whispered, panicking internally.

He was almost in when Nightmare Fredbear made it to the door.

The door wasn't blown open, it was thrown right off its hinges with a loud metallic snap, as it was thrown down the corridor, making several loud metallic clangs as it impacted with the floor.

The metal bar had also snapped in two, bouncing off the walls, before finally landing on the corridor's far side.

Nightmare Fredbear, having just busted his way inside, looked up, frantically searching for Springtrap.

He instantly spotted, Springtrap not too far down, making his way inside the vent.

So, he marched over to where the vent entrance was, jumped up and…

CHOMP!

Springtrap screamed as he felt a sudden burst of intense pain in his right foot.

He turned and looked down to see Nightmare Fredbear gripping onto vent's side handles and with his teeth embedded deep into his right foot.

The pain was beyond anything he had felt previously, way beyond anything in his life, he couldn't think straight, the agony was too much.

With gritted teeth, he proceeded to free himself from Nightmare Fredbear's grasp by grabbing his jaws and trying to pull them apart.

Yet Nightmare Fredbear having already got a grip on the vent itself, attempted to pull himself inside.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME YOU BASTARD!" Springtrap shouted, stomping on Nightmare Fredbear's hands with his as of yet undamaged left foot.

"JUST FUCK OFF AND DIE!"

He thought it couldn't get any more painful, but it did as he pulled Nightmare Fredbear's teeth out of his foot, with blood dripping out of the holes left by his teeth.

Skin, blood and pieces of shattered bone came out with them.

He tore Nightmare Fredbear's hands off the vent's side handles, critically weakening his grip.

With gravity pulling him back to the floor, the Nightmare had no choice but to let go of Springtrap's foot. It brought sheer relief to Springtrap, as his foot became free, allowing him to pull himself back inside the vent and away from his enemy.

Nightmare Fredbear, angry at his failed attempt, leapt back up with renewed strength and grabbed hold of vent's side handles, pulling himself inside. Springtrap looked on, eyes widening in horror as Nightmare Fredbear emerged from entrance smiling with his blood covered teeth.

_"Hello there 'bunny', the children want to hear you play sole, come I'll take you to them, or are you gonna shout and hit me like the good caring coworker that you are?" _he asked venomously, crawling forward.

"YOUR NOT GOLDIE, YOU NEVER WERE SO WHY ARE YOU USING HIS MEMORIES AGAINST ME!" Springtrap shouted in both rage and fear as he desperately backed away as fast as he could.

_"Because I can," _Nightmare Fredbear answered smugly, making the pipe groan as he moved forward on his hands and knees.

_"Because I know that I'm making you suffer inside, you won't admit it, but I can see it's having an effect."_

Springtrap immediately increased his speed, kicking Nightmare Fredbear away if he got too close.

Nightmare Fredbear for his part just seemed to torment his opponent, lashing forward to bite him, but never actualy intending to.

It was obvious to Springtrap that he had a slim chance of surviving this encounter, so he had to somehow distract Nightmare Fredbear.

"Are you the leader?" he asked, eyeing Nightmare Fredbear's teeth and claws should he attempt to rip him to pieces.

_"Maybe yes…or maybe no, I know your trying to distract me Springtrap, so quit playing dumb." _

However, he knew he could just easily rush forward to close the space between them.

"Goldie isn't dead, you may have taken over his body, but he's still in there!" Springtrap shouted to which Nightmare Fredbear laughed, his deep laugh bouncing off the pipe's surrounding walls.

_"HE'S DEAD SPRINGTRAP, HE DIED IN AGONY AS I TOOK OVER, ALL OF HIS MEMORIES ARE MINE NOW!"_

"YOUR LYING!"

_"NO YOUR LYING TO YOURSELF, WHY, BECAUSE YOU FEEL GULITY KNOWING THAT GOLDIE'S GONE AND YOU'LL NEVER GET TO SAY THAT YOUR SORRY FOR HURTING HIM AND THAT THINGS WILL FOREVER BE LEFT UNRESOLVED!"_

Springtrap looked shaken, eyes widen as the Nightmare's words hit their mark.

Nightmare Fredbear himself just smiled at Springtrap's shocked expression.

_"And there…we have it."_

Springtrap's response was delivering a swift kick with his unjuried foot to Nightmare Fredbear's head.

He was so quick that Nightmare Fredbear, for all his reflexes didn't get the chance to react.

The kick caused him to bang his head against the metal ceiling making him lose focus monetarily and allowing Springtrap make his escape. It took a few seconds for his vision to stabilize and for the ringing sound in his ears to fade away, all the while Springtrap was crawling as fast he could through the ventilation system.

Scorned that he had allowed Springtrap to pull such a risky move, Nightmare Fredbear decided to take a different approach and proceeded to pursue Springtrap with renewed vigor. All he had to was follow the trail of blood left by Springtrap's bleeding foot as well as the noises he created while crawling through the pipes.

"_I'm a little tea pot short and stout,"_ he sang, mocking happiness.

"_Hey kids, do you want Spring Bonnie to give you a piggyback, careful now he is a person…not a robot."_

"_Welcome to Fredbear's Family Diner kids, where fun and fantasy come life and your 'safety' is granted."_

The Nightmare laughed his head off, reliving the climax of Springtrap's and Goldie's stormy argument.

_"I will do whatever it takes to regain your trust and love, I will spend forever with you to make things right, be the family member you deserved, make up for those lost thirty seven years."_

Springtrap could feel the guilt in his heart grow with each passing word, once they were Goldie's and now they were Nightmare Fredbear's.

_"Although you won't believe me when I say this and I don't blame you for it, but I do care about you, you are family to me and I will not let any more harm come to you...my friend."_

Springtrap looked back to see Nightmare Fredbear not far behind, chuckling to himself, finding the situation to be somewhat humorous.

_"But you let harm come to him and look what you got in return…ME!"_

"AND I'LL SEND YOU BACK, I WANT A REFUND!" Springtrap shouted, narrowing his eyes in anger.

_"THE DINER DOESN'T ACCEPT REFUNDS!"_ Nightmare Fredbear shouted back, crawling ever forward.

"WELL I DO!" Springtrap roared, crawling forward, he knew that maintaining a gap between him and Nightmare Fredbear was his best bet for survival.

The pipe system was hard to maneuver through and it all looked the same, it was like a maze.

His foot ached, pulsing with pain that set his nerves alight, but Springtrap kept on moving forward.

"_How do I kill him and bring Goldie back?"_

That was in itself an enigma, his best idea was that somewhere inside Nightmare Fredbear was Goldie fighting to reverse the process which had befallen him.

All Springtrap had to do was help him or at least weaken Nightmare Fredbear to the point where Goldie could hopefully regain control. However, that was only a theory and Springtrap didn't want to risk getting killed, he had been through a lot today and right foot hurt like hell.

He turned a corner and went down another seemly identical pipe to one which he'd just used.

"I suppose the one good thing about all of this is that it's just me he's focusing on and not the others."

Then again, he could just abandon his chase and go on after the others. Upon reaching the pipe's end, he turned around the bend…only to see that halfway along the new pipe was a grate, blocking it off from the rest of the system.

"Oh shit!" he cursed, because now there was only one way to go and that was back the way he'd just come…and guess who was following him.

He turned around to see Nightmare Fredbear crawling round the corner of the last pipe before the one he was in. It was a tight squeeze given the Nightmare's bulky size, but he was managing to pull himself through.

Nightmare Fredbear looked up and saw the fear in his eyes and he instantly knew that he was trapped. His eyes soon glowed with excitement as he approached Springtrap, like a cat on the hunt. Springtrap wasted no time rushing up to the grate, grabbing hold of it and trying to pull it off it's boltings.

"COME ON!" he screamed, rattling the grate's metal bars like a young child would do.

He glanced back and saw Nightmare Fredbear's shadow on the wall, getting denser and denser as he approached. He used all of his strength, but the grate remained shut and bolted fast to its holding…it wouldn't give.

Springtrap's heart froze when he heard Nightmare Fredbear's deep laugh behind him.

He turned round to see him crawling round the bend.

_"Trapped are we now?"_ he cooed mischievously.

In sheer panic, Springtrap rattled the grate in his desperate but clearly pointless attempts to escape. Nightmare Fredbear just rolled his eyes, he could see that Springtrap had reached his end.

_"Why bother Springtrap, there's no need to delay the inevitable."_

Springtrap turned round and backed away as far as he could, pushing his back into the grate's hard cold metal bars.

_"You know, you would make a lovey addition to the Nightmare crew…all of that anger and rage,"_ Nightmare Fredbear remarked, smiling as he reached out his claws to stork the man's hair.

"I'll never join you," Springtrap hissed, putting on a strong face.

"In fact, I would rather die."

Nightmare Fredbear narrowed his scarlet red eyes.

_"Fine, I'll only be merciful once."_

He opened his teeth once more revealing his sharp teeth, now all fully reformed.

_"End of the line SpringBonnie."_

The pipe creaked and groaned as he moved forward, his eyes locked with Springtrap's.

Springtrap was shaking, he couldn't deny that Nightmare Fredbear was properly the scariest or the most intelligent being he had ever come across.

Well…expect for Vincent perhaps, but it wasn't him this time round.

Nightmare Fredbear was worst kind of evil, cruel to the core, but always smart enough to outwit his foes and to deny them any sense of justice. In fact, rather ironically, his mean nature reminded Springtrap of his demonic self, the one with purple glowing eyes.

The groaning increased as Nightmare Fredbear rose as high as he could in the cramped space, his purple top hat being compressed against the vent's ceiling. "_You're a tragic figure Springtrap, all alone, no real friends, no actual connection to the world which your currently in,"_ he snarled, very word was a bullet of pure bitterness aimed directly at his heart.

Then he lashed out, with Springtrap just being able to cover his eyes, knowing that this was the end.

Or…was it?

Amidst Nightmare Fredbear's screams of demonic joy there was a large snap, followed instantly by more screams which were suddenly cut short by a loud thud. Springtrap slowly uncovered and opened his eyes to see...that Nightmare Fredbear was gone.

He then noticed a large hole in the vent's floor before him and through it he could the Nightmare having landed on his back on the floor below. The vent must have cracked under their combined weight and he fell right through.

_"Ohhh…what just happened?" _Nightmare Fredbear groaned as his body instantly set about repairing any damage.

Springtrap saw his chance and he seized it, dashing across the gap and crawling down the vent.

"_Now to hide away and plan,"_ he thought, ignoring the pain that was screaming from his bleeding foot. Nightmare Fredbear raised his head, allowing his vision to fully clear.

_"Blasted wretched vent, I'm putting on a poor performance today, it's a good thing Nightmare Freddy can't see me like this." _

He knew that he'd missed another chance to kill Springtrap, but he was learning and he learnt fast. Although the change in his environment had thrown him somewhat off, on Earth he wasn't a God anymore.

So, he decided to continue his pursuit, but from now on, he would follow from a distance, not letting Springtrap know that he was still onto him.

_"It's time for some mind games,"_ he growled menacingly.

Looking up at the hole in the vent from which he had recently fallen, he smiled.

_"I can make mistakes, but I'll learn and come back even stronger."_

He got back on his own two feet and jumped up, grabbing onto the hole's sides with his claws.

He carefully pulled himself through the hole and once inside, continued with his pursuit of Springtrap.

_"So now we're playing hide and seek, no worry, I've played that game before."_

His eyes narrowed as his other senses heighted…patience was key to winning this particular game.

Past experience had taught him well.

_"And I'm a master when playing it in the dark of night."_

Then he instantly reconsidered what he'd just said.

_"Although the other guy is pretty good at it too…with his black suit."_

_And he wasn't referring to Nightmare Freddy…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter which I've got planned is even more action packed, although with a change on perspectives.
> 
> Please Review.
> 
> Until next time :-)


	21. The Calm Before The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As the title suggests this is a build up chapter and you'll soon see why.  
Again, this is another big chapter but hopefully it does deliver and there is a Mad Max reference in this one.  
Also, thank you to the guest that left a Kudos for this story on the previous chapter, I'm glad that you're enjoying it. :-)
> 
> There are a few lines from 'Die in a Fire' by The Living Tombstone and 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2' by Sayonara Maxwell that I've used in this chapter.

**Chapter 21.**

** The Calm Before The Storm. **

**"_It's the deep breath before the plunge."_**

** _Proverb_ **

After for what felt an eternity but what was properly five minutes, Springtrap finally spotted an open vent somewhere ahead of him.

Thank God, he could live to be a hundred and still not have found his way out of this metal maze. He slowly lowered himself down, carefully not to put too much pressure on his right foot or else he would surely scream in pain. Upon landing, he looked around to see that he was in another corridor, however he couldn't tell what floor he was on. He couldn't remember the pipes going up or down so he could only guess that he was still on the 6th floor.

And right now, he needed to hide, ideally somewhere in which Nightmare Fredbear wouldn't find him and knew he couldn't leave a trail. He looked down at his bleeding foot, it had several teeth marks burrowed into it, all of which looked to have penetrated deep.

So he had to hop, raising his right foot off the ground and proceeding to hop down the corridor, trying to keep himself steady. Entering one of the many rooms available, he set himself down in the darkness at the room's far end and rested his head against the wall.

Only now would he allow exhaustion to overcome him for now he was out of harm's reach.

"God dammit," he groaned, examining his right foot.

"Just my fucking luck!"

He breathed in deeply, thinking things over. _"Which situation was better, being attacked by a demonic version of myself, or being attacked by a nightmarish version of my best friend?"_

In truth he couldn't decide which was worst.

_"At least I'm safe for the moment…"_

He closed his eyes and tried to answer the many questions that were surging around in his head.

_"There must be a way, to get Goldie back, if what Vincent said was true, then there just be a way to reverse the whole process."_

And yet he had no idea on how to do that, capture Nightmare Fredbear, strap him down and try to recreate what Vincent did in the hope of getting it right somehow. He sighed as he felt his muscles unwind themselves, he wasn't in a fit state to do this.

And Nightmare Fredbear was un-killable…just to make his task even more difficult.

He wanted to go and rejoin the others, yet…he felt as if that wasn't the wisest of choices, they were properly all too busy trying to deal with endoskeletons or the other Nightmares, bringing in an un-killable tank would just result in a bloodbath. And God alone knows if Goldie was really gone, then the Fazbears wouldn't cope well with the loss of another family member.

So he would bring this monster down by himself…somehow.

_Not a moment sooner…_

Nightmare Fredbear slowly crawled his way through the vents, following the trail of blood that had bled from Springtrap's foot.

He was careful not to make any noise, being stealthily had its limits as well as advantages. Upon turning a corner, he saw that the trail ended at an open vent somewhere further up ahead. Slowly, he moved forward, his hands and knees grinding over the hard-cold metal.

Man were this vents rough to get through, clearly not designed for any level of comfort. When he finally reached it, he lowered his head through first and looked around, trying to do a 360 sweep. There was nothing, the entire corridor was empty, not a soul in sight. Something was off and Nightmare Fredbear could sense it.

Looking down at the floor he saw a single blood-stained footprint.

Springtrap had been here….and by the looks of it, it wasn't that long ago.

Nightmare Fredbear grinned in delight as he lowered himself down onto the floor, being extra careful not to make any sound that would almost certainly give away his presence. After landing he scouted the area, but couldn't find anything useful or interesting.

There was nothing to indicate where Springtrap had gone.

To be fair he could just abandon his attempts to find him and just go down to find the others. That would be a better use of his time and with that decision in mind, he turned round and headed to the nearest stairwell entrance.

Until he saw the camera.

Security camera to be precise, it was mounted at the corridor's far end…and it was blinking green…_someone was watching._ Deciding that it would be worth his time, Nightmare Fredbear walked up to it, looking right into its viewfinder. Back in the main office, Vincent smiled amusedly at Nightmare Fredbear's curiosity as he filled up the entirety of the camera screen.

_"Do you know where he went?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked, his voice was modest and plain. Using the security control panel, Vincent commanded the camera to move up and then down, effectively saying yes.

Nightmare Fredbear quickly got the message.

_"And where would that be then?"_

Vincent then instructed the camera to shine a red laser like light in the direction of the room that Springtrap was in. Nightmare Fredbear turned round and saw where it was pointing…at one of the rooms in the corridor's mid-section.

_"Are you sure?"_ he asked, looking back to face the camera once more.

The camera moved up and down in confirmation.

Nightmare Fredbear smiled in response.

_"Thank you Vincent."_

The camera once again moved up and down in immense approval.

The Nightmare turned once more and headed off towards his original objective.

Springtrap was resting, taking the opportunity to relax his muscles, he needed more time to recover, but this was as good as he could get right now. Everything was peaceful and he liked it because he could think without any major distractions. However, that quickly changed…when his ears picked up the sound of the door being forced opened.

His eyes flashed open, now he was fully alert.

Although he couldn't see it, there was an active camera in the room with a green light on…Vincent was watching using the camera's night vision setting. Springtrap heard footsteps somewhere near the door…_someone was inside!_

Slowly, he rose up, keeping his back firmly up against the wall. There were footsteps off to his left, so he wisely moved right to avoid the intruder. If he could make his way around the room, then he could get to the door.

He knew the intruder was Nightmare Fredbear, who else could it be.

Suddenly there was flash of red somewhere off to his left…_red eyes._

It was Nightmare Fredbear, but by the looks of things he didn't see him, properly too busy searching for him.

Slowly, he inched his way towards the door, constantly checking back to see where Nightmare Fredbear was. He couldn't see him thanks to the darkness which acted as cloak, but if he had to guess, he knew that he would be over there somewhere. Springtrap looked back towards the door, by now he was about fifteen to ten steps away.

Then came the sound of boxes being knocked over behind him. Taking as his cue, Springtrap ran, spiriting towards the door. If Nightmare Fredbear were to pounce on him, then it would be from behind. As things turned out he didn't get pounced on from behind…_he got pounced on from the left._

The sudden force of impact slammed Springtrap against the wall, causing a wave of intense pain to surge through his body, going from one end to the other.

He looked up and saw Nightmare Fredbear standing over him, smiling with a devil's grin.

_"I found you bunny!"_ he sang sweetly, raising his claws.

He struck Springtrap hard across the face, giving him a long deep gash down the side of his right cheek. Then he smacked him in the face square on, almost breaking his nose. Springtrap attempted to fight back by punching the Nightmare in the chest, it wouldn't be too hard for the guy was pretty big.

Yet he couldn't as his fist encountered one of his claws, which became trapped in it and then finally crushed. He could feel his bones snapping under the pressure as the Nightmare's claw acted as a snake, restricting his movements and compressing the life out of his hand.

He tried not to scream out in pain as it would only give the Nightmare what he wanted.

_"Our game has now reached its end SpringBonnie,"_ Nightmare Fredbear muttered as he released what was now a knot of torn bleeding muscle and broken bone which was once a hand. It soon turned into an endless beating as Nightmare Fredbear just unleashed blow after blow. Springtrap couldn't do anything as his left hand was now unless and the pain was quickly becoming too much to bear. Nightmare Fredbear wasn't stopping in his bombardment, he wasn't fooling around anymore.

_"You felt pain right, emotional pain?" _he asked confidently.

Springtrap groaned, trying to stand up only for Nightmare Fredbear to kicked his feet out from under him, making him hit the ground again.

_"Well let's balance it out with some physical pain."_

He grabbed hold of Springtrap's right shoulder and with one swift yank, he pulled it right out of its' socket. Springtrap let out one hell of a scream, it so loud that it echoed down several corridors, reaching the main office and causing Vincent to tense up. "Ouch!" he muttered, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end. Nightmare Fredbear reached up and grabbed hold of a small horizonal pipe above him and tore out one of its sections with barely any difficulty.

Holding it like a rod, he brought it down on Springtrap's head giving him a bloodily flesh wound.

The resulting smack went like an echo throughout his mind, making his skull rattle as the force was so strong. His vision was starting to blur, as he felt blood run down his skin, no doubt he was bleeding. Nightmare Fredbear proceeded to land blow after blow against Springtrap, hitting him in the arms, legs, stomach and the head.

Each blow was stronger than the last and therefore more painful as he pummeled his enemy to the point of death. To Springtrap it felt like all his bones were being shattered into countless broken pieces and in some cases, they were. All the while Vincent sang what he thought to be a rather fitting song over the camera footage of Nightmare Fredbear beating Springtrap to death.

"Hope you'll be stabbed in the heart, hope you get shot and expire."

Springtrap appeared to be in complete agony which made Vincent's eyes gleam with excitement.

"Hope you'll be taken apart, hope this is what you desire."

Nightmare Fredbear then threw the blood smeared rod away, landing on the floor nearby with a metallic clang.

"Goldie…Goldie…Goldie," Springtrap muttered, his senses were going, his mind was becoming numb as the pain overloaded his nerves and his body struggled to combat the blood loss. Nightmare Fredbear lowered himself down to Springtrap's level so they were now holding eye contact.

_"Goldie…you want to speak to Goldie, well I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Goldie isn't here Spring, he's dead, like you will soon be."_ Then putting one of his claws together like a dagger, he stabbed Springtrap right in the stomach.

Springtrap could feel his makeshift blade penetrate his abdomen, he suddenly felt the need to cough which he did. He looked down at his hand, in his blurred vision he could red…_blood…he was coughing up blood._

Nightmare Fredbear withdrew his claw, stood up and grabbed Springtrap sharply by the throat.

_"I want to ask you something,"_ he asked, now dragging the dazed and seriously injured Springtrap towards the centre of the room. He deliberately dropped him right in front of the room's security camera so Vincent could see, the impact with the floor caused Springtrap to yelp out in pain. Nightmare Fredbear got down on his hands and knees and pulled Springtrap towards him so they were eye to eye.

_"Tell me, if Goldie was here right now, what would you want to say to him?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked, loud and clear so Vincent could hear. "I…I…I'm sorry…for everything…for turning my back on you," Springtrap answered, his voice now weak and raspy.

_"And,"_ Nightmare Fredbear enquired, clearly seeking more answers.

"I shouldn't have lashed out at you, you wanted…to fix things, but...I was so angry with you that I couldn't control it." He paused to cough, once more coughing up more blood. "I've lost you, and now you're killing me…all I wanted was to see justice done, but I was so hurt…and I hurt you, made you run away."

Vincent meanwhile watched from the main office, listening intensely to the conversation. "If you are somewhere in there Goldie…forgive me…because I forgive you for what you did…all those years ago."

He gazed into Nightmare Fredbear's cold red eyes.

"What I see before me…is my punishment."

Nightmare Fredbear smiled, letting Springtrap collapse to the floor. _"Beautifully written SpringBonnie, I almost feel sad for trying to kill you, however I cannot let you live."_

He grabbed Springtrap by his dislocated left shoulder, making him hiss in pain as Nightmare Fredbear dragged him upright. He held his face, looking into his sad grey eyes. _"Goodbye Springtrap, the show is over."_

Springtrap accepting his fate opened the floodgates and let out all the tears he'd been holding back. He hugged Nightmare Fredbear, wrapping his mangled arms around his waist and burying his head into his chest…this was the closest to Goldie he'd ever get. Nightmare Fredbear opened his mouth showing row upon row of sharp teeth and proceeded to bite down on Springtrap's head.

"STOP!"

Nightmare Fredbear paused whilst in mid-bite, his eyes flickered around the room, seeing nothing out the ordinary he continued.

"STOP RIGHT NOW!"

Nightmare Fredbear stopped again and looked around…to see nothing.

He then proceeded with his killing blow.

"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE!"

He felt something shift in his subconscious…something separate…something that wasn't him, crawling around beneath the surface.

And then it burst into existence.

"LEAVE SPRINGTRAP ALONE!" an internal voice screamed as the doors to his subconsciousness were swiftly broken open.

Nightmare Fredbear continued to increase the pressure on Springtrap's head. Then his jaw stopped, the muscles just froze in place. He couldn't move his mouth as it was locked shut, not responding to his instinctive commands. "_What the!"_ the Nightmare exclaimed not knowing what was going on.

Within his mind a figure emerged wearing a golden suit with a blueish top hat and bow tie.

_"Goldie!"_

Nightmare Fredbear although he couldn't smile with his jaw being locked in place, mentally smirked as he turned his mental focus onto the newcomer.

_"I wasn't excepting you."_

Goldie only gave him a death's stare.

"Get the fuck off Spring!" he whispered menacingly. However Nightmare Fredbear only laughed.

_"Oh, so you do care for him?" _

"I've always cared for him you idiot," Goldie sternly replied, keeping his eyes on his Nightmarish counterpart to which he sneered. "

_"You can't save him." _

"The outcome isn't clear yet, so I would place your bets wisely."

_"You think you can beat me?"_

"I've locked your jaw in place, it isn't moving until one of us goes down."

_"Ahh, a challenge, you won't win, I'm in overall control of both the body and the mind, go back to the subconscious and die."_

"I'm not going anywhere until you die."

_"Why didn't you show this level of sprit in Limbo, when I beat you into oblivion?" _

"I had no hope of doing so...until now."

The two Goldies circled one another, eyes locked. _"Is this Thunder Dome where two Goldies enter and one Goldie leaves?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked, flexing his claws as he readied himself for a fight. "Maybe, but I'm just gonna focus on killing you," Goldie answered, his hands forming into fists.

Dark red stared into scarlet red.

"Using my memories as a weapon, nearly killing my friends and helping a child murderer, I've always wondered why you Nightmares were helping Vincent, I thought it was because you hold a similar mindset, but it's very clear to me that your little alliance runs deep."

Nightmare Fredbear smiled somewhat in satisfaction.

_"Deeper than you could ever imagine Goldie, involving secrets that are best left forgotten, like the child you bit."_

"I didn't deliberately bite that child, those bullies including his brother pushed him into my mouth, bullies whose personalities bear a strong resemble to Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy if I may add."

Nightmare Fredbear clapped his hands in a sarcastic manner.

_"Bravo for figuring that part out and I thought you were smart."_

"A smart man chooses when to reveal what he knows."

_"But you don't believe your own words do you…you still blame yourself for what happened that day."_

The Nightmare smiled as he continued to circle his opponent. _"Besides there are somethings which even you don't know...probably for the best."_

"I wouldn't be so overconfident if I were you," Goldie stated harshly. Nightmare Fredbear tried to regain control of his jaw, however Goldie mentally blocked him. "That jaw isn't moving until you leave or better yet die," Goldie said, watching Nightmare Fredbear for any sudden surprises.

Nightmare Fredbear tired again, but once more Goldie stopped him, resulting in Nightmare Fredbear giving him a cold shoulder. "What's wrong, finding it difficult to control your 'own body'," Goldie hissed, mocking his opponent. "You Nightmares sure do have a superiority complex, let me guess you've never faced a real challenge before because you've been hounding a poor innocent little boy."

Nightmare Fredbear grinned like a Cheshire cat as his eyes glowed his excitement. _"You put him there and you'll be shocked to discover the horrors that child's mind can create."_

Goldie shook his head.

"Leave now or suffer the conquences," he ordered, sounding as imposing as possible.

"I will not hold back."

Nightmare Fredbear just laughed in an amused manner. "_You really except me to accept your offer?"_ he asked.

"No…I just wanted to see if you can recognize the terrible position your currently in."

_"How is it terrible, I'm a Nightmare?"_

"You don't wanna see me when I get angry."

Both combatants readied themselves.

"Two Goldies enter…"

_"And one Goldie leaves..."_

Then they both charged at one another, blue lighting flowed out from Goldie's hands while red lighting poured out of Nightmare Fredbear's. Two mirror opposites aimed at ensuring the complete destruction of one another. They fought hand to hand for control of the body, for control the mind, to save or to kill Springtrap.

Fists and claws locked with each other, as legs kicked and eyes narrowed in naked hatred. To be honest Nightmare Fredbear wasn't excepting Goldie to put on such a strong performance. He was fighting like a feral animal, landing blow after blow on Nightmare Fredbear.

But then again so was he.

He teleported away before Goldie's eyes only to reappear out of thin air behind him to deliver a swift kick to his back. Goldie fell forward only to teleport away and reappear to the side of Nightmare Fredbear and punch him sharply in the ribs. The Nightmare monumentally stumbled, but quickly regained his footing and lashed out striking Goldie in the face before he could do anything else.

Goldie replied by head ramming his opponent in the chest, shoving him backwards.

Yet Nightmare Fredbear kneed Goldie in the stomach and side stepped him only to then trip him up. Goldie vanished and popped out of thin in front of the Nightmare and punched him in the face and of course the Nightmare reacted by punching him in return, but Goldie once more teleported away.

He instead reappeared next to him and brought his fist down on Nightmare Fredbear's extended arm, hitting a central nerve and getting his own back. But Nightmare Fredbear wasn't gonna let Goldie have the upper hand that easily and swipe him across the face with his claws.

He then grabbed Goldie by the throat and lifted him up so his legs were dangling about in the air.

_"You may be able save Spring, you may even save your family from us, but how does it feel knowing that the boy is unable to move on and has us for company?"_ he asked warmly, although there was a level of exhaustion in his voice from all the fighting.

_"It must really sit on your conscious…day after day."_

"It's horrible, like a nightmare that can never end, but hey I can only do one thing at a time," Goldie replied, kicking Nightmare Fredbear right in the face with his free feet.

This caused Nightmare Fredbear to drop him, allowing Goldie to regain the initiative. He smacked the Nightmare in the face once more, but the Nightmare teleported away and reappeared a fair distance away.

"Scared, are we?" Goldie yelled with a tone of dark humor.

"Some night terror you are and to think you are supposedly tougher than Nightmare Freddy." That comment made Nightmare Fredbear look up, his lip was bleeding, Goldie must have hit him quite hard. Although he was bleeding himself, his nose had taken a fair battering.

_"I am not scared of you Goldie, but I admire your strength…however…I would ask you to think again."_

Suddenly an arc of radiant red lighting was shot in Goldie's direction, who just barely missed it, the blot searing his side for a brief second, giving off a burning sensation across his chest. He fired back with an arc of pure blue lighting towards Nightmare Fredbear who was only able to just block it, turning the confrontation into an anti-tug of war contest.

Two arcs of lighting one red and the other blue pulsed against each other flowing back and forth between the two combatants. "You Nightmares are strong, cunning and sadistic monsters, but even you aren't invincible, your instant healing powers can't help you here," Goldie stated, pushing with all his strength.

_"True, but I'm not out…yet,"_ Nightmare Fredbear replied smugly, gathering all of his power.

Despite the immense strengths of both sides, Nightmare Fredbear was winning as he slowly pushed Goldie back. The red lighting acre grew brighter as it shoved its blue counterpart back towards its owner. Fear leaked into Goldie's eyes as it possibility of his death dawned on him.

If he lost this fight then that was it for him, no rebounds, just straight into the waiting arms of Death himself. The Nightmare smiled in smug delight as he could sense his upcoming victory over the Fazbear. _"You fucked up in the past and it had terrible conquences for everyone else, you had a mask on for the entirety of their lives and now with your best friend on the verge of death you can't even muster the willpower to survive even with death staring at you in the face."_

He chuckled to himself as Goldie's position became even more dire.

_"I'll take back what I said about admiring you for your strength."_

"You sure do frequently change your opinions about people," Goldie remarked, struggling to hold his opponent back.

_"Well I am a hard man to please."_

Goldie could feel that his back was up against the wall. _"Poor Fredbear you wore your heart on your sleeve, but it got you nowhere."_

"You don't…deserve…to use…that name," Goldie sneered as red lighting danced dangerously close to him. Nightmare Fredbear only smiled as his impending victory loomed ever closer.

_"You don't use it anymore Goldie…now it's mine," _he snarled viciously. With the red lighting filling up his vision with crackling static, Goldie found himself thinking of his earlier days.

Helping Freddy prepare for his first performance, he was so nervous back then.

Teaching Bonnie how to interact warmly with the audience, by God did she really need that life skill to survive.

Instructing Chica how to sing properly, something which the company should have covered first, but no and he had to start at the beginning with only two to three months to go before Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria officially opened for business.

And finally having to inform Foxy had to get into the pirate act and cope with handling a one man show.

And they shone…they shone like the sun, because of what he did and look at them now. He had helped to save the Toys from being terminated and welcomed them in with open arms. When the Puppet confessed her long held secret on what had really been going on, he had protected her from a vengeful FNAF family fueled by bloodlust.

Hell, he had even been the first one to establish a connection with Mike and Jeremy, in which they all later become close friends…otherwise they wouldn't be here today.

He had still cared for Springtrap, despite all the shit he had done to him and now here he was…risking his own life to save him by taking on his Nightmarish counterpart. Finally he had forgiven him too which made his attempt at rescue even more meaningful. Goldie wanted to live, he desired to see them again, he wanted to break free of the past. They needed to know the truth of what had happened in his past and only then could they truly move on.

And this nightmare monstrosity version of himself wasn't gonna stop him for doing that.

_"Goodbye 'Fredbear',"_ Nightmare Fredbear mocked confidently as he further increased the pressure on the seemless helpless Fazbear.

"No…" Goldie muttered to himself, feeling both rage and determination build up inside him like a nuclear reactor. By now his hair had fallen over his eyes, making his expression invisible.

"No…" he mumbled again, this time a little bit more sternly.

He wanted to live.

"NO!" he screamed, raising his head and revealing his rage filled face and teary eyes.

"NOOOOOOOOO!"

He pushed back, delivering an almighty wave of mental force back against Nightmare Fredbear. The Nightmare was so startled by this unexpected comeback that he had lost all that he had gained previously being pushed back to square one and Goldie wasn't letting up

Nightmare Fredbear could sense his will, his determination to win and the enraged emotional look in his eyes said it all.

Where did this sudden burst of strength come from, one minute he was on the verge of victory and now he was fighting Goldie who acted without having any battlefield fatigue. Goldie ruthlessly pushed forward, moving closer to the Nightmare inch by bloody inch.

It dawned on Nightmare Fredbear that he was gonna lose when he felt his grip on the mind weaken and Goldie could sense it too. He had never lost before and Goldie was now hounding him like a bloodhound whose strength could no longer be matched. No teleporting around the mind would make things any easier for him. Goldie gritted his teeth as he soldiered onwards, shoving with all his might.

He would see his family again.

"Get."

The blue lighting flowed forward, pushing the red lighting back towards Nightmare Fredbear who was quickly losing his footing.

"The."

The pressure increased immensely.

"Fuck."

Nightmare Fredbear felt his grip shrink even further.

"Out."

The blue lighting pushed its red counterpart back even more.

"Of."

Goldie pushed himself forward to the limits of his abilities.

"My."

Nightmare Fredbear started to panic, something he had never done before because he'd never lost a match.

"HEAD!"

Goldie threw all of his strength at Nightmare Fredbear and the blue lighting surged forward, completely wiping out the red lighting acre.

All Nightmare Fredbear could say was.

_"Oh shit!"_

Then the lighting hit him square on in the chest, electrifying him.

It was so much lighting that his skeleton was fully illuminated with the entirety of his golden suit being set on fire, bursting in open flames

He screamed in agony as he was forced out of what was now Goldie's mind, with all that was Nightmare Fredbear being pushed out and replaced with what made Goldie, including the child's spirit which resided within him.

What had taken place felt like minutes, although in reality it had only been for several seconds. All the while Springtrap had sat with his arms wrapped around the frozen Nightmare Fredbear, too tired or injured to realise what was going on. Vincent for the last few seconds had been staring at the screen wondering why on earth was Nightmare Fredbear not ripping Springtrap's head off.

"What the hell is he doing?" he asked, leaning in for a better look.

"Is he thinking this over?"

Then Nightmare Fredbear rose up and started twitching uncontrollably, gripping his head with his hands and emitting an ear-piercing demonic scream so loud that Vincent could hear it from two directions, one from the camera's audio system and other from the corridor right outside. Nightmare Fredbear's body twisted self in awkward angles, falling onto its front legs still screaming.

Springtrap had enough energy left in him to back away, watching Nightmare Fredbear scream his head off in his still blurred vision.

Then it stopped.

Nightmare Fredbear fell silent, his eyes closed as his head fell forward.

"What…what just happened?" Springtrap asked himself, staring at the now lifeless, motionless Nightmare Fredbear.

He saw a small golden brown orb fly out of Nightmare Fredbear's chest, it flew around the room getting faster and faster before rocketing out of the door and into the corridor.

Slowly it faded away into nothing.

_"You've beat me…but I'll be back…I will always come back…" _

Springtrap and Vincent watched as Nightmare Fredbear's body now slowly changed. Its sharp teeth transformed back into regular human teeth, while it's claws reformed back into ordinary human hands. Soon Goldie was back in both body and mind, although he was still out cold.

However, it didn't appear to last long, as his eyes slowly opened to reveal two dark red pupils.

"Goldie…" said Springtrap, dragging himself over towards him, leaving a trail of blood behind.

Goldie felt exhausted, his head felt heavy and he'd put all his energy into beating Nightmare Fredbear.

He looked and saw Springtrap heavily wounded crawling across the floor with excitement in his eyes.

"Spring…I'm here."

"Goldie…your back!" Springtrap exclaimed clearly overjoyed to see him.

Goldie smiled warmly.

"It's good to see you SpringBonnie, did I keep you waiting?" he asked sounding tired beyond measure. "Well…turning up a minute earlier might have spared me a beating," Springtrap replied, trying to create some humor.

"I'm really sorry for that."

"Don't be, I'll be fine," Springtrap chuckled.

"I'm made of tougher stuff."

Goldie put his hand to his head.

"Spring…I think I'm gonna…"

Then his mind slipped into unconsciousness, he fell, landing hard on his side, his eyes now closed.

"GOLDIE!" Springtrap screamed, dragging himself as fast he could over to Goldie, ignoring the pain that was hell bent on exploding from his lower abdomen.

He grabbed Goldie by the shoulders and pulled him upright, shaking him. "Come on Goldie, don't fall asleep now!" he shouted, hoping that his voice would somehow arouse Goldie from his slumber. He needed to get himself and Goldie out, they weren't safe, his biggest fears were Vincent or any of the other Nightmares finding them.

Vincent meanwhile had been sitting in the main office, watching the scene before him play out and now he was completely lost for words. "What happened…WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED, THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE, HOW DID GOLDIE EVEN DO THAT!" he shouted, unable to believe his own eyes.

Deciding to analysis the camera's footage some point in the future, he extracted the camera's data by means of a memory pen, storing the footage away safely."If you want to do something properly, you've gotta do it yourself," he muttered scornfully, reaching under the desk and grabbing his pistol. He checked the room number Springtrap and Goldie were in and proceeded to head towards the office door, the endoskeletons watching him go.

However, he had barely stepped out into the corridor after unlocking the door, when the entire building was suddenly rocked by a massive explosion from below, throwing him right off his feet.

* * *

_2nd floor assembly area, several minutes before the explosion…_

Toy Freddy was finding it extremely difficult to avoid Nightmare Freddy's attacks.

The man was fighting like a complete manic with his claws coming in from all angles and Toy Freddy could only react quick enough to block them with his shotgun, having only just freed himself from the pyscho's grasp a few minutes earlier.

Still it could be worse, he could be in Toy Bonnie's position.

Toy Bonnie aka BonBon was struggling to cope with Nightmare Bonnie, who laughed every time she caught her off guard with her claws. Toy Chica was quick enough to get some distance between her and Nightmare Chica, firing her gun at such an astonishing rate in the Nightmare's direction. It was so great that she able to keep Nightmare Chica at bay…until the moment when she would inevitably run out of ammunition.

And Nightmare Chica wasn't making it any easier for her, dodging the bullet shower from left to right trying to find a weak point to exploit. Mangle meanwhile ducked and dogged Nightmare Foxy's teeth and sharp hook, her endoskeleton arms helped a bit, but he always seemed able to get around them.

"So, you're the Nightmares we've heard so much about," said Toy Bonnie, firing a shot that narrowly avoided hitting Nightmare Bonnie in the shoulder. _"Likewise, I've heard so much about you Toy Bonnie, lots of things,"_ Nightmare Bonnie replied playfully, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Like what?"

_"You apparently have a crush on Toy Freddy."_

Toy Bonnie even in the heat of battle blushed bright red.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, bringing her gun round and nearly hitting Nightmare Bonnie in the head had she not ducked in time.

_"Aww it's young love, just like Romeo and Juliet and hopefully…"_

Nightmare Bonnie flashed her sharp teeth,

_"Just as tragic."_

_"Hey Toy Chica, do you wanna see Goldie?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, grabbing her wrists with her claws and digging in.

"Why does that matter?" Toy Chica asked, returning the question, as she tried to stop herself from groaning in pain, whilst also trying to prevent the Nightmare from gaining the upper hand.

_"Because you might not like what you see,"_ Nightmare Chica replied sweetly, her eyes gleaming with mischief. Toy Chica's response was breaking free of the Nightmare's grip, and then swiftly smacking her across the face with her free fist.

"That's for kidnapping Goldie you heartless bitch!"

Nightmare Chica now with narrowed eyes, reacted by slashing her in the shoulder, knocking her back.

Toy Chica tripped and fell backwards

"TOY CHICA!" Mangle screamed, watching her friend fall. With one of her endoskeletons arms, she reached over, grabbed hold of Nightmare Chica's leg and pulled sharply. The result was Nightmare Chica having her leg pulled out from underneath her and crashing to the floor.

She turned and saw Mangle, giving her a death's glare.

_"You little bitch!"_ she hissed, getting up.

She ran forward, ignoring Toy Chica and leapt onto Mangle, the impact nearly caused her to fall over.

And then Nightmare Chica proceeded to bite down on Mangle's ear.

Mangle screamed as three rows of fangs penetrated her ear lobe, she grabbed hold of her attacker and try to pull her off, but to no avail. Then Nightmare Foxy saw an opportunity to sink his hook into Mangle's shoulder blade.

Mangle hissed out in pain, as the hook burrowed into her skin. She also felt Nightmare Foxy's other claw tear at her clothes, leaving behind several claw marks.

Toy Chica knew she had to save Mangle before they killed her.

Picking up her gun and a plank of wood from a destroyed desk, she charged at the two Nightmares. With the wooden plank, she smacked Nightmare Foxy on the head and then his legs, sweeping him off his feet. With Nightmare Foxy temporary occupied, Toy Chica at close range fired at Nightmare Chica with a bullet going straight into her left leg.

Nightmare Chica's orangey yellow eyes widen upon the bullet's impact and she screamed, falling off Mangle. Toy Chica then fired another shot this one clipping Nightmare Chica's head, giving her a flesh wound. She would have finished her off, but then Nightmare Foxy having recovered swiped Toy Chica with his claw, she turned and caught it in her hand, the one which Nightmare Foxy had bitten hours earlier.

_"So, I see someone bandaged that up for you,"_ he stated, engaging in a contest of strength. He raised his hook to strike only for two pairs of endoskeleton hands to grab it. Suddenly Nightmare Foxy was lifted up into the air and thrown in the direction of Nightmare Bonnie.

"Thanks Mangle," said Toy Chica, giving her a brief hug. "You're welcome, thanks for saving me…I guess we're even," Mangle replied, ignoring the pain that pulsed from her bleeding ear and shoulder. Nightmare Bonnie dogged the flying Nightmare Foxy who landed somewhere behind her in the darkness with a deafening thud.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nightmare Chica back away from Toy Chica and Mangle who were now unoccupied in their capability to help the other two.

_"So just level the playing field then,"_ she thought.

She swiftly skirted around Toy Bonnie and slashed her in the back with her claws before she could even react, leaving five bloodily marks behind. Toy Bonnie screamed and fell forward onto her knees, but she didn't let go of her gun. Then Nightmare Bonnie proceeded to jump into Toy Bonnie's back, but she swung her gun around and hit Nightmare Bonnie right in the face with a deafening smack.

Thinking she could kill her, Toy Bonnie pulled the trigger,

A lone bullet exploded out of her rifle…only to hit and destroy one of Mangle's two endoskeleton hands.

Toy Bonnie's scream caught the attention of Toy Freddy.

"BONBON!" he called, seeing her in clear distress. Nightmare Freddy however, took the distraction as an opportunity to wrestle the shotgun from him. Grabbing it, he tried to wretch it out of Toy Freddy's hands, but he tighten his grip, and didn't let go.

_"Your quite protective of your girls, it'll be a shame if something bad were to happen to them,"_ Nightmare Freddy sneered, his dark red eyes widening with excitement. "They can handle their own, unlike your Chica and Foxy," Toy Freddy replied through gritted teeth. Nightmare Freddy just laughed, somehow finding his counterpart's words to be humorous.

_"They're learning...we can learn quite quickly."_

Within an instant, Nightmare Foxy leapt out of the shadows and attacked Toy Chica, knocking her to ground and pinning her there. Mangle would have gone to her aid, but came under attack from Nightmare Chica who ran circles around her and hitting Mangle whenever her back was turned._ "You see,"_ Nightmare Freddy gloated, locking eyes with Toy Freddy as they fought over the shotgun.

"Why are you four helping Vincent, what could you possibly gain from all of this, you know so much about us, yet we've never met until now?" Toy Freddy asked, using his strength to drag Nightmare Freddy from left to right hoping that the momentum would break his grip on the shotgun. _"Ohh you Toys would love to know the whole truth wouldn't you, well sorry watered down version of Freddy Fazbear, but my lips are sealed as are the others," _Nightmare Freddy answered.

"Watered down!" Toy Freddy exclaimed in his anger to which Nightmare Freddy laughed.

_"You and your girls barely ran for half a year, only just covered half the cost it took to rebuilt the entire enterprise from scratch…what a waste and to think Fazbear Entertainment put its faith in four half assed versions of the Originals." _

That made Toy Freddy very angry, how dare he insult his family, they were victims of poor circumstances. "We never got a chance to properly shine due to the actions of certain people, you on the other hand have no hope of entertaining children," he hissed, ripping the shotgun out of the Nightmare Freddy's hands.

_"You think I was made to entertain, no my purpose is to destroy everything people like you hold dear, starting with your girls,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, dashing off into the darkness to avoid getting blasted at close range by Toy Freddy's shotgun. Now with Nightmare Freddy off his back, Toy Freddy turned and ran towards Toy Bonnie who was in the midst of a death match with her nightmarish counterpart.

Having just fired her rifle which ended up destroying one of Mangle's endoskeleton hands, Toy Bonnie had now resorted to punching Nightmare Bonnie, although she appeared to dodge most of her blows.

_"Oh look, here comes your 'boyfriend',"_ Nightmare Bonnie hissed, swiping at Toy Bonnie with her claws. "Well it looks like yours has abandoned you," Toy Bonnie shot back, angered by Nightmare Bonnie's last comment._"Don't be so judgmental dear, boyfriend or not, he'll still protect us three, just like we protect him,"_ Nightmare Bonnie stated, just as Toy Freddy took aim with his shotgun.

Then Nightmare Freddy jumped out of the darkness and crashed into Toy Freddy knocking the shotgun out of his hands. They wrested on the floor, both hands reaching for the shotgun, while the two Bonnies fought above them with renewed vigor and determination. Toy Chica kneed Nightmare Foxy in the stomach and then proceeded punch him in the face, only for him to grab hold of her fist.

_"Aaaa, I see the look in your eyes, the fires of anger, the same look I saw during our encounter on the van, you play the role good Toy Chica, I'm impressed,"_ Nightmare Foxy hissed, tightening his grip on her hand. "Well I'm glad I didn't disappoint you, but you shouldn't underestimate me or the others," Toy Chica answered, reaching out with one hand.

She grabbed a nearby piece of shattered glass and jammed it right into Nightmare Foxy shoulder blade. He let out a shriek of pain, giving Toy Chica the opportunity to smack him in the face again and pushed him off her. Nightmare Foxy tore the glass shard out and grabbed Toy Chica by the throat and immediately started to choke her. Then with one swift motion, he slashed Toy Chica across the face with his hook, giving her a bloodily scar.

_"And you shouldn't underestimate me either!"_ he shouted, with his eyes narrowed and teeth bared. Toy Chica kicked him in the stomach once more, making him let go. However, despite the injury Nightmare Foxy advanced on Toy Chica with his hook at the ready.

_"I'm gonna make sure your fully conscious while I cut you up my dear little 'toy'."_ Toy Chica picked up a plank of rotten wood and swung it about to drive him away.

"I'll bash your head in so forget cutting me up," she shouted back, giving him a serious death's glare.

Nightmare Foxy smiled, his crimson red hair falling over his eyes. _"Says the girl who has a bandaged hand and a scar running across her face, you're in a weaker position than me…and you know that…deep down,"_ he said, circling her like a shark.

"I am not weak, if that's what your hoping for," Toy Chica replied, turning to counter his movements.

Meanwhile Mangle was struggling to fend off Nightmare Chica, she kept on dogging her attacks and was always able to strike back, often hitting Mangle in the back. Even if she had a bullet in her leg, Nightmare Chica was still quite the acrobat.

"You're quite an energetic little bitch, you need your wings clipping," Mangle muttered, twisting and turning in all directions. Nightmare Chica giggled, rushing to the left and the right and slashing at Mangle whenever the opportunity presented itself.

_"I'm more energetic and capable than you'll ever be Mangle, you just keep using your endoskeleton arms…what a waste of your own mobility."_

Mangle having grown bored of her tricks, quickly turned round and grabbed Nightmare Chica's leg with her one operational endoskeleton arm and immediately lifted her upside down.

She dangled the Nightmare in front of her, with her dark blonde hair reaching down towards the floor.

"Sorry, do you want to say that again, 'Miss I'm more energetic and capable than you'!" Mangle demanded, glaring at Nightmare Chica as she swung from side to side.

The Nightmare merely smiled playfully, the sign of madness rang clearly in her yellowy orange eyes. Then, right out of the blue, she asked a particular question.

_"Do you love anyone Mangle?"_

"What?" Mangle replied, clearly surprised by the question. Nightmare Chica rolled her eyes as she folded her arms.

_"Do. You. Have. Feelings. For. Anyone?"_

"That's none of your business your vicious hag!" Mangle shouted, shaking Nightmare Chica about. However, despite the intense shaking, Nightmare Chica smiled, her eyes gleaming with joy. "_So, you do have feelings for someone…I wonder who it could be?"_ she enquired, thinking up a list of potential suspects.

_"Mmmm, you were bullied by children, were abandoned by the staff and you caused the Bite of 1987…sounds tragic…who else has lived a tragic life?"_ she muttered, mocking interest.

"Even if I did have feelings for someone, I stand a better chance of getting into a relationship then you ever will," Mangle stated, feeling her anger take hold.

Nightmare Chica just shook her head.

_"Do you…really…because as far as I can see it, there's only-" _

Before she could finish her sentence, Mangle threw her against the wall, the impact creating a massive thud. All heads turned to see Nightmare Chica slide down the wall in a comical fashion.

"My feelings are private and no one else's," Mangle whispered sternly, she would prefer to be a closed book. Toy Bonnie used the opportunity to smack her Nightmarish counterpart across the face, knocking her to the floor. She then grabbed a wooden chair and brought it down upon her, the impact sent shock waves through her chest and pinned her in place temporary.

Then Toy Bonnie spun round and intruded on the fight between Toy Freddy and Nightmare Freddy.

Nightmare Freddy had by this point, managed to push Toy Freddy faraway enough to grab the shotgun uncontested.

However, he wasn't expecting Toy Bonnie to get involved. He reached out for the shotgun…only for Toy Bonnie's foot to come crashing down upon his hand, crushing it.

That did hurt, so much in fact, it caused Nightmare Freddy's body to freeze due to the sudden immense level of agony which resulted from it. Nightmare Bonnie saw his pained expression and she didn't like it, not one bit, knocking the chair off her and bashing it aside. Reaching out with one hand, she snapped off a piece of sharp glass from a broken old 1980s computer screen.

She slowly rose up, with her purplish blue eyes narrowing in vengeful anger.

Toy Bonnie reached down for the shotgun, Toy Freddy looked up and saw Nightmare Bonnie looming over her with with a sadistic smile written across her face.

"BONBON, BEHIND YOU!"

Toy Bonnie turned around…just as Nightmare Bonnie lunged forward, stabbing Toy Bonnie with the sharp blade of glass in the shoulder, jamming it between her shoulder blade and collar bone. Toy Bonnie's scream died in her throat, as Nightmare Bonnie smiled, her bluish purple like eyes glowing with delight.

_"Does that hurt dear?"_ she asked, watching Toy Bonnie whimper in pain as blood started oozing out of the wound.

_"Let's make it better then."_

However, Nightmare Bonnie's idea of 'making it better' was to simply push the glass blade in deeper, which only increased the level of pain Toy Bonnie felt. Nightmare Freddy reached out for the shotgun again, only to get knocked aside by Toy Freddy who grabbed it instead. Pulling himself up, he aimed the shotgun at Nightmare Bonnie, who was too busy enjoying her torment of Toy Bonnie to even notice.

Toy Freddy dashed left to get around the pair and fired. The bullet shower impacted into Nightmare Bonnie's kneecap, it wasn't destroyed, but it was clearly damaged and hurt a lot too.

She fell to the floor, screaming only for Nightmare Freddy to leap up and catch her in his arms. He glared at Toy Freddy with a stern look of utter hatred, before quickly dragging her away into the shadows.

It was a good thing he made the decision to do that for Toy Freddy's shotgun had just run of ammunition. He grabbed hold of Toy Bonnie and proceeded to pull the glass shard out of her shoulder. "Just look at me, not the blade, but it will hurt ok," he said, trying his best to comfort her.

Toy Bonnie's eyes remained locked with his as the glass shard was slowly removed from her body.

"Just…need….to pull….it….out," Toy Freddy muttered, trying to be careful and strong at the same time.

With a final yak, the glass shard came free with Toy Freddy throwing it away, making a shattering noise as it hit the floor. "Are you ok?" he asked, as she collapsed in his arms, her head falling to rest on his shoulder with messed up hair hanging down his back.

"You're so warm," she muttered, unaware of what she was saying and savorying the contact.

"You always warm me up when you are around."

That sent alarm bells ringing in Toy Freddy's head, as he felt his checks grow warm.

Looking down at the injured but rather innocent Toy Bonnie, he smiled.

With her light blue hair, green eyes, bunny ears and caring nature she looked…cute…very cute.

Suddenly old memories came rushing into his head.

* * *

_The 2nd day at the New and Improved Fazbear Pizzeria May 1987…_

_Toy Bonnie comes rushing up to Toy Freddy on stage who is customising Freddy's old microphone to suit his voice._

_"Toy Freddy, what do you think of my new dress?"_

_He turns to see her dressed in a hippie style skirt._

_"Well the flowers will help remind the older folk of their days as hippies in the 1960s," he said, taking note of the mutli coloured flower patterns._

_"And?" Toy Bonnie asked, her eyes gleamed with hope._

_"Well I love it."_

_Toy Bonnie's smile grew as wide as it physically could._

_"YOU DO!"_

_Toy Freddy smiled._

_"Yes, it fits exactly with the management plan for Hippie day tomorrow, a day that is basically hippie themed."_

_Toy Bonnie's smile dropped._

_"What?"_

_"See here," Toy Freddy stated, pulling a folded sheet of paper out of his pocket, he unfolded it to reveal a mini calendar which featured certain days, one of which was Hippie Day._

_Toy Freddy looked at the calendar and smiled_

_"You're keeping up to schedule Toy Bonnie, well done, I can tell you now that the kids are going to love it."_

_Toy Bonnie lowered her head, going almost completely silent._

_"What do you like it about?" she asked quietly._

_Toy Freddy turned to face her, somewhat puzzled._

_"I think you've matched the theme perfectly…why are you asking?"_

_Toy Bonnie opened her mouth to speak, but then came the sound of something falling over at the far side of the room in Kid's Cove._

_"Mangle are you ok in there?" Toy Freddy called, turning in the direction of the sound._

_"Errr…no…one of the mini puppet stands has just fallen over," was a nervous response._ "_Fine, I'll come over and help," Toy Freddy shouted, stepping off the stage and heading over to Kid's cove, leaving Toy Bonnie all alone on stage which her mouth still open._

_She closed it and sighed, clasping her hands together._

Toy Freddy swore that as he was walking away, he had heard her mutter something, he didn't exactly hear it, but somehow his mind now translated it as.

_"Why can't you notice me?"_

Then another scene entered his head, this one taking place a few days after the first memory.

_"So…they want us to perform a stretch again…any ideas, the Originals tried to ruin our first one, so let's not try to do something that'll annoy them," Toy Freddy announced, placing a sheet of paper on the table, pushing it towards the middle so all of them could see it._

_Puppet leaned back in her chair and groaned._

_"Again, seriously and what do we have in terms of realistic props?" _

_Balloon Boy eyed her as he leaned across the table._ "_You know, putting some of your own effort into the work may help as well," he said._

_Puppet just groaned even more._

_"I did that last time and look where that got me…hanging from the ceiling and covered in flour."_

_"Yeah, but that's only because Freddy and his childish lot wrecked it," Toy Chica remarked._

_She clasped her hands together and smiled._

_"However, this time, Goldie is keeping them under lock and key, so we can plan something amazing."_

_She clicked her fingers as an idea came for her._ _"Oh, I know what about a romance, a prince attempting to save a beautiful princess, his one true love from a fierce deadly dragon."_

_"Sounds cliché and besides every children's book has used that type of story," Mangle replied, folding her arms and frowning._ _"If we want this stretch to succeed, then it needs to be original, not already used plot themes."_

_Toy Chica rolled her eyes and groaned._

_"Fine, sorry I even asked Princess Grumpy."_

_That comment only made Mangle scowl, her eyes narrowed._

_"Guys, guys, if it pleases you we could do a comedy stretch, you know make a parody and just make fun of how over the top that kind of story is," Toy Freddy suggested._

_"That might work, the older kids will get it, but won't we need to dumb it down so the younger kids can understand too?" Balloon Boy asked._

_"Mmm, we could do a mix of slapstick with some hyperbolic and satirical humor, that'll reach out to everyone," Toy Bonnie muttered._ "_Great, I think that's a good idea Toy Bonnie," Toy Freddy said smiling._

_She raised her head to meet him in the eye._

_"Really, you like it?" she asked, looking all edger._ "_Yeah, I can see it working very well with the audience," Toy Freddy replied warmly._

_He pulled a pen out of his pocket and grabbed the sheet of paper and started to write on it._

_"So, who wants to be who then?" he asked, looking around._

_"What roles are there?" Mangle asked, slumping back in her chair with her white hair covering her shoulders._ "_Well we'll need a prince for a start and seeing how I am the only male adult here, I guess that's role mine," Toy Freddy replied, writing his name and role on the paper with the pen._

_"Hang on for a second shouldn't the roles be switched round?" Toy Chica remarked._

_"What do you mean?" Balloon Boy asked, leaning further in._

_"I mean that if this is a parody then shouldn't we switch the roles, wouldn't it funny if we have a female warrior who is going to save a male prince, that could be a major source of humour," Toy Chica answered._

_"Yeah that would work, ok who wants to be the warrior?" Toy Freddy asked._

_Most of the females raised their hands._

_"Ok, Toy Bonnie you've got it."_

_"YES!" Toy Bonnie cheered hugging herself with glee._

_"And for the prince, I could take that role…" Toy Freddy pondered, looking at the cast list._ _Toy Bonnie looked very happy when he said that, smiling from ear to ear, her lips moved._ He swore that she had whispered something back then, but as of now his mind translated it as.

_"We could kiss!"_

_"On the other hand, I could take up the role of a wizard who is prophesying what possible fate awaits the warrior, yes, I'll take that role, and I just need a grey beard."_

_Toy Bonnie's smile instantly dropped._

_"So, who'll be the prince then?" Puppet asked, straightening her hair._ _Toy Freddy smiled at her, wiggling his eyebrows._

_"Easy BB."_

_Both Balloon Boy's and Toy Bonnie's jaws dropped, hitting the table._ "_WHAT!" Toy Chica yelled, also shocked by the decision._

_"I can't kiss her, I mean she's older than me and isn't that…'illegal'?" Balloon Boy asked, eyeing Toy Bonnie with suspicion._ "_If it is a kiss on the forehead then we'll pass through the law safely," Mangle muttered._

_"Then we'll do that, besides wouldn't it be humorous if it turns out the prince is a just a kid," Toy Freddy stated._ "_Ok, now we need a side kick for the warrior, someone who is down to earth, is able to break the fourth wall and is sarcastic in everything that they say."_

_"Gee that sounds fulfilling," Puppet moaned, resting her head on the table._ _"Congratulates Puppet you got the role," Toy Freddy laughed heartily._ _"I didn't want it to begin with," she groaned, rubbing her head against the table._

_"Tough luck it's yours."_

_"And Mangle, you can be the dragon, because you can hang from the ceiling with your endoskeleton arms," said Toy Chica, turning to smile at her._

_"Although you will need a costume to wear to look convincing."_

_"Yeah…wonderful I can breathe fire onto the kids that teased me and try to tear at my clothes," Mangle scoffed, folding her arms once more._ _"Hey, no violence is needed, remember the first rule of Freddy Fazbear's," Toy Freddy stated, pointing to a poster on the wall which presented the rules of the Pizzeria. _

_"No harm brought to the children please."_

_"And what about the second rule, no harm brought to the entertainers, they don't follow that rule now do they, especially with me," Mangle argued, sulking in her chair._ "_With you on stage they will not harm you, if they do then we will all immediately challenge them, we will stop the show," Toy Freddy stated, going all serious in his tone._

_"Yeah, we are with you Mangle!" Balloon Boy cheered, pumping his fist in the air._

_"Collective defence!"_

_Puppet just groaned at BB's optimism, rolling her eyes. _

_"And Toy Chica do you fancy being the queen who could send the warrior on their quest?" Toy Freddy asked._

_Toy Chica's eyes beamed with joy, she clasped her hands together once more._ _"Yes, I could send the warrior on her quest because the prince is my brother, but I can't be bothered to rescue him myself and I am only interested because the dragon is guarding a massive hold of gold!" she squealed. _

_Toy Freddy chuckled, amused by her reaction as he wrote out a plan for the stretch's plot, highlighting key themes._ _"So, that settles it then, the cast is all in place, excellent I will go and submit this to the higher ups straight away, they should then arrange the necessary equipment that we'll need."_

_He got up, turned around and left the table, taking the sheet of paper with him, leaving the others to begin their own conversations._

_Upon turning around his eyes briefly spotted Toy Bonnie looking depressed, her green eyes lacked any joy, he wondered why was she upset, but then he quickly refocused his mind on what he saw as the more important task of getting their ideas to their superiors._

* * *

However, with his eyes now wide open, Toy Freddy knew why Toy Bonnie had looked upset and depressed that day.

She wanted to be close to him and share a romantic moment which she clearly hoped could evolve into something else, but without realizing it at the time, he had effectively shot her dreams down.

Smart move Toy Freddy…smart move!

He thought he had seen everything, but his mind thought otherwise and a third long forgotten memory burst its way onto the scene, only now it was being seen from a new perspective. This memory taking place almost a week later after the second one, when he was trying to get several prop suits from the storage room.

* * *

_"Ok, I just need to take these two prop suits off the shelves and then I'll rejoin the others to sort out any last-minute changes to our show tomorrow, because it is going to be quite big, most of the day staff will be there, so that means Amy, David, Laura, Richard, Henry, Helen, Jessica and Vincent will be there on standby should anything arise that we ourselves can't handle."_

_He reached up and grabbed the nearest prop suit he could find and tried to pull it off the shelf, or at least get it close enough to him so that he could grab it with both hands._

_"Jeremy should be on night guard duty tonight, good…we can all have a nice chat instead of playing that hunting game the Originals insist on playing, they go odd at night for some reason and I don't know why?" he muttered to himself._

_"I've always wondered how they get their eyes to change colour, it seems odd."_

_He shook his head and sighed._

_"I'll never know."_

_Little he did truly know what the Originals' real intent was at night._

_He started to pull, trying to bring the prop suit closer to him._ "_Two should fit the bill, Mangle won't be joining us tomorrow for the performance, but we should be more than capable of covering for her," he stated, finding this task to be a lot more difficult than he had first imagined._

_He heard a sound to his right, he turned and saw Toy Bonnie peeking her head through the open doorway._

_"Hi, I was wondering where you were?" _

_She then saw that he was in the middle of a task._

_"Do you need any help?" _

_"Sure, I need to get two of these prop suits down, give me a hand, it's a struggle on my own," Toy Freddy replied, trying to pull the first prop suit closer to him for easier access._ _Toy Bonnie nodded and proceeded to join him in attempting to get a proper hold of the prop suit._

_She reached up and grabbed hold of its metal arm, trying to pull it down, but upon doing that all of the other prop suits started to move._

_Toy Bonnie frowned, this was not going to be easy._

_"Ok, this is heavy, we need to do this slowly and carefully, we don't want all of them to come crashing down on us."_

_"Agreed, we need to untangle it first from the others, hang on you try the left and I'll do the right," Toy Freddy suggested, moving away to get a proper angle on the prop suit._

_"Sure," Toy Bonnie answered, moving to her right._

_Reaching up as far as they could they were able to separate most of the first suit from the others._ "_Ok, now let's pull it out and put it down here," Toy Freddy ordered, now able to get a strong grip on the subject in question._

_"Ok, let's pull on the count of three," Toy Bonnie replied._

_She immediately strengthen her grip._

_"One, two, THREE!"_

_They pulled hard and it seemed to work with the first prop suit becoming free, however it was still interlocked with the other suits and thus when they pulled it forward off the shelf, the other suits came with it._

_And their collective weight quickly became too much for the two of them to handle._

_Out of the two, Toy Bonnie was struggling to cope the most, her muscles immediately started to ache as the pressure increased._

_"Can't…hold...this…up…forever," she moaned, clearly struggling._

_"Try and…shove it...back onto…the shelf," Toy Freddy replied in a similar manner, but he was also finding it extremely difficult to summon any strength to push the mass of prop suits back onto the shelves._ _However, in his eyes Toy Bonnie was the one in more trouble than him, with the weight of the prop suits threatening to crush her._

_More prop suits started to slide off the shelves, creating even more weight for the two to cope with._ _"I can't…hold them!" Toy Bonnie stressed as her muscles were pushed to their absolute limits._ _Another prop suit fell off the top shelf, its heavy impact traveling through the suits, Toy Freddy could see that Toy Bonnie was about to crack under the pressure._

_So, within the space of a split second, he did the only thing that he could do under the immense circumstances…push Toy Bonnie out of the way before the prop suits' combined weight overwhelmed her._

_There was a loud defending crash of metal hitting the floor along with several other smaller thuds._ _Toy Bonnie slowly opened her eyes with a blurred figure coming into focus, she saw that it was Toy Freddy straddling her as she found herself lying on the cold hard floor._ _The prop suits had collapsed on top of each other behind them, turning into a pile of tangled metal._

_"Are you ok?" Toy Freddy asked, looking quite concerned to which Toy Bonnie gave him a small smile._

_"Yes, I am ok, thank you."_

_The whole scene was just awkward with Toy Freddy effectively sitting on top of Toy Bonnie, who looked rather dazed with considering what had occurred in the last five seconds._

_Even under the low light, Toy Freddy could see a blush forming on Toy Bonnie's face. Then to his complete surprise she hugged, wrapping her arms around his back._

_"Thanks," she whispered, burying herself into his chest._

"_For saving me, that wouldn't have ended well."_

_Toy Freddy smiled as he patted her on the head._

_"Your welcome, at least your safe," he remarked._

_Toy Bonnie released him from her grip, she slowly looked up, her green eyes meeting his blue pupils._

_She seemed hesitated, as if she was unsure of what to say next, her lips were trembling._

_"Toy Freddy…I…I...I need to-"_

_"Well, well, well, what's going on in here, I heard a loud crash so I came running, am I interrupting anything?" _

_Toy Freddy looked up and Toy Bonnie turned round to see a figure standing in the doorway, due to the bright light from outside the room, the figure appeared to cast a long shadow across the floor, ending before the two Fazbears._

_Toy Bonnie's body instantly stiffen, quickly pushing Toy Freddy off her, her blush was quite evident now, Toy Freddy could see it for himself as he pushed himself back up onto his own two feet._

_"No, you're not interrupting anything, we are fine, just had a near incident with the prop suits," he said, answering the figure's question._ _The figure took several steps forward when it stepped under the light bulb, the person became clear to see…Vincent Afton in his purple staff uniform._

_"Prop suits causing a problem still?" he asked, folding his arms, he looked past Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie to see the pile of metal suits._ "_Yeah, we nearly got crushed by them, whoever stacked them last did a terrible job," Toy Freddy replied, gesturing to the heap of metal behind him._

_Vincent turned to look at Toy Bonnie who had become very quiet all of a sudden, not saying a word…that was very unlike her._

_"Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes clearly scanning hers._

_"Yeah," Toy Bonnie replied, her voice being very low._

_"Just shocked that's all."_

_Vincent sighed and shook his head, walking towards the pile of prop suits._

_He reached down and took hold of one, pulling it up out of the pile._ "_Did you need any?" he asked, turning to face Toy Freddy, who nodded in response._

_"Yes, we just needed two for tomorrow's big show."_

_Vincent proceeded to hand one suit to Toy Freddy before reaching down and pulling another suit out of the mess and then giving it to Toy Bonnie._ "_There, those are the best ones I think," he said, dusting himself down._

_"I'll go and inform the superiors about this, you're not the only ones who have had similar problems with the way these things are stored." _

_"Will the company actually do anything about it?" Toy Freddy asked. Vincent turned in his direction and smiled all knowingly. "That depends on how damaging it is for them, whether it affects their ratings and consequently their profits."_

_He then sighed, dropping the smile._

_"However, if they get enough complaints they will eventually act on it."_

_"Ok, thanks Vincent," Toy Freddy replied, lifting the prop suit over his shoulder._ _He walked forward with Vincent effectively having to nudge Toy Bonnie to get her moving, she had gone very quiet and was largely unresponsive._

_This type of behavior was very uncharacteristic for her._

_Once they were outside, Vincent told them that this incident would go straight to the top in order for a proper change to be implemented. _

_They thanked him, although Toy Bonnie was still very quiet._

_After Vincent had left, Toy Freddy turned to Toy Bonnie, noticing how withdrawn she had become, the expression in her eyes read of embarrassment and shock._ "_Are you ok, did the suits shock you that much?" he asked, feeling concerned._

_She didn't turn to meet his gaze._

_"No, just that it was all so fast," she replied, again her voice was low._

_"Oh…"_

_Toy Freddy thought for a moment._

_"Hey, how about I take that suit off you and instead you can go and rest for a while, sound fair?"_

_Toy Bonnie slowly nodded her head in agreement._

_"Yeah, sounds fair."_

_She turned and handed him the suit, their eyes met._

_"Thank you again, really I mean it," she muttered._

_Toy Freddy smiled warmly, as he hoisted the second suit onto his other shoulder._

_"Just doing my job, looking out for the family, but you are very much welcome and thank you for helping me in the first place."_

_At last, Toy Bonnie smiled, returning to that warm grin of hers._

_"Ok, I'll go and put these suits in place and then after half an hour we'll all meet back on the stage for today's last show, does that run ok with you?" Toy Freddy asked, although the prop suits were heavy, the stage itself wasn't far away._

_Toy Bonnie nodded in approval._

_"Sure, that'll work."_

_"Ok see you later then," Toy Freddy stated, turning round and heading off towards the main stage. As he did, he swore his ears picked up something being muttered by Toy Bonnie, but it was very low._

_"How hard must I try for you to see how I truly feel about you?"_

_His mind dismissed it as he could have easily misheard her words and besides right now he needed to focus on what was more important, making this Pizzeria into a success, he couldn't let it fail like the first one had done._

* * *

Or at least…making the Pizzeria outshine the previous one mattered more to him back then…instead of noticing her feelings towards him, which looking back with a fresh pair of eyes was very evident.

He had for many years always acknowledged their relationship to be a friendship enforced by a strong sense of family unity.

How could he not see her feelings for him back then, why only now?

"I've been such an idiot," he whispered, realizing it had taken him something along the lines of twenty-eight years to recognise Toy Bonnie's feelings for him…and the signs were all there, the expressions, the tone of her voice when she talked to him and ever increasing apparent flirting...very apparent flirting.

And last not least her bright smile, which was always there to greet him.

"What?" Toy Bonnie asked, raising her head, clearly interested in his words despite feeling woozy.

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing…" Toy Freddy replied, turning away to look at the surrounding shadows.

"I'll tell you later."

"Hey lovebirds if you haven't noticed already, we aren't out of the woods yet," Mangle shouted, running towards them. Nightmare Chica had by this point, sulked back into the shadows to join Nightmares Freddy and Bonnie.

Nightmare Foxy, now seeing that he was isolated and heavily outnumbered abandoned his attempts to attack Toy Chica and fled, vanishing into the darkness that covered most of the room.

"At least they're off our tail for now," Toy Freddy muttered, as Toy Chica rushed up to join the group. "Are you guys ok?" she asked, her eyes reading all three expressions.

Toy Bonnie looked exhausted and appeared to be in a lot pain with blood continuing to trickle from her shoulder wound, as well as from the marks on her back.

Mangle's ear was still bleeding and she bore claws marks all over her back with several blood stains, not to mention she looked tired.

Toy Freddy was the least injured out of the four, but even he looked worn out as he held Toy Bonnie close with the now empty shotgun by his side.

Toy Chica herself was also drained, she could feel her limbs ache from the loss of fatigue as well as the aching pain she had received to her face in the form of a scar.

"I've got my gun including Mangle's," she said, passing a pistol to Mangle who took it whilst trying to keep her awereness levels up.

"Thanks TC," she muttered.

"Everyone reload, if they come again, then we properly won't last long," Toy Freddy ordered, pushing fresh shotgun shells into the barrel of his shotgun.

Then a loud crackle of intense, youthful laughter erupted from somewhere in the shadows, causing all Toys to turn in its direction, removing any sense of exhaustion from their bodies as the adrenaline swiftly returned.

_"Correct Toy Freddy, you four won't last long, in fact I put it to being five minutes, seven at best,"_ Nightmare Freddy's smug voice rang out.

"You're injured as well, plus you don't have any guns," Toy Freddy shouted back in fierce defiance, putting his finger on the trigger. _"True, but we've inflicted quite a deadly blow to your team if you haven't noticed already," _Nightmare Freddy replied from somewhere beyond their vision.

_"Besides who needs guns…WHEN YOU HAVE CLAWS AND TEETH!"_ Nightmare Foxy shouted out. Then suddenly there came a rather loud slam and all the light went out, as if someone had blown out a candle.

Mangle spun round on the spot and saw in the pitch blackness that the door behind them had been closed, blocking out any light from the corridor outside. "Oh no," she whispered, voicing her fears which the other three were already feeling.

"Nobody move," Toy Bonnie muttered, keeping herself completely still.

A very uneasy silence settled in with only the darkness for company. Needless to say all four of them were shaking, eyes franticly searching for any indication of the Nightmares' position.

Then to their front, a pair of reddish dark eyes appeared…_Nightmare Freddy._

To their left a pair of purplish blue eyes emerged…_Nightmare Bonnie._

On their right, a pair of yellowy orange eyes came into view…_Nightmare Chica._

Finally, to their rear a pair of reddish brown eyes became visible…_Nightmare Foxy._

All four of them stood well beyond the range of their guns, plus the pitch hazy blackness was making aiming very difficult for the Toys.

_"You four are going nowhere,"_ Nightmare Freddy hissed, smiling at their weak position, he could see them shaking in fear, all four Nightmares could and it was something no one should do whilst in their presence. "The others are coming, you know that you're outnumbered," Toy Freddy shouted, trying to maintain a strong grip on his gun as well as keep the others calm.

_"Maybe, but quantity must always take a backseat to quality and that's something we four don't lack,"_ Nightmare Bonnie answered smoothly, her voice dripping in confidence. _"Now if I remember correctly, wasn't there a little song you used to sing to the Night guard before killing him?"_ Nightmare Chica asked sweetly.

_"Aye lassie, I believe there was and it went a little something like this," _Nightmare Foxy remarked eagerly.

He took a step forward, glaring directly at Mangle.

_"Make your sorrows go away."_

Nightmare Chica joined him.

_"Time for fears to fade."_

Then Nightmare Bonnie.

_"A jolly night here thou awaits."_

Nightmare Freddy smiled, locking eyes with the shaking Toy Freddy.

_"No use to call for aid."_

_And then it happened… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what's coming...and it's pretty big. ;-)  
There will be more flashbacks in later chapters when times were simpler...or appeared to be.  
Thank you for reading and please review.


	22. Nightmare Roulette

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, due to problems with AO servers I was unable to access my story and upload new chapters, so that's why there has been a delay.  
Thankfully, AO seems to have sorted out most of its problems, hopefully it won't happen again anytime soon.
> 
> The tension just keeps on building as the chapter's title suggests.
> 
> Also, the song in this chapter is 'You Know My Name' by the late Chris Cornell for James Bond's Casino Royal 2007. I added it as paints the picture of one losing themselves to a dangerous situation, or at least that's one way of interpreting the lyrics.  
Enjoy. . .

** Chapter 22. **

** Nightmare Roulette. **

_"**Truly evil people don't just hurt others, they take pride in the pain they cause and then try to blame their victims."**_

_ **Unknown.** _

It was quick, unexpected and catastrophic beyond anyone's imagination.

The explosion caught everyone by surprise, even the ones who had set it up were shocked by the level of destruction it unleashed. The endoskeletons in the basement finally broke into the storage room only to witness the last five seconds of the timer…If endoskeletons could swear then they certainly would have done.

The resulting blast completely incinerated them to a crisp, destroying any remains and leveling the basement as well as the ground floor to utter hell. The second floor suffered massive structural damage with the majority of the assembly area's floor collapsing under the feet of both the Toys and the Nightmares. Toy Freddy fell forward and he would have fallen to his death had Toy Bonnie not grabbed onto his feet at the last moment as he went over.

Mangle found herself being buried alive under concrete rubble and Toy Chica fell through the floor, but just managed to grab onto the edge of the hole, leaving her legs kicking about in the pitch blackness.

The Nightmares were only able to escape death's grasp by scattering towards the walls and hugging them like they were caught in hurricane. Although in their attempt to escape they were hit by falling rubble which caused serious agony and dizziness.

The third floor suffered on less than the second with large parts of it breaking off and falling through to the other floors below. The Originals were almost at the staircase aiming to reach the second floor when the explosion struck with full force.

The floor beneath them fractured and broken away in many places, with Foxy nearly falling over the edge of a massive hole that suddenly appeared and would have done if Bonnie hadn't grabbed hold of him in time. Mike and Jeremy had to run for cover as both the floor and ceiling collapsed. Luckily, they were able to take shelter inside a large steel locker in one of the nearby rooms.

The same however couldn't be said of their endoskeleton attackers who fell through the floor as it gave way beneath them.

The Originals saw them fall through the remains of floors three and two, screaming all the way down to the basement, their electric cries being overshadowed by the loud cracking and rattling metallic groan which emitted from the building's core. "I can see what BB meant by something along the lines of boom," Freddy muttered in shock, watching his surroundings shake with immense intensity.

Up on the sixth floor Springtrap had shielded Goldie with his body, allowing all manner of cracked concrete to fall upon him from the floor above. The whole floor shook like a can caught inside a compressor as the shockwave which was racing up from the basement rattled everything out of its holdings. Vincent meanwhile was thrown right off his feet as the entire office craved in on its self nearly burying him in rubble, the same couldn't be said of the nearby endoskeletons.

In the chaos of it all, the electric systems were knocked out with everything immediately going offline including the countless security cameras.

The gas and water pipes racked with old age were discounted and then fell apart, with the power lines being completely cut...the lights died out and the entire building went dark.

The whole explosion traveled through the ground, causing nearby buildings to shake and wobble with surrounding cars having their alarms set off because of the sudden movement having jolted them. If anyone had a seismometer they would have detected a mini earthquake racing through the earth. Balloon Boy and the Puppet were crawling as fast they could when the shockwave hit them. The pipe they were in shook like a bag caught in a ferocious thunderstorm, its support beams buckling under the immense pressure.

Nearly every pipe in the building was impacted by the shockwave and then by the fire wave that quickly followed it.

It surged throughout the system, bursting out of every hatchway and engulfing most of the corridors in a storm of utter hellfire, although it rapidly lost power as it travelled upwards. Luckily for Balloon Boy and the Puppet, the fire wave died out before it could reach them settling back down to the lower levels, leaving most of the ventilation system a charred, moulded and misplaced mess.

The fire fell back to its point of origin and started to spread across the building's lower floors.

Anything that was flamlable burnt and the fire's absorption of various chemicals that were stored in basement made it produce a thick black oily smoke that flowed throughout the building's lower levels in a smothering fog.

And of course with the power now out no one could see it until surrounded them in its smothering embrace.

Down in the 2nd floor assembly room the Toys were in a very bad position; Toy Freddy for one had fallen into the massive hole that had opened up at the room's centre and he was only still alive because Toy Bonnie had grabbed onto his legs, leaving him dangling upside down and unable to do anything.

Toy Chica meanwhile looked around, everything was shrouded in blackness and there was the strong smell of smoke in the air. "Guys…Guys are you there?" she called out. She started to cough, each intake of air had a sweet taste to it…_chemicals._

Suddenly she felt her grip slip, she fell even further into the hole, but she instantly strengthened her hold on her surroundings, bringing her fall to a standstill. It would take all her strength to pull herself out, yet she clearly needed help as her grip wouldn't hold for long.

Mangle slowly opened her eyes, revealing two golden pupils as she adjusted to this new reality. She choked on the heavy amounts of dust that filled the air and could feel a wet liquid running down the left side of her head, no doubt it was blood from a recent head wound. Pulling herself out of the rubble heap and desperately gasping for fresh air, she heard Toy Chica's cries for help.

"Someone help me…please I can't hold on!" Mangle didn't know of the Nightmares' condition but she knew them well enough that they wouldn't waste any time in taking advantage of the chaos. She hurried over to where Toy Chica was, finding her gripping onto dear life at the edge of a rather large bottomless hole.

"Help me!" she pleaded as the strain of her endeavor shown in her face as it became ever increasingly harder to hold. "Hang on, I've got you," Mangle replied, hastily getting down on her hands and knees. As she grabbed hold of Toy Chica's hands, the latter looked up and her eyes widen in horror.

"MANGLE, BEHIND YOU!"

Mangle turned round only to get a metal crow bar in the face brutally knocking her aside.

Slowly a figure stepped forward out of the surrounding darkness, revealing themselves to be Nightmare Freddy no less, holding the crow bar in his hands. _"Such a waste of potential…that's what I've heard about you Mangle," _he said in a calm and cold tone which matched his detached nature.

With a stern and icy look in his eyes, he then smacked Mangle harshly across the chest, keeping her pinned._"__Toy__ Foxy was it, ha…it was never meant to last,"_ he muttered, reaching down. He then undid her endoskeleton belt and held it up high, inspecting it with great interest. _"Forever in Foxy's shadow."_

He pressed his foot onto Mangle's chest, applying a slow but steady pressure. Although she was clearly injured wouldn't let it slide as she attempted to push herself back up. "Give…that…back!" she hissed, reaching up with her free hand. Nightmare Freddy without even shifting his gaze kicked her hard in the stomach and slammed his foot back down upon her chest. This brought an agonizing groan from Mangle as the pain pulsed throughout her entire body.

_"I wonder if anyone actually remembers you,"_ the Nightmare stated plainly, his eyes still fixated on the endoskeleton belt which he held like a trophy.

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU MONSTER!" Toy Chica shouted attempting to pull herself out of the hole. However, she didn't need to, as someone grabbed her by the collar of her clothes and lifted her up out of the hole and into the air.

She turned and came face to face with Nightmare Foxy, his head was slightly bleeding due to a gash he had received from some falling rubble, but apart from that he looked unscathed.

Toy Chica was going to attack him, but he grabbed her by the throat and whispered sternly.

_"I could just drop you and it's a long way down…so I strongly suggest that you don't provoke me."_

Toy Bonnie meanwhile could hear the confrontations taking place behind her and she would have gone to assist, but she couldn't as her grip on Toy Freddy's feet was the only thing keeping him from plummeting to his death. It was pitch dark and she couldn't see anything, her whole body was aching with sores received from falling debris. Not to mention the raw bleeding gashes on her back as well as the throbbing open wound in her shoulder.

All the while Toy Freddy was dangling upside, he knew that falling to the bottom of the hole would result in his instant demise. Apart from falling, he had properly suffered less damage than anyone else, however that was greatly overshadowed by the fact that he couldn't intervene in the chaos around him. Toy Bonnie was using all her strength to maintain her grip on him, if she let go she properly couldn't live with herself for letting Toy Freddy fall.

"Toy Freddy are you ok?" she asked worryingly, peering over the edge and trying to catch a glimpse of him.

"Yeah I'm ok, just hanging around," he joked, trying to make light of what was a very grim situation.

Toy Bonnie quickly looked around, so far there was no bright nightmarish eyes to be seen.

"I'm gonna try and pull you up ok," she shouted turning back to face him. She pulled on his legs, trying to slowly drag him out of the hole although it was a hard-enough challenge as it was without the Nightmares around.

Speaking of which…

_"You'll more likely kill him that way,"_ a bittersweet voice hissed in Toy Bonnie's right ear.

Reacting instantly Toy Bonnie turned right and came face to face with Nightmare Chica smiling with her three rows of sharp teeth.

_"I'll help,"_ said another voice from her left.

Then Toy Bonnie's hands were pulled away and Toy Freddy started to slip further down the hole, his eyes widening with fear as it hit him what was going on.

Toy Bonnie reached accordingly. "NO!" she screamed, reaching forward and grabbing onto Toy Freddy's legs which stopped his fall.

Now Toy Bonnie turned and saw Nightmare Bonnie kneeling on her left, smiling coldly in an aggressive posture.

_"Don't you want him to fall to his death?" _she asked sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes.

"YOURS YES, HIS NO!" Toy Bonnie shouted back fiercely, tightening her grip on Toy Freddy's legs. "You'll have to kill me first!"

She wouldn't let him go...

Yet Nightmare Bonnie's smile only grew as her purple blue eyes gleamed with delight.

_"He will die, you lack the strength to pull him up, and anyway…"_

She paused to think, her tattered bunny ears twitching as she thought her words over.

_"If you don't wish for him to die upon hitting the ground, then there is a more humane way to deal with this."_

She signaled to Nightmare Chica to hold Toy Bonnie down should she try to do anything, but the Toy wasn't really in any position to resist them.

Nightmare Bonnie turned round and reached out for something in the darkness, her sick smile gave Toy Bonnie a good indication of her wicked intentions.

When her hands became visible, Toy Bonnie saw why she looked so amused.

She had a pistol and one which was still loaded_…to kill._

The Nightmare rose up slowly, taking extra care with her badly injured knee and aimed the gun down at Toy Freddy, putting him right between the ironsights.

"NO, DON'T KILL HIM PLEASE!" Toy Bonnie screamed, sweeping her leg across the floor to trip Nightmare Bonnie up. Nightmare Bonnie merely kicked her foot away and looked down at Toy Bonnie, only now she had a stern emotionless expression written across her face. Gone was the smirk and bloodlust which had filled her eyes.

"_I'm not going to kill him,"_ she said softly, shaking her head as she knelt down beside her.

Then she held out the gun before her.

_"You are." _

Within an instant, she grabbed one of Toy Bonnie's hands and slammed it down onto the floor, pinning it in place. Toy Bonnie tried to resist, but could not as she had to keep a hold on Toy Freddy with her other hand.

Nightmare Bonnie forced Toy Bonnie's hand opened and jammed the pistol in. She then raised her hand, keeping a steady grip as Toy Bonnie try her hardest to break her hand free.

Under intense pressure she directed Toy Bonnie's hand down to Toy Freddy who looked shocked above anything else to see a gun being pointed straight at him. _"Go on, shoot him, he's just the main singer, it's not as if he's anything special to you,"_ Nightmare Bonnie whispered, keeping a firm hold on Toy Bonnie's hand. She wrapped her finger around Toy Bonnie's and placed it on the trigger.

"No," Toy Bonnie whispered, with her hand shaking from the sheer terror that was drowning her senses.

_"Why?" _Nightmare Chica asked coldly as she leaned in, seeking more answers.

_"If I may ask?"_

"Because I don't want to kill him idiot, isn't it obvious!" Toy Bonnie snapped back, glaring at Nightmare Chica.

Nightmare Bonnie smiled, she could easily guess why Toy Bonnie wouldn't shoot Toy Freddy.

_"You love him, don't you?"_

The reaction she got confirmed her suspicions, even in the pitch darkness she could see Toy Bonnie's cheeks turn deep red, as she fought to control her inner emotions. _"I KNEW IT!"_ Nightmare Chica yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear.

_"TOY BONNIE LOVES TOY FREDDY, TOY BONNIE LOVES TOY FREDDY!" _she sang, her voice echoing off the walls.

_"An even more important reason to kill him,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered.

"How about you instead!" Toy Bonnie screamed and with a sudden burst of strength she broke free of Nightmare Bonnie's grip, pointed the gun at her and fired. However, she missed…by an inch, the bullet raced past Nightmare Bonnie's ear, leaving a loud irrating ringing sound in her ear drum.

One thing you shouldn't do around Nightmares was anger them…it has terrible results. Nightmare Bonnie growled savagely, grabbing Toy Bonnie's hand and aimed the gun at Toy Freddy. She pushed Toy Bonnie's finger against the trigger and…BANG!

The bullet impacted into Toy Freddy's left shoulder, logging itself into the bone. He screamed in agony, clutching his shoulder as Nightmare Bonnie smiled in sick satisfaction.

_"That hurts, doesn't it, your 'girlfriend' shouldn't had angered me!" _she shouted, turning her hawk like gaze towards Toy Bonnie.

Nightmare Freddy at that point decided to pick up a theory he'd been pondering on for the last few minutes. Still standing above Mangle who lay on the floor groaning, every time she tried to get up Nightmare Freddy would just smack her with the metal crow bar knocking her back, often with injury.

_"Now if I have got this correctly, Freddy loves Bonnie, Chica loves Foxy, the Puppet loves Balloon Boy, Toy Bonnie loves Toy Freddy and Toy Chica loves Goldie."_

He looked down at her, his dark red eyes staring into hers, his expression was one of curiosity as well as utter mischief. _"That leaves only two people who are as far as I'm aware of are not in a relationship."_

He bent down, his stare creeping Mangle out.

_"You…and Springtrap."_

"What makes you think I love Springtrap?" Mangle asked, her expression quickly turning angry. It was then that Nightmare Foxy jumped in.

_"The fact that you are the only two Fazbear family members who are still single." _

Nightmare Freddy nodded in agreement, his eyes still fixed on Mangle as he started to walk around her, like a wolf taunting its prey.

_"For starters, you both have a similar backstory of tragedy, you were rejected by the children who you were required to protect and caused the infamous bite of 1987 and Springtrap, well he suffered a catastrophe mental breakdown after witnessing a child get killed and was locked in a coma for the past few decades."_

"That still doesn't prove anything you sadistic nutcase!" Mangle shot back with a fierce tone.

Yet it only made Nightmare Freddy turned in her direction and smile.

_"Oh really," _he said amusingly. _"Because if I'm not mistaken Mangle, you've always been…an outsider…like Springtrap."_

"I'm not an outsider!" Mangle shouted, clearly enraged.

"She's loved just like any other family member!" Toy Chica shouted, to which Nightmare Foxy clapped his claw on her mouth to silence her. _"Shut it, or I will drop you,"_ he threatened, running his hook lightly across her neck.

Nightmare Freddy leaned down, breaking into Mangle's personal space._ "Then why did the children hate you and not the other Toys then?" _he asked sinisterly, his dark red eyes glowing with sinister delight. _"Why did they proceed rip and tear at your clothes and call you nasty names?" _he inquired, getting very close to Mangle.

"Because they thought I was a rip-off version of Foxy," Mangle answered cooly, she wouldn't let Nightmare Freddy beat her with psychology. "What are you trying to prove, why do you want to put me and Springtrap together?" she asked firmly, trying to maintain a strong face.

Nightmare Freddy just gave her a mere shrug.

_"I'm curious, I wondered if it was possible for two misfits to come together and fall for one another and when you consider that everyone else is in a relationship 'of sorts', then it seemly perfectly naturally for the last two to fall into line."_

_"However, I think I'm right in my little theory and do you want to know why?" _he asked coldly.

"Go for it," Mangle muttered, she couldn't care less about what the Nightmare thought.

"Knock yourself out."

Nightmare Freddy got down onto his knees and with his hands, he turned Mangle to face him directly.

_"You didn't deny it...simple as that."_

Now Mangle's eyes widen in shock as well as in embarrassment, to which Nightmare Freddy grinned in sweet satisfaction.

"What about you four?" Toy Chica asked, her green eyes glaring at Nightmare Freddy, as she turned a blind eye to the 'shut up or I'll kill you expression' she was getting from Nightmare Foxy.

"You seemed to a closely knitted family unit."

Nightmare Freddy just laughed, throwing his head back with his dark red eyes glowing as he stood up. _"You're really curious you know that Toy Chica,"_ he said, shaking his head with amusement. _"I'll let you guess whether there's anything going on between us four, let your yuri, yaio or hertosexual imagation go wild,"_ he muttered, turning to face Mangle who was still on the floor, groaning in agony.

It was then that a certain something else caught everyone's attention…

It was Nightmare Chica who noticed it first, it's black surface lumating in the dark. Reaching into Toy Bonnie's top pocket, she pulled out a phone and studied it with interest.

"Hey, give that back!" Toy Bonnie shouted, reaching out to grab it, but Nightmare Bonnie held her down by merely pressing her foot into her back wounds. The painful sensenation of touching something so raw made the Toy whimper in agony as she gritted her teeth trying to fight off the urge to scream out loud.

Nightmare Chica pressed the on button and the screen lit up with a bright white light, making her look away as her eyes adjusted to the brightness.

Unlocking it, she found the menu and tapped on the contacts app. _"Mmm, which one to call?"_ she asked, speaking her thoughts out loud. _"Call Mike and Jeremy!"_ Nightmare Foxy shouted, shaking Toy Chica about, his brownish red eyes glowing as his snake like tongue rolled across his sharp teeth._ "No,"_ Nightmare Freddy yelled, catching Nightmare Chica's attention, who upon turning in his direction saw that his dark red eyes held a stern look to them.

_"Call the Originals if you can,"_ he ordered to which Nightmare Chica nodded in agreement.

Nightmare Freddy then turned round, reached down and grabbed Mangle by the throat and lifted her up into the air, his eyes gazing into hers.

_"Unloved, hated, what's was the point of having you around if you couldn't even get children to like you!"_ he hissed, roughly shaking her.

"I am wanted, I am loved, even if I had a crap start in life and failed to do my duty, I won't stop trying and that's something you can never take away from me, so forget trying to psychologically beat me!" she yelled, anger blazing in her eyes which made Toy Chica smile…that was the Mangle she knew and loved.

However, Nightmare Freddy was also smiling, which wasn't a good thing._ "So, there's some fire in you after all, I admire you spirit and determination, however…"_ He appeared to sigh and his expression changed to one of sadness.

_"Nothing lasts forever, people get older and then die, loved ones fade away as our worlds become forever smaller."_

Then he looked up, staring into Mangle's eyes, right into her very soul as if he was searching for something. _"What's the point of being so determined Mangle, why fight when the children you once entertained have now grown up, the Fazbear business has dired up and gone, so why continue?"_ Mangle couldn't tell whether he wanted to mess with her or was genuinely curious to why they were all still fighting.

She frowned at him, shaking her head in disbelief.

"You are such an idiot, you do know that."

Nightmare Freddy only stared, letting her continue uninterrupted. "We fight to restore a serious injustice that was brought upon us by evil, our lives were wrecked, our reputations forever tainted, innocents murdered."

Now that she was on a roll she wouldn't stop.

"Everyone blamed us for the murders, accusing us of failing to do our job properly or even having committed the act ourselves."

The Nightmare said nothing, he only started back at her with his dark red eyes, slowly digesting Mangle's words. "We got very little left to lose other than each other, yet we have a dream to restore ourselves and see justice done," Mangle hissed, narrowing her eyes as unpleasant memories surged about in her head. "And you can't take that away from me, even if you kill me."

"I have a dream and it is immortal."

For a moment, Nightmare Freddy said nothing and the room fell silent.

Then a smug smile slowly formed on his lips and his eyes shone with renewed excitement. _"Unless of course the dreamer were to die, thank you Mangle, your motivation was unclear to me, but now I see, I see why you fight, why you are so determined to win, killing Vincent will settle the ghosts of the past and then you can go back to being who you've always wanted to be."_

He then turned round to face the other Toys.

_"Unfortunately for you four, dreams don't always come true and even if they would come true by another means, you won't be alive to see it."_

A horrible thought ran through Mangle's head, had she just said something that she shouldn't.

_"Guys, the phone ringing!"_ Nightmare Chica shouted in triumph. She then turned to face Toy Bonnie and held the phone out towards her.

Giving her a stern look, Nightmare Chica mouthed the words.

'_Don't say anything about what's going on right now...or else!'_

* * *

_Several minutes previously up on the third floor._

Previously Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy had been running amidst the destruction as the building slowly fell apart from under its own weight. Parts of the floor were unusable and would easily collapse under the slightest amount of pressure.

And worse still it was completely dark, there was no emergency lighting at all. Once the lights went out they were reduced to a snail's pace, inching their way forward inch by inch.

Their only source of light they had for comfort was from the phone which Freddy held, having to turn its brightness setting up to max to see anything clearly.

And there were a lot of holes to fall through and the bottom could not be seen with the naked eye. The gang of four kept having to jump about with Freddy going first so to light up the way for the others. "Ok guys, let's just stay together, the entrance to stairs should be up ahead somewhere, Freddy stated, his eyes scanning the way forward.

"You've been saying that for the last ten minutes Freddy," Foxy scoffed being at the back.

"It should be somewhere nearby, we didn't take a wrong turn did we?" Bonnie asked, following Freddy closely as he had the only light source.

"I sure do hope not, or else we'll jump down through the holes to get to the Toys," Freddy replied plainly, his mind was focused on finding a way through the chaos. "You're kidding right, we won't survive the fall," Chica remarked in immediate disbelief to Freddy's words.

But the Fazbear merely replied with.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures Chica."

And then he stopped dead in his tracks and the other three followed his example, leaning out behind him to get a better look of why he had stopped.

"Ok…now how do we get past this lot?" Freddy muttered, stating the obvious.

Before them were a lone group of endoskeletons…about ten at least, their lifeless grey eyes fading in and out in the blackness. Best guess they were properly an isolated group who had been cut off from their companions when the earthquake hit.

Having already spotted the Fazbears beforehand by the mere sound of their footsteps, they had been merely waiting in ambush.

And they struck with unrelenting force, leaping forward towards their enemy.

For being mere endoskeletons, these things were tough and very clever, even more so when in a pack.

The first one landed before Freddy and bellowed him hard in the stomach, the impact sending him stumbling backwards. Luckily, they all still had their guns with them or else this would be a lot harder as Bonnie demonstrated by firing a single shot from her rifle. The bullet flew home and struck an individual endoskeleton in shoulder, wrecking its ability to move its left arm, as it now hung loosely by its side.

Although Chica and Foxy couldn't get the same measure of success as the other endoskeletons caught on and dogged them by diving onto the walls and ceiling going back to their tactics of swarming their enemies. One jumped and landed on top of Chica, pushing her to the floor with its mechanical muscles.

"CHICA!" Foxy yelled moving swiftly to knock her endoskeleton aside, but he was equally jumped by two of them, tying him down. Bonnie resorted to melee by straight up punching her opponent in the face, however that method was a double-edged sword as whilst it clearly hurt the endoskeleton it equally bruised her hand in the process.

"Fuck!" she cursed gripping her hand which throbbed with pain. "You're a tough one, aren't you?" she scowled.

Freddy meanwhile was picking himself upright after being knocked backwards, only to get attacked again. But this time he was prepared as he brought his shotgun up and blasted the attacking endoskeleton into oblivion.

"I love this gun," he smirked, brandishing the shotgun for it was very useful in close quarters.

He knew that he faced one more endoskeleton to his front, but he needed to see how the others were doing. He swung the phone round to see Bonnie locked in a furious struggle with at least one of her two endoskeleton attackers.

She had just used her rifle as a bat of sorts to smack the second one in the head to keep it off balance.

Its head was slightly dented, but it didn't go down like she hoped. All which served as an opening for the other one to jump onto her back, making her drop her rifle. Chica had finally broke free of her attackers, by firing into one of them, its ribcage was soon filled with multiple bullet holes. It ended with the thing dying and then collapsing on top of her, quickly becoming a dead weight.

She pushed it off her, swiftly getting to her feet and moved to meet the second one.

Foxy meanwhile was unsure of which one to go for, both were ready to act regardless of which one he chose.

So he adopted a more radical approach…

He grabbed hold of one them and harshly pushed it towards the other, before turning to counter both so they were squarely at his front. Had it not been for the light from Freddy's phone he wouldn't have seen them clear enough to do a sweep attack with his hook.

It was like a sharp knife, dicing through one of them in the mouth, destroying its voice box. Revealing his pistol from his back pocket, Foxy fired a single shot straight into the endoskeleton's head.

It worked like a charm with the endoskeleton now completely lifeless after having its' robotic version of a brain destroyed fell backwards.

However, now the second endoskeleton caught wind of Foxy was trying to do and swiftly sided stepped him…only to then kick his pistol out of his hand. Where it went Foxy didn't know, now he would fight his opponent hand to hand. Freddy meanwhile had kicked his opposing endoskeleton down into a hole of unending blackness, sending it to its death far below. Now he could go and support the others.

Bonnie was having the most difficulty with one of the endoskeletons now latching itself onto her back and threatening to drag her backwards, ideally make her lose her balance and fall backwards down a hole into the unknown. The other endoskeleton was repeatedly punching her in ribs, trying to make her stumble and of course her hands were tied because she was having to deal with another one clinging onto her back.

She could feel her balance going just as a shotgun blast tore into the first endoskeleton attacking her front. The result ripped the endoskeleton apart into two halves and thus freeing Bonnie to fling the second endoskeleton off her back. Before Freddy could do anything himself, Bonnie spun round and grabbed the dazed endoskeleton by its neck hinges and tore its head clean off. Then she tossed it aside before repeatedly kicking the now dead endoskeleton in the groin.

"Bonnie…Bonnie...Bonnie," Freddy sighed.

"Can you at least give the endoskeleton some dignity?" he asked as she slammed the end of her foot against its non-existing private parts. "It has no dignity!" she snarled in thinly veiled anger.

Upon giving up on trying to make her stop, Freddy turned his full attention to Chica's dilemma.

"Hey Chica duck!" he shouted turning to face her.

He fired another blast, this one dented the endoskeleton in the ribs, distracting it enough for Chica to get the drop on it with her automatic, ripping the things to pieces in a matter of seconds. By now nine of the ten endoskeletons were dead, the only one left was facing Foxy.

He leapt forward, jammed his hook right into chest and twisted it right and left doing an incredible amount of internal damage.

And then he delivered an immense kick to its weaken chest, making the endoskeleton stumble backwards into a hole. Its screams only lasted for a second before being sharply silenced by a hard sounding thud. Despite the fight having lasted about a minute or two, no one had considered the weaken state of their surroundings.

At first it was nothing just a faint sound on the edge of everyone's hearing, but then as the battle subsided, it grew in its intensity. Using the phone's light Freddy shone in the sound's direction, looking back the way they had all come.

Yes, it was coming from somewhere in the darkness.

"More endoskeletons?" Chica asked, looking over, crouching in a defensive posture should her suspicions be true.

Foxy however knew better. "No lassie, it isn't endoskeletons, I hear no grinding gears." The sound continued to grow, cracking, bending, snapping and wrapping. "I don't like this," Bonnie whispered as the feeling of terror crept up her spine whilst she nursed her bruised hand. Yet Freddy had an idea.

"Foxy…Foxy," he called, now shinning the light on him "What Freddy," he answered back, although the red-haired pirate lookalike with foxy ears maintained his gaze forward.

"Take a few steps back…slowly."

Foxy did so and each time he did, the sound only grew louder. "It's the floor…" he muttered as the realization dawned on him. Those sounds were it slowly giving way under its own weight after having been shaken by a mini earthquake and then a ravenous firestorm which quickly followed.

"Guys," Freddy whispered in an urgent tone which caught their attention.

"The floor is very unstable so I suggest that we move slowly towards the staircase, even though we are bit rushed for time." He then looked at all three of his friends in the eye.

A concerned bluish red from Bonnie, a tense vibrant green from Chica and a stern, but understanding brown from Foxy. To them, they all saw a worried but confident baby blue. "If I may suggest should we move one at a time so not to cause a disturbance," Chica stated softly. "Yeah good idea Chica, but Freddy has the light so he'll go first," Bonnie commented, gesturing over to the phone which Freddy held up like a beacon.

"I'm always going in at the front, to you guys I'm like a canary in a cage."

"Well leaders should lead by example," Foxy remarked casually proving a point.

"Next time it's you lot for a change, you did say you wanted to take turns of being the leader back in the treehouse," Freddy replied humorously as he turned around, shinning the light on the area before him.

If nobody makes a loud noise then they should be able to make to the stairs without incident.

"Ok we move on three…one…two…..thr-"

And then the phone in Freddy's hand rang, vibrating with a pulsing sound.

It caught him unaware and in his panic he dropped it.

"_Shit, now's not a good time!" _he mentally cursed.

"Turn it off Freddy turn it off!" Bonnie hissed, keeping her voice low but stressing her heighten concern setting off a collapse.

"I'm trying, but I can't find it, it's on the floor."

Everyone got down on their knees and started to feel around.

"I can't see it, it's too dark in here," Chica moaned her hands running over nothing but a cold hard floor.

"Then it must have landed upside down, Freddy how about you?" Foxy asked, trying in vain to make anything out in the inky blackness. He may have the best hearing of the four, but he didn't have the best eye sight. "Shit if it's fallen down one of the holes then we're seriously screwed," Freddy cursed, frantically sweeping the floor for the hope of touching anything remotely metal.

"I can't find it, it's like we never had it," Bonnie stressed as the horrible sensation build up in her chest.

"Where the hell is it?"

"Wait, everyone stop…listen and be quiet," Foxy ordered…everyone was silent from then onwards.

The pulsing noise it had first made, if it was still here then they would hear it.

At first there was absolutely nothing of interest.

Then slowly out of the dark came a tiny sound of 'hmmm…...hmmm…...hmmm'.

Narrowing down its location, Foxy carefully moved his hand towards the sound.

He lowered his hand to finally touch something metallic, it vibrated…the phone!

Quickly he picked it up, letting out a sigh of relief which he didn't know he was holding.

"Oh thank sweet merciful Jesus," he groaned. "That was close…too close."

"I'll take the call Foxy," said Bonnie, reaching over to him, whom passed the phone to her.

Now he could take the time to search for his pistol which he had lost when one of the endoskeletons kicked it out of his hand. "Guys it's the Toys," she announced to her relief that they were still alive in this hellhole. She then tapped on the answer call option. "They're calling us now?" Foxy questioned, turning to look at her as he now sat down on the floor like the others.

"Why?" he inquired further.

Bonnie ignored his questions and spoke into the speaker "Hello?" she asked calmly.

Static…just cold hard static came from the other side.

* * *

**xxxx**

**"If you take a life, do you know what you'll give?"**  
**"Odds are you won't like what it is."**  
**"When the storm arrives, would you be seen with me."**  
**"By the merciless eyes of deceit?**"

**xxxx**

_Down in the assembly area._

Toy Bonnie looked at the phone, the screen showing the words 'call engaged'.

"Hello, hello guys?"

She could hear Bonnie's voice coming out of the speaker.

Nightmare Chica held a very cold intense look with her eyes narrowed and her three rows of teeth gritted. _'Answer it!'_ she mouthed.

So Toy Bonnie did.

"Hey Bonnie."

"Bonbon, how are you, what's going on, why did you call us?" Bonnie enquired getting straight to the point. "Hang on, I'll switch this onto loud speaker so the others can hear."

That made Nightmare Chica smile, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Bonnie, we called to let you know…that…despite the explosion and the fire wave…we're fine and so far, we've found nothing of interest, how are you doing at your end?" Toy Bonnie asked, trying not to sound all shaky and worried. Nightmare Chica reached down and patted Toy Bonnie on the head, to which Toy Bonnie shivered at her touch. _'Good girl' _she mouthed, slowly raking her claws through Toy Bonnie's light blue hair.

'_That's a good obedient Bonbon...'_

Yet Bonnie felt unsure, something was off, her counterpart's tone was not exactly one of confidence. Freddy, Foxy and Chica after hearing it for themselves shared the same view when they casted each other concerned looks, they felt it …something wasn't right.

**xxxx**

"**I've seen angels fall from blinding heights."**

**"But you yourself are nothing so divine."**

**xxxx**

Bonnie sighed and beckoned the others to come closer.

"Bonbon, is everything ok, we're one floor above you, do you need help?"

"If we group up now it'll be easier to take on the Nightmares."

Toy Bonnie looked around to see Toy Freddy dangling down the hole, gripping his bleeding shoulder and gritting his teeth to numb the pain. She turned and saw Toy Chica being held above another hole by Nightmare Foxy with a rather bloody scar running across her face.

And finally, there was Mangle being held up in the air by Nightmare Freddy, seriously bruised, beaten and groaning.

**xxxx**

"**Just next in line!"**

**xxxx**

"Do you need our help?" Bonnie asked again, her tone was one of clear concern.

Yet Toy Bonnie herself was locked within an internal conflict, say the truth and get her and her family killed or lie to avoid another beating. Nightmare Chica smiled and stretched her neck, looking up towards the ceiling.

As she did Toy Bonnie made her decision.

"Bonnie, we're trapped by the Nightmares in second floor's assembly area, they're gonna kill us, hur-"

She was cut off by Nightmare Chica smacking her in the face with her claws.

_"THAT'S A BAD BONBON!"_ she shouted, jamming one of her claws into Toy Bonnie's shoulder wound which caused Toy Bonnie to scream out in pain. Nightmare Bonnie joined in by stomping fiercely on the Toy's back, the impact of her foot rippling through her already bleeding back.

Her screams were heard over the phone causing Bonnie to jump back in shock. "BONBON, SPEAK TO US!" Chica shouted, trying to reestablish contact. There was more screaming in which Toy Freddy could be heard yelling at the attackers to leave Toy Bonnie alone.

Then there was just static, cold tense static…

"GUYS, GUYS!" Foxy yelled into the speaker, but yielded no answer. "Come on, the staircase is over here, they'll kill them if we don't get there in time!" Freddy exclaimed, pointing towards the darkness before them which shrouded everything from sight.

Then a voice came out of the phone…but it wasn't Toy Bonnie's.

_"So…you…'Originals' wasn't it… you think you can save your younger irrelevant counterparts." _It sounded a lot like Chica, but it was more demonic and had a sickly-sweet edge to it.

Chica was very alarmed to hear the voice of her Nightmarish counterpart, it was clear in her eyes.

**xxxx**

**"Arm yourself because no-one else here will save you!"**   
**"The odds will betray you."**   
**"And I will replace you."**

**xxxx**

"Who are you, where's Bonbon?" Foxy asked, determined to get an answer.

_"Foxy, I'm so glad to hear your voice, I've got something very special in mind for you," _the cool voice replied, crackling through the static. "You're Nightmare Chica aren't you?" Freddy asked, his eyes narrowing in anger.

_"Does it matter if I'm Nightmare Chica…to answer your question Freddy and yes I do know who are, Bonbon is still alive, for how long through…is anyone's guess."_

**xxxx**

"**You can't deny the prize, it may never fulfill you!"**

"**It longs to kill you!"**

"**Are you willing to die?"**

**xxxx**

Bonnie tipped her head towards the darkness ahead of them, giving the others a sign that they should really get moving.

So, they did with Foxy having just found his pistol, good now they were back to full strength.

_"I can hear you four moving, but in the end you won't make it_," Nightmare Chica scoffed, clearly enjoying the supremacy of her position. "You don't know anything you vile hag!" Chica snarled, shouting into the speaker.

Nightmare Chica laughed, her high-pitched laughter ringing out of the speaker and echoing off the walls. _"Ouch, I'm so hurt,"_ she mocked as the Originals finally discovered the staircase door, still standing in place despite the damage to the rest of the building. "You will be soon!" Freddy yelled, throwing the staircase door wide open and quickly making his way down the stairs, being swiftly followed by the others. It was risky, moving about in the dark inside a building which was collapsing by the minute, but they no choice…time was not on their side.

_"Hey, do you guys want to speak to the others, say hi it's the Originals," _Nightmare Chica called out, beckoning the other Nightmares to have a say. _"HI!"_ was the collective announcement from three no so dissimilar voices through the speaker.

That sure sent a shiver straight up the Originals' spines.

Nightmare Freddy then slowly approached Nightmare Chica as did Nightmares Bonnie and Foxy, who still holding Toy Chica up in the air.

Nightmare Freddy with his free hand, proceeded to take the phone off Nightmare Chica, whilst still being able to keep a firm grasp on Mangle with the other.

**xxxx**

**"The coldest blood runs through my veins."**

**"You know my name…"**

**xxxx**

He then spoke calmly with a sinister edge.

"_Hello Freddy."_

Freddy froze upon hearing his voice, the memory of his first meeting with the Nightmare came racing back. "Freddy, what's wrong?" Bonnie asked, looking concerned as to why he had just stopped in mid-step.

He shook his head, dismissing his negative thoughts, pushing them far to the back of his mind.

"It's just bad memories," he replied, his voice going very quiet.

"_I'm rather surprised to hear that you are still good friends with Chica,"_ Nightmare Freddy inquired, making Chica feel very uneasy.

Seeing Chica look unsettled angered Freddy, it reignited him, he swiftly took the phone off Bonnie.

"I now know what you were trying to do, it was well played with your realistic projections," he answered, his voice being one of annoyance. "Especially with you faking your death."

Nightmare Freddy chuckled, making Freddy's anger levels rise.

"_Well your silence helped, I gambled on that part."_

**xxxx**

**"If you come inside, things will not be the same."**

**"When you return to the night..."**

**"And if you think you've won, you never saw me change."**

**"The game that we've all been playing!"**

**xxxx**

Then Nightmare Foxy jumped in.

_"If one could do that much damage, then just imagine what the four of us can do_," he snarled, his eyes glowing with excitement.

Then Nightmare Bonnie spoke up.

_"Did you guys meet Nightmare Fredbear?" _she asked.

"Yeah, he's a strong bastard alright," Bonnie answered, her mind flickering back to recent events. "And very quick on his feet," Foxy remarked.

Nightmare Bonnie giggled.

_"He told us so much about you four…so much, so many secrets."_

"So, what, I don't care what you know, all I care about is beating you to death," Foxy replied, clearly angered by the Nightmare's attitude of taking them for fools.

Nightmare Chica smiled.

_"Ohhh, we're so scared__!__" _she mocked. "You four don't want to see us get angry," Freddy answered, spying the door to the second floor somewhere below them, flickering in and out of the elusive darkness.

_"And you four don't want to see us get angry,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated.

He smiled as his tone went from calm to sarcastic.

_"We will bite, it's 'particularly' guaranteed."_

Then there was a beeping sound making Nightmare Freddy looked down at his hand, his watch tracker flashed to show a message from Vincent.

It read as: "GET TO THE ROOF NOW, POLICE ARE ENROUTE!"

_"Not now, we're having fun,"_ the Nightmare mentally noted, but he knew that he would have to cut the fun short. _"Anyway, we would love to stay and chat, but we've got some issues that really need taking care of, but we would love to meet you four, face to face."_

"YOU AIN'T GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!" Bonnie shouted down the line.

Nightmare Freddy just laughed, a laugh which sounded more demonic than human.

_"Oh, my dear Bonnie, I'm afraid we're about too, goodbye…"_

Then all four Nightmares shouted into the speaker. _"AND COME BACK TO FREDDY FAZBEAR'S!"_

The Originals' reply was simply shouting back "FUCK YOU!"

Then both sides cancelled the call.

"Come on, the second floor is just down there," Foxy cried, racing ahead of them, rushing through the darkness as Freddy lit up the way with the phone's inbuilt light.

* * *

**xxxx**

**"I've seen diamonds cut through harder men."**

**"Then you yourself, but if you must pretend."**

**"You may meet your end!"**

**xxxx**

Nightmare Freddy threw the phone to Nightmare Bonnie, who caught it with one hand. Then along with Nightmare Foxy, the two Nightmares dragged the wounded Mangle and Toy Chica over to where Toys Bonnie and Freddy were.

They stood on separate sides of Toy Bonnie, with one on the left and one on the right. Then they dangled both of their captives over the chasm in which only darkness could be seen.

"WHAT…WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO TO THEM!" Toy Freddy shouted, desperately wanting to intervene somehow.

All four Nightmares smiled with a dark scene playing out in their twisted minds. Finally Nightmare Bonnie turned to face Toy Bonnie with a sinster expression which held only a love for dominance.

_"Bonbon," _she cooed sweetly.

_"I'm going to give you ten seconds, ten whole seconds to decide which one you want us to drop, Toy Chica, Mangle or Toy Freddy."_

"BONBON, DON'T LISTEN TO THEM!" Toy Chica shouted only for Nightmare Foxy to swipe her arm with his hook leaving a bloodily gash behind. "_Do you want to die, it might be better than having Nightmare Fredbear gut you to death!"_ he hissed as the Toy groaned in sheer agony.

_"So, Toy Bonnie, who do you want to lose, the girl you love like a sister,"_ Nightmare Bonnie gestured to Toy Chica.

_"The girl you pity,"_ she tipped her head towards Mangle.

_"Or the man you love," _she pointed down at Toy Freddy.

"I don't want to choose," Toy Bonnie replied, looking directly at Mangle, Toy Chica and then lastly Toy Freddy.

**xxxx**

**"Arm yourself, because no-one else here will save you!"**   
**"The odds will betray you."**   
**"And I will replace you."**

**xxxx**

Nightmare Bonnie smiled mercilessly, flexing her claws.

_"You cannot back out my dear and if you do not choose…then we may drop all three of them."_

"The Originals are coming, they'll be on the same floor right now," Toy Freddy shouted, anger blazing in his eyes.

_"They won't reach you in time,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered leaning over the hole to stare down at Toy Freddy.

_"We'll guarantee it with your deaths."_

* * *

**xxxx**

**"You can't deny the prize, it may never fulfill you!"**   
**"It longs to kill you!"**   
**"Are you willing to die?"**

**"The coldest blood runs through my veins..."**

**xxxx**

The door to the second floor was forced wide opened as Foxy emerged with the others in tow.

"Which way to the assembly area?" he asked eagerly, looking around in the dark, but failing to see anything of note. He sniffed the air, it felt thick and sicky and it dawned on him that it was smoke, hidden from the human eye as it covered everything in a thick smothering blanket.

"I don't know," Chica answered, unable to tell where the exits where. "We've got to get there and quickly," Bonnie added, she coughed as she inhaled the immense smoke.

Freddy sighed, taking a moment to rest.

"If every floor possesses the same layout, then it's one of these unseen hallways," he muttered, trying to see the corridors through the thick smoke, but struggling to do so.

"But which one?"

Then out of nowhere a bright white light exploded in front of them, forcing them to cover their eyes for the fear of being blinded. When they removed their hands, they saw much to their shock and surprise…four ghostly children with only their eye colour visible, one a bright blue, another a pinkish purple, a third a bright green and finally a fourth with a brownish colour.

Now their entire surroundings were fully visible in the aura which the ghosts emitted. The Fazbears knew the urgency of their current situation, but they were too shocked to move.

_"Hello,"_ the Freddy ghost child said, reaching out to touch Freddy's hand.

"Hi," Bonnie squeaked, her eyes widen in surprise as was Chica.

Foxy was just utterly speechless.

"Why are you four doing here?" Freddy asked, feeling his breath being ripped away at the mere sight of them. Despite their recent past appearances, they hadn't seen the ghost children this up close and personal since the mid-1990s.

And they hadn't aged a day...obviously.

"Aren't you four meant to be in here?" Freddy asked, pointing directly to his chest.

He then felt the ghostly hand of the Freddy ghost child touch his, wrapping his small transparent fingers around that of the Fazbear's._ "You need help, we can help you save them," _he said in a somewhat angelic tone, his bright blue eyes staring into Freddy's.

_"The other four children are screaming!"_ The Bonnie ghost child exclaimed in a hysterical wail. _"Save them, we'll show you the way,"_ The Chica ghost child added pleading.

_"But it will require our direct intervention,"_ The Foxy ghost child stated mournfully.

_"However, it won't be anything new."_

"Wait, where is this going?" Chica asked, feeling very unsure. However Foxy knew what they meant, but the Freddy child spoke before he could get any word out.

_"We're sorry for any discomfort."_

Before Foxy could warn the others, the ghost children grabbed their respective hands.

They seemed to be sucked into their very skin, disappearing before them with their soul like essence flowing through their entire bodies. The four Fazabears gripped their heads as a second presence took up residence in their minds, rapidly expanding.

Now that they were gone, the light quickly faded away and the darkness returned.

_"Go right, straight down and turn left and keep going,"_ the Foxy ghost child informed them. "Thanks for the directions, but a little warning next time would be nice," Freddy answered annoyingly, shaking his head to get rid of the discomfort.

_"Sorry,"_ the Chica ghost child replied sheepishly.

"Regardless let's go, we can't afford to waste any more time," Bonnie muttered.

She took off first, racing ahead with the others following not far behind.

* * *

Back in the assembly area, Nightmare Bonnie was about to begin her countdown.

_"Do you want to make a decision now Toy Bonnie," _she ordered, staring down at her injured counterpart. "I, I, I don't want anyone to die," Toy Bonnie answered, her eyes were pleading for mercy, but she knew that she wouldn't find any. _"Mmm, no, sorry that's not an option Bonbon, we'll go straight to the countdown then."_

"Bonbon, don't worry it's properly not even that deep," Toy Freddy stated, trying his best to see what was occurring above him.

_"You may want to rethink that," _said Nightmare Bonnie, smiling as she held the phone out above the chasm.

_"Let's find out shall we..."_

She then dropped it, the phone fell through the darkness, nearly hitting Toy Freddy on the way down. Everyone listened, for a while there was nothing…just cold dead silence.

Then…came a faint clang from somewhere far below, signaling that the phone had hit the bottom.

Nightmare Bonnie smiled, turning to face Mangle who was still groaning from her injuries as Nightmare Freddy held her above the hole. _"It's a very long way down,"_ she whispered smugly, foreseeing the most likely outcome of the current situation.

She then snapped her fingers.

_"10."_

* * *

**xxxx**

**"Try to hide your hand."  
"Forget how to feel." **

**(Forget how to feel.)  
"Life is gone with just a spin of the wheel." **

**(Spin of the wheel.)**

**xxxx**

_"Turn here and keeping going until the end of the corridor and then go right,"_ the Foxy ghost child instructed, as the Originals raced down the corridor, their hearts pounding their ears.

_"THEY'RE GONNA DIE, THEY'RE GONNA DIE!"_ The Bonnie ghost child screamed, filling its host mind with nothing but dread and sorrow.

* * *

_"9,"_ Nightmare Bonnie announced walking around Toy Bonnie, who was struggling to decide.

"I don't want to lose any of them," she shouted in anger, as the bitter conflict of who to drop raged within her.

_"8,"_ Nightmare Bonnie remarked snapping her fingers, at that instant Nightmares Freddy and Foxy loosen their grip on Toy Chica and Mangle.

Mangle reached out and grasped Nightmare Freddy's hands, desperately not wanting to fall to her death.

The Nightmare just shook his head and smiled in an expression of complete supremacy, he knew that she knew that it was all in vain.

_"7."_

**xxxx**

**"Arm yourself because no-one else here will save you!"**

**"The odds will betray you."**

**"And I will replace you."**

**xxxx**

* * *

**xxxx**

**"You can't deny the prize, it may never fulfil you!"**   
**"It longs to kill you!"**   
**"Are you willing to die?"**

**"The coldest blood runs through my veins."**

**xxxx**

_"Come on, your nearly there, just two more turns,"_ the Chica ghost child exclaimed, clearly wanting the Originals to reach their destination.

_"We know you can do it, we believe in you,"_ the Freddy ghost child yelled, encouraging the Originals to run even faster.

* * *

**xxxx**

**"You know my name."**

**xxxx**

_"6,"_ Nightmare Bonnie sang, edger to see the countdown reach its end.

"I'm not choosing anyone you sadist hag from hell!" Toy Bonnie shouted, angered and clearly scared at the same time.

"No one!"

**xxxx**

**"You know my name."**

**xxxx**

Nightmare Bonnie's eyes glowed a bright bluish purple, enjoying her position of power.

_"Then I'll just have to choose for you then Bonbon and in the end, you would have forced the decision on me, 5." _

* * *

**xxxx**

**"You know my name."**

**xxxx**

After following countless instructions from the ghost children. running through smoke filled and unstable hallways; Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy at long last found themselves staring down a single corridor with an iron door at the far end.

_"THERE THERE, THEY'RE IN THERE, HURRY!" _the ghost children screamed in one collective voice of sheer panic.

They all charged, eyes solely fixed on the door.

* * *

**xxxx**

**"You know my name."**

**xxxx**

_"4."_

* * *

"Come on, come on!" Foxy urged, racing as fast as his legs would carry him.

* * *

_"3."_

* * *

"Have your guns at the ready!" Freddy yelled, bringing out his shotgun.

* * *

Toy Bonnie reached out and grabbed hold of Nightmare Bonne's leg, making her look down.

"Please," the Toy desperately begged, staring up at her.

**xxxx**

**"You know my name."**

**xxxx**

Their eyes locked for a moment as emotional green stared into emotionless bluish purple.

"Kill me instead," she pleaded.

"Just let them go."

Nightmare Bonnie just kicked her hand away without so much as a second thought.

_"Nope, this is much more fun, 2."_

* * *

**xxxx**

**"You know my name."**

**xxxx**

"Almost there!" Chica shouted, her hands reaching out for the door.

"Hang on Toys!" Bonnie yelled, putting her finger on the trigger of her rifle.

* * *

_"1..."_

**xxxx**

**"You know my nameeeee!"**

**xxxx**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like cliff-hangers, you can never quite sure of how things will turn out.
> 
> I hoped that you enjoyed this one, thanks for reading and please review, I would love to know your thoughts. :-)


	23. V for Vendetta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 23, by the looks of it AO is mostly stable so the regular chapter uploads can continue like before. :-)
> 
> I enjoyed writing this chapter and it is a long one, but there is an awful lot to get through and I wouldn't wish to rush things.
> 
> Again, sorry for any grammar mistakes that I missed.
> 
> Enjoy. . .

** Chapter 23**

**V For Vendetta. **

  
**"When injustice becomes law...rebellion becomes duty."**

**V from V for Vendetta 2005**

The door was forced wide open, right off its hinges.

Bright light flooded into the room as the Originals burst in, guns at the ready with their hands on all four respective triggers.

It was unknown whether Nightmare Bonnie had ordered what occurred next or whether it was caused by the mere shock of being surprised, but Nightmare Freddy and Nightmare Foxy both let go of Mangle and Toy Chica. Everything suddenly appeared to go in slow motion with Toy Chica and Mangle falling, the Nightmares turning round in shock and awe as the Originals charged forward, eyes narrowed in anger and taking aim, putting their Nightmare equivalents between the iron sights.

Freddy's blue eyes locked with Nightmare Freddy's dark red, as he pulled on the trigger on his shotgun.

'I hope you die in a fire' he mouthed venomously, as the shotgun unleashed a shower of shrapnel.

Nightmare Freddy watched, his eyes widen in complete shock as the bullet shower flew straight towards him. However, Nightmare Bonnie intervened, pushing him to the floor, just avoiding the bullet shower that would have surely ripped him to shreds. Bonnie fired, but her shot missed Nightmare Bonnie, who had only just dived to save Nightmare Freddy moments earlier.

Chica being careful not to hit Toy Bonnie showered the area with a spray of bullets, although Nightmare Chica was able duck and hug the ground before the spray reached her. Foxy meanwhile pulled the trigger of his pistol sending a bullet straight for Nightmare Foxy's head, but his nightmarish counterpart turned just in time with the bullet flying through his hair.

The Nightmares knew they couldn't survive this encounter if they stayed.

"_We need to get up to the roof now!"_ Nightmare Freddy hissed to which Nightmare Bonnie quickly nodded in agreement.

Before Freddy or the others could fire another shot, the Nightmares made use of their quick reflexes and took off, racing away towards the far end of the assembly area. However, the Original merely fired at their retreating enemy and this time they struck gold. A single piece of shrapnel penetrated the back of one of Nightmare Bonnie's legs, causing her scream and fall forward. Nightmare Freddy turned to help her only for a stray bullet from Chica's automatic to hit him right in the arm, immobilising it.

Nightmare Chica got a high-powered shot in one of her shoulder joints, she felt her right arm go numb within an instant. And last of all Nightmare Foxy suffered from a bullet going right into his left foot, he yelped in pain, falling backwards onto the floor.

"_We need to leave now,"_ Nightmare Chica groaned, turning round to pull Nightmare Foxy up.

"_I know, come on, the Toys will distract them for a bit," _Nightmare Freddy answered, lifting Nightmare Bonnie up with his only working hand as she could no longer walk.

She instinctively wrapped her hands around his neck as he carried her away, while Nightmare Chica supported Nightmare Foxy who now had a limp due to his injured foot.

_Speaking of the Toys…_

When the Nightmares dropped Toy Chica and Mangle, they fell…only for Toy Freddy to reach out and catch them, one hand grabbing Toy Chica with the other one grabbing hold of Mangle. This act however hurt his arms, especially the one which had a bullet lodged into it, causing him to yell out in agony and Toy Bonnie couldn't cope with the increased weight as she was dragged towards the edge of the chasm, feeling her legs lose their grip.

"HELP US!" she screamed in absolute terror.

Throwing away the option of pursing the Nightmares, the Originals ran forward seeing the scenario play itself out in their minds. Foxy threw his pistol away and within an instant dived forward, just as Toy Bonnie went over the edge. He grabbed hold of her legs slowing her descent and but he could feel himself being dragged down.

Then the others caught up and grabbed hold of him, bringing the Toys' free fall to a complete stop, leaving Toy Bonnie in the air gripping onto Toy Freddy who in turn was holding onto both Mangle and Toy Chica.

"Hang on, we'll you get guys up," Chica shouted, trying to get a clear view of them.

"JUST FUCKING DO IT ALREADY!" Mangle screamed, not clearly enjoying the sensation of dangling in midair.

"One two three, PULL!" Freddy yelled, gathering all his strength.

They pulled, slowly bringing Toy Bonnie up, legs first and then they reached down and grabbed Toy Freddy, slowly pulling him up. As soon as Toy Freddy was dragged to safety, they grabbed hold of Mangle and Toy Chica as soon as they were in reach, lifting them up and out of the hole.

Before the Originals could say anything and enjoy their success, they saw the full extent of the Toys' injuries.

"Oh…" was all a surprised Chica could say, her eyes instantly catching Toy Bonnie's still bleeding shoulder wound. All four of them looked exhausted to say the least, compared to their older counterparts who looked fresh and relatively unscratched. Then Foxy noticed that Mangle was physically shaking. "Mangle, you ok girl?" he asked, even though he knew it was a stupid thing to ask.

Mangle's eyes looked up to face his, her shaking grew worse.

She lunged at him, burying her head into his chest and letting her sadness out by sobbing uncontrollably.

"It's ok Mangle, it's ok," he whispered, patting her back as she struggled to cope with her recent trauma at the hands of the Nightmares. "You guys ok?" Freddy asked, although in the light of recent events it was a fairly ridiculous question to ask. "We're fine…as one could be in our position," Toy Freddy replied, clearly tired and worn out.

Then Chica spoke up.

"You guys need to get out, we'll pursue the Nightmares from here."

That caused the Toy's eyes to widen, even Mangle in the midst of her sobs turned to face Chica. "Are you sure that's a good idea, given that we don't know where the others are?" Toy Chica asked, feeling exhaustion creeping over her like a shroud. "Plus it's dark in here, you could be ambushed?"

Then the entire building shook, dust fell and cracks crept up the walls amidst the sounds of things smashing upon impact…the building was on its last legs.

Everyone regardless of where they were staggered as the building shifted.

"Here, you guys call Mike and Jeremy and tell them to find Springtrap somewhere on the 6th floor, we've already told them, but they may need reminding," Bonnie stated, handing their phone to Toy Bonnie. "You can make your own way out the entrance shouldn't be far, use the light on the phone, we'll go up and chase the Nightmares up to the roof as that's where Puppet and Balloon Boy will be," Foxy added, checking the surrounding area for anymore intruders.

"What's happened to the others?" Toy Freddy asked, his blue eyes show deep conern for the whereabouts of the others.

Freddy wanted to tell him what was going on with the others, especially with Goldie having been turned into Nightmare Fredbear, but time was of the essence.

"I'll tell you later, but now we need to get going, just do as we've asked and get yourselves to safety."

The Toys all slowly nodded in agreement with Freddy's words. Putting his arms around Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica, who hooked her arm around Mangle Toy Freddy led the way forward. He then glanced back at Freddy and the others.

"Kill them, give them a taste of their own fucking medicine."

Then he continued leading the others out towards the door, while Toy Bonnie started to open up the phone and contact Mike and Jeremy.

Upon finding his pistol, Foxy pointed it in the direction of the Nightmares' escape route. "Come on," he stated, turning his gaze towards the pitch blackness through which the faint outline of a doorway could be seen.

"There's demons that need killing."

"If their intent is on reaching the roof then there'll be a second staircase somewhere nearby," Chica added.

One by one they set off into the darkness with only one thing on their minds…_vengeance._

* * *

"Hang on, I'll get," Mike said, digging into his pocket to find the phone. He pressed the receive button and put the phone speaker next to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked warmly, it wasn't as if it he was expecting anyone else to call.

"Mike, it's me, Toy Bonnie."

Ok a slight re write, he was excepting the Originals to answer not the Toys, even Jeremy gave him a confused look.

"Toy Bonnie…why do you have the Originals' phone?" Mike asked, recovering from the initial surprise.

"Long story cut short, we were attacked by the Nightmares, but the Originals arrived and drove them off and are now pursuing them, they want you two to go and find Springtrap."

"Yeah we're sort of on it," Jeremy said loud enough to be heard over the speaker. "Although the collapsing building isn't helping."

Toy Bonnie sighed.

"He's somewhere on the 6th floor apparently, that's all they told us."

"Ok, we'll do that, shouldn't be too hard with the building falling apart around us," Mike replied, joking at the last bit.

"Just be careful ok?" Toy Bonnie asked.

"Yeah, we will be, we haven't been killed yet, what about you guys?" Jeremy enquired, leaning against the locker's interior cold metallic wall.

"We're heading outside, the Nightmares got us…pretty bad," Toy Bonnie answered, feeling the pain pulse from her shoulder wound.

A look of worry passed over the former night guards' faces

"Ok, we'll meet you there," Mike stated, now sounding serious.

"Good luck," was Toy Bonnie's reply.

"You too, just hurry on out."

Then the call was cancelled.

Mike looked up at Jeremy who wore a cold expression, mentally reading himself for what lay ahead. "Two floors up, find Springtrap and bring him back safely."

Jeremy briefly smiled, his eyes sparked with determination.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

He turned and kicked the metal locker door wide open and burst outside, Mike quickly followed.

They broke down the door of the room in which they had both sought shelter…only to be met by an impossible challenge. The floor was gone, when they shone the phone's light ahead of them a massive hole was all that appeared. By the looks of it, the hole travelled through the floors below, all the way down to the basement.

"Ok…" Mike muttered, trying to figure a way out of bypassing this rather huge obstacle.

"This is interesting…"

Jeremy however, took the only course of action he could see…by dropping down, hanging onto the floor's outer edges and slowly moving towards where there was actual floor.

"Come on, it's not that bad," he called.

Mike upon seeing no other option sighed and followed his example.

Jeremy reached his objective and pulled himself up, he then turned round and helped Mike.

The building then shook once more, shaking all the way down to its cracked foundations.

"Come on, this thing's about to collapse and I do not wish to be buried alive in it," Jeremy muttered, taking the lead.

"We should ignored the 5th floor and just go straight up to the 6th," Mike said, his eyes scanning for anything odd.

"If Springtrap was on the sixth floor by the time of the explosion then he should still be there."

He didn't want to admit the possibility of Springtrap having met his death by falling through one of many holes which were hidden in the dark. They ran, dogging the piles of rubble that littered the various corridors, every now and again, the building shook with more dust falling each time. Jeremy nearly fell through the floor at one point as his foot right through the already weaken concrete, luckily Mike pulled him out before anything else could happen.

"You owe me one now," he stated to which Jeremy sarcastically remarked.

"I'll repay you sometime later, I guess it's only fair."

Upon turning a corner, they saw a lone endoskeleton…lost…confused.

When it saw them, it instantly ran forward, its eyes narrowed as it readied itself to attack. Mike raised his gun, but there was no actual need as the endoskeleton fell straight through the floor as it was unable to take its weight. Its electric screams were swiftly silenced by a loud crushing smack, signalling its impact with the floor below.

"Glad I'm not that guy," Jeremy laughed, while Mike just stared at the hole.

He didn't much fancy the idea of falling to his death only to be crushed by the impact…no one did.

"Come on, the staircase if it is still there should be just around the corner," he said plainly, walking forward slowly to test the floor's strength. They continued, avoiding anything that looked dangerous or which they were uncertain about, but soon they reached their destination. However, what they found was not what they expected, despite everything that they've seen so far.

For there, stumbling his way down the staircase like a zombie, hugging the wall in which a bloodily trail followed…was a battered, critically wounded and exhausted Springtrap, dragging an unconscious Goldie behind him.

His eyes looked heavy and he was bleeding…a lot with more bruises than either Jeremy or Mike could count between them.

His breathing wasn't timed either, it was rather raspy and irregular.

"SPRINGTRAP!" Mike shouted, finally finding his voice again after his initial shock.

Springtrap slowly looked up, in his hazy vision he could see two figures at the bottom of the stairs. Then and not for the first time, he blacked out, losing all sense of control over his movements.

He fell forward, bashing himself on the stairs as he did.

"SPRING!" Jeremy screamed, running forward, forgetting all sense of safety should the stairs give away which given their state was a strong possibility.

Mike followed, he was also just as anxious.

Jeremy was able to stop Springtrap's fall and pushed him against the wall for support. Mike meanwhile got to Goldie, checking to see if he was alright. Putting his arm around him, he slowly lifted Goldie up so his feet was trailing behind him, instead of his entire body.

"Spring, how did you get Goldie back and just what the fuck happened to you?" Jeremy asked, trying to lift Springtrap up.

Springtrap by this point had regained consciousness.

"It's…a long…story," he replied, his voice being all quiet and shaky.

Then he spat out blood as he underwent an intense coughing fit, which put even more pressure on his bruised ribs.

"Oh my God, he's on the verge of death," Mike exclaimed.

"We need to get him out now!" Jeremy shouted, as the building shook once more, wobbling on its broken foundations. Throwing his arm around Springtrap, Jeremy slowly lifted him up so he could stand on his own two feet.

"Can you walk?" he asked, making sure that he was stable enough to stand on his own.

"Yes…I can," Springtrap whispered, although it was more of a grunt of confirmation.

"Good, let's go, the others are waiting outside," Mike said confidently dragging Goldie with him.

Internally Springtrap smiled as they started to make their way down.

He couldn't wait to see the looks on the others' faces when they saw Goldie…if he lived to see it that is.

* * *

Meanwhile…on the other side of the building.

"WHERE ARE YOU NIGHTMARES!" Freddy shouted, his tone being one of fake cheerfulness with a strong undertone of anger.

"COME OUT, COME OUT WHERE EVER YOU ARE!" Bonnie called, sounding all bittersweet.

"WE DON'T BITE!" Chica screamed, mocking concern, whilst sounding extremely vengeful.

"WE JUST WANNA HAVE A GOOD FACE TO FACE TALK ABOUT WHY YOU SHOULD BE BEATEN TO DEATH!" Foxy roared, he wasn't faking his tone, it was one of rage and pure bloodlust.

By now they were on the 5th floor, chasing the Nightmares to the roof.

"They couldn't have gone far, especially if they're injured," Freddy muttered, his ears primed to pick up any movement. Despite it still being dark, the phone's light was really helping to speed things up, allowing them to avoid any pitfalls.

"Come on, they have to be somewhere nearby," said Foxy rushing off once more with the others following close behind.

Needless to say the Nightmares were nearby, one floor up, but were struggling to make any headway due to most of them struggling to walk because of their injuries. One would think that they couldn't see any of the wreckage which filled their route up to the roof, but they had night vison of sorts, clearing the way forward. Nightmare Freddy was finding it hard to run and carry Nightmare Bonnie at the same time, while Nightmares Chica and Foxy were both supporting each other as they each had a bullet in their foot or leg.

"_Come on, only 2 floors left and this staircase goes right to the top,"_ Nightmare Foxy stated, checking behind him to see if their pursuers were nearby.

"_I could hold them off and let you three get to safety," _Nightmare Chica muttered.

"_NO!"_ Nightmare Bonnie shouted, in a rather loud out brust.

She turned to face Nightmare Chica, her facial expression being one of both concern and determination.

"_None of us are being left behind__, we all swore to stick together before coming here."_

"_Wait…about Nightmare Fredbear__?_" Nightmare Freddy asked, catching the attention of the others.

They had all forgot about him.

"_Oh…right,"_ was all Nightmare Chica could say.

"_I'll text Vincent to inform him,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, typing into his watch tracker.

On board, the airship which was hovering over the roof, Vincent received their text and he was unsure of what to say. Nightmare Fredbear was physically gone from the world, yet he didn't want them to undergo a pointless rescue operation to search for a non-existing person.

So, he told them the truth, typing back.

"_N-Fredbear is gone, he isn't here anymore, something bad happened to him, get back on board and I'll tell you everything."_

That shocked the Nightmares to their very core...Nightmare Fredbear was gone!

"_WHAT!"_ Nightmare Freddy shouted, clearly not wanting to believe what Vincent had just told them.

He looked angry, confused and shocked all rolled into one. Nightmare Fredbear was someone who he compared himself too, being stronger, wiser, and someone whose example Nightmare Freddy could follow. Now he was gone, trapped back in the house which was locked within the realm of Limbo.

"_HOW, WHY, WHAT THE FUCK!"_ he shouted, bashing the wall with his free fist.

The other Nightmares were equally shocked, their pained facial expressions said it all.

"_That can't be, because if he's gone then that means…"_

"_Goldie's back," _Nightmare Chica muttered in a terrified tone, beating Nightmare Foxy to it.

"_And if he's back, then we're not safe in these bodies, what if the original occupants come back and try too…"_ Nightmare Bonnie trailed off, as she held onto Nightmare Freddy's neck. She was about to announce the Nightmares' greatest fear and it wasn't something they were used to feeling. For decades, they had been the instruments of fear, believing they embodied it and that nothing could overcome them.

However, they had built that image of themselves within the dream world of the child whose mind had created them.

Now there's quite a big difference between being in the real world and the dream world…a big fucking difference.

In the dream/limbo world you never die…but in this world...death is real…very real with all the agony that companies it.

"_Oh, god no,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, going pale in the face as it dawned on all of them what they were truly facing.

"GUYS, THEY'RE OVER HERE!"

A loud voice tore through the silence, all four Nightmares turned round and saw at the bottom of the staircase leading to the 5th floor was Chica with her automatic and she looked as pissed as hell.

She was holding a phone up which was blasting out a bright light, fully exposing them.

Then Freddy, Bonnie and Foxy emerged from around the corner also holding their weapons.

They looked up and saw their Nightmarish counterparts, instantly all eyes became locked with one another.

Bright blue stared into dark red, purplish red stared into purplish blue, green stared into orangey yellow and brown stared into brownish red.

For several seconds, amidst the sounds of the building collapsing and groaning under its intense weight, the two groups just stared at each other like snipers gazing at one another through their sights. For the Originals, this was the first time they got to see their enemy in the flesh, Freddy, Foxy and Chica had seen Nightmare Freddy before, but that was in their dreams. For the Nightmares, this was a scary moment, they were unharmed, injured, without any kind of support and time was ticking away as the city police closed in on the scene.

"_We need to go…now!"_ Nightmare Freddy whispered, to which the other Nightmares slowly nodded in silent agreement.

The Originals walked forward, cradling their guns, eyes narrowed as cold smiles crept across their faces.

"You four," Freddy began, his voice was full of nothing but anger and hate as he held his shotgun at the ready.

"Have a lot to answer for."

Chica stepped forward, she looked the angriest of the four and not too much surprise she was glaring at Nightmare Freddy.

"You sick, sadistic, murdering bastards!" she hissed.

"You are going to pay for what you've done to us and to the Toys!" Bonnie snarled, brandishing her rifle, clearly eager to be the first to open fire.

"But most of all you're going to pay for what you did to Goldie!" Foxy growled, he looked ready to tear all four Nightmares apart with just the mere use of his hook alone.

The fear of death flew like an arrow straight into the Nightmares' hearts, they'd never felt so vulnerable. They could feel their heartbeats pounding against their ribcages as the shadows of their rivals crept across the floor.

They had three options.

One, accept death and let the Originals shoot them.

Two, run and face the strong likelihood of getting shot from behind.

Or three….there wasn't an option three.

In truth, Nightmare Freddy could use his three Freddy's heads, but he wasn't prepared to risk them against the Fazbears' guns. They would all be blown to the four winds before they could sink their teeth in.

Instead, they had under their own initiative taken shelter around his back to protect themselves from any harm, effectively making him their shield.

_"Nice to know how loyal you three are, to a fault,"_ he mentally commented sarcastically.

Then something suddenly dawned on Nightmare Bonnie and she started to laugh, much to everyone's surprise.

"What's so funny?" Freddy asked sternly, not understanding Nightmare Bonnie's reasons for laughing and he was in no mood for jokes.

"_The whole situation, the roles should be reversed mind you, but if you think about it, your about to kill four unharmed people, and yet sometime ago we were about to kill the Toys, so with that in mind." _

The building shook again, only this time the passing tremor was stronger than before.

"_Aren't we the same?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked cheerfully.

"WE ARE NOT THE SAME!" Bonnie yelled, pointing her gun right at Nightmare Bonnie, aiming to shoot her in the face.

"_Are you sure, because I can see some similarities,"_ Nightmare Foxy stated smugly.

"We are not like you, we don't kill innocent people," Freddy stressed.

Then Nightmare Freddy laughed, his body shaking all over.

"_Oh Freddy…you utter hypocritic."_

He looked up, staring at Freddy in the face.

"_What about the countless nightguards you four have killed, they had families to support, wives, children, and you stuffed them alive into Fazbear suits and didn't think twice, does that remind you of anyone?"_

Freddy narrowed his eyes in rage, but Foxy beat him to it.

"Yes we did that, but we were not under our own control at the time and we certainly don't take pleasure killing innocents, ramming cars into them, beating them when they're down, or tearing into other people's minds."

That part brought back bad memories for Freddy and Chica.

"Yes we both kill, but for very different reasons," Foxy finished, glaring at the four Nightmares who smiled back as he spoke his words. The building shook once more, cracks appeared on the walls, flowing all the way up to the ceiling.

"_You know, this building won't be standing for much longer, so why are we talking?" _Nightmare Chica asked, looking around and wondering just how long they all had left before they would be buried alive.

Chica smiled putting her finger on the trigger. "Good point, why are we talking, instead of shooting you where you stand."

Nightmare Freddy slowly moved his free yet immobilised hand around his back and slightly tapped Nightmare Foxy with his foot.

It was enough to get his attention, as his eyes flickered over to him.

Nightmare Freddy leaned his head slightly backwards, trying to wiggle his shoulder, all the while keeping his gaze forward so he didn't give anything away. Nightmare Foxy soon caught on and slowly moved his hook behind Nightmare Freddy's back. His pupils moved quick and often, but in a way so the Originals didn't suspect anything odd, while he could see what he was typing.

* * *

Vincent on the airship was waiting at the open hatchway from which a rope ladder dangled out of. The airship had been hovering over the roof for a good ten to fifteen minutes with its engines running on full power. Time was running out, the police would soon be here, his endoskeletons were doing the best of their I.T abilities to slow the police down by hacking into their network and wrecking it to the point of being unusable.

However, it could only work for so long, as the approaching sirens grew louder.

"Where are you four?" he muttered, looking around for any sign of them.

It was then he got a rather disturbing text message from his watch tracker.

It read in chaotic writing and capital letters…not a good sign.

"HELP, TRAPPED BY ORIGINALS, ON 6TH FLOOR STAIRWELL!"

Vincent was confused, it wasn't like the Nightmares to call for help, they certainly weren't the ones who would need it when considering their capabilities.

"This is very bad," he whispered under his breath, first he had lost Nightmare Fredbear, now he was gonna lose Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie and Chica and Foxy.

He didn't like the idea of being alone while facing all twelve Fazbears plus the eleven ghost children as well as Mike and Jeremy.

He couldn't win against those odds.

* * *

"You know, just this once, I will take pleasure in killing," Freddy stated, bringing his shotgun up. "After all, it'll be small compared to your crimes," Bonnie added, putting her finger on the trigger of her rifle. "The world's a safer place without you four, Nightmare Fredbear included," Chica growled, eyeing her Nightmarish counterpart as a target.

"it's game over!" Foxy announced putting Nightmare Foxy right between the iron sights of his pistol.

"_Does anyone else get a strong sense of irony here or is it just me?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, to which the other three just nodded silently, their eyes fixed on the aggressive smirks of their counterparts.

The only thing the Originals could hear in their heads was the ghost children screaming at them to pull the trigger.

"_KILL THEM!"_

There were several shots fired.

Nightmare Freddy received a shotgun blast to his leg which ripped into the muscle, shards embedding into bone, bringing an intense wave of unbearable pain. He screamed in absolute agony, falling to the floor and dropping Nightmare Bonnie in the process. She hit the floor, landing on her side, but that didn't stop Bonnie from putting a bullet into her, cutting right into her stomach making her shriek like a banshee.

Nightmare Chica had a spray of bullets penetrate her shoulders and hips effectively immobilizing her, she fell to the floor, laying on her back and struggled to breath due to the intense agony. And finally, Nightmare Foxy got several bullets in his lower abdomen and chest, like the others he fell to the ground as his wounds started to bleed.

The pain immobilised him, he wanted to crawl away to safety, but his body wouldn't let him, nor would he survive the Fazbears' attempts to stop him. Then came the sounds of footsteps, in their blurry vision the Nightmares looked up until four figures came into view.

Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy now all stood before them, towering right over the injured four, who looked defeated. The four Fazbears looked determined, united and stern. Gone were the smirks and narrowed eyes, now replaced with blank stares and cold emotionless pupils.

"Do you know how it feels…" Freddy muttered, leaned down and staring at the defenceless Nightmares.

"To be crushed again and again and then to lose nearly everything?"

Nightmare Freddy attempted to push himself up straight, but he collapsed back onto the floor due to the damage dealt to his leg, which left him breathing rather intensely.

"How ironic, what a fitting end for horrors like you," Foxy muttered, watching the Nightmares gasp in sheer agony.

"You made a big mistake in messing with us," Chica stated, shaking her head.

"Just like Vincent will, you shall reap what you've sowed and now it's harvest time," Bonnie said, folding her arms in defiance. Nightmare Bonnie raised her head up, clearly struggling to do so as the pain coursed throughout her entire body.

"_So will you…you Fazbears don't know who you really dealing with…..you really don't."_

Freddy shook his head and spoke.

"We'll figure it out for ourselves, you have nothing to offer us and you attacked us first, so it is self-defense."

They raised her guns again with their fingers on the triggers.

"Might as well as put you out of your misery," Freddy muttered, locking eyes with his Nightmare counterpart.

"It'll be the only humane treatment you'll ever get."

Nightmare Freddy attempted to shield all three as best as possible from the inevitable bullet shower. There was a clang as something bounced into view, two small balls landed before the Originals, rolling forward, before coming to a complete stop.

Chica raised her eyebrows in wonder.

"What are those?"

She didn't get an answer as the balls exploded into bright flashes of white light, right in the Originals' eyes, blinding them, lighting up the whole stairwell. Chica dropped the phone in her shock, it hit the floor and once the flash bangs' light went out, the surrounding darkness engulfed them.

Then Vincent ran out from around the corner with several endoskeletons in tow, he was of course holding a gun.

"Quick get them to safety while the others are down," he ordered as the endoskeletons proceeded to carry out his orders.

In groups of five, they grabbed all four Nightmares and quickly dragged them away around the stairwell corner and up the steps to the 7th floor. Vincent meanwhile laid down a barrage of covering fire as he brought up the rear.

Although in fairness it was just him firing blindly into the dark.

"GO, GO, GO!" he shouted, backing away as the Originals recovered and took stock of what had just happened.

"WHAT DO WE DO NOW!" Chica shouted, looking around.

Bonnie grabbed her rifle which she had dropped and ran forward, clearly knowing the answer.

"QUICK, WE CAN'T LET THEM ESCAPE!" she shouted, disregarding the fact that she could not see in the dark.

Foxy followed her, with Freddy dragging Chica along who managed to pick up the phone off the floor. The ghost children instantly recognized Vincent and screamed his name so loud that the Originals felt like their heads was about to explode, a constant pounding within their skulls. They could feel their presence burning with immense rage just below the surface in their minds, eager to take over and give chase to their killer.

They could so easily do it, but the Fazbears' willpower to stay focus and in control was barely enough to keep them under lock and key.

The ghost children in the Toys also heard their brethren's' call and started screaming, which didn't help the Toys who were struggling to cope with the pain of their injuries. Even far above them in the ventilation system, Balloon Boy and the Puppet who were nearing the 8th floor underwent the screams of the ghost children that resided in them, it felt like one massive headache, relentlessly pounding against their skulls.

"_MURDERER, MURDERER, MURDERER, MURDERER!"_

Bonnie enraged by the Nightmares getting away so easily burst out from around the corner only for Vincent to shoot at her with his rifle.

A bullet flew pass, just missing her neck, then Foxy grabbed hold of her and pulled her back, away from anymore danger.

"Don't run off lassie, we need to stick together its dark in here," he said sounding both concerned for her safety and slightly angered at her stubbornness to throw herself into danger like that.

Then Freddy and Chica finally caught up with both of them panting for breath.

"Mmmm, I find it hard to believe that one can take on four so easily!" Vincent called out, clearly mocking them.

The endoskeletons continued to drag the wounded and dazed Nightmares up to the 8th floor, their motors working overtime to put as much distance as possible between them and their attackers. All the while Vincent covered their retreat, firing back at Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy as they attempted to make their way up the staircase.

Although firing blindly into the dark was all he could do and just hope that he hit one of his targets.

"THE NIGHTMARES MAYBE DOWN, BUT I'M NOT!" he yelled, over the shooting and exchange of bullets.

"I WOULDN'T COUNT ON IT FOR LONG!" Freddy shouted back, trying to catch Vincent in a blast of shrapnel.

Vincent laughed, ducking behind a corner as his purple hair swayed about in the air.

"You know it was so easy killing those kids and you four had no idea that the killer was one of the staff, someone who you had even interacted with on many occasions."

"WHY!" Chica screamed in pure rage

"WHAT DID WE OR EVEN THE CHILDREN EVER DO TO YOU TO DESERVE SUCH CRULTY?"

"DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW?" Vincent asked back, ducking behind the corner leading up to the 8th floor as the endoskeletons continued to carry the Nightmares up towards the open door which lead onto the roof. "I MEAN YOU FOUR WERE SO GUIDABLE IN YOUR YOUTH, SO EGOISTICAL THAT YOU WERE THE BEST IN THE BUSSINESS!"

"WE'VE BEEN WANTING TO KNOW FOR THRITY ODD YEARS!" Foxy yelled, firing a few shots in Vincent's direction.

"PLUS, WE'VE MATURED A LOT SINCE THEN!"

"TRUST ME FAZBEARS!" Vincent shouted, returning fire as he sprayed the stairwell with an almighty shower of bullets.

"CAN YOU REALLY HANDLE THE TRUTH ONCE YOU KNOW IT?"

He turned and saw the endoskeletons carry the Nightmares through the exit door to the roof where the airship was hovering in midair.

Daylight poured through it, giving him some field of vision, unlike the Fazbears who were stumbling about in the darkness and trying not to get shot.

"YOU CAN HANDLE ANYTHING, WE KNOW YOUR TRICKS!" Bonnie yelled, trying her best to get a clear shot at Vincent.

"WE'VE BEEN LEFT IN LIMBO SINCE 1983, NEVER ABLE TO SHAKE FREE OF THE PAST THANKS TO YOU!" Chica shouted, covering everything in a shower of bullets.

By now the endoskeletons had reached the rope ladder leading up to the airship, one by one they started to climb, pulling the groaning, exhausted Nightmares up with them towards the open hatchway.

Vincent knew he had now lost the momentum, the Fazbears would soon overwhelm him, yet it was just so temping to leave them with an answer to their question.

"_Should I give them an obvious hint, should I let them know my movitiation?"_

The intense quick paced sound of footsteps grew ever closer out of the darkness.

"_Would it throw them off balance is the question, is there anything for me to gain if I let them know," _he wondered. Standing in the roof exit doorway, he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled something out. He looked at it, staring at the object which he held in his hand as the footsteps grew ever louder.

"_Should I raise the curtain, would it wreck what I've got planned for the long term?"_

As soon as Freddy and the others emerged from around the corner, Vincent quickly stuffed the object back into his trouser pocket.

"_No…now's not the time."_

Locking eyes with Freddy, he smiled at the Fazbear's desire for answers.

"You know…I was once like you Freddy, always searching for answers, but I'll let you figure things out...perhaps it's for the best."

Then before any Fazbear could raise their gun to shoot, Vincent stepped out and slammed the door closed, bolting it shut.

"_Besides, Goldie's back, so if he can remember what I told him, and if their paying attention then they may get their answer."_

He turned and ran to the ladder, following on after the endoskeletons as a nearby metal lid acting as the cover for a roof vent was forced open.

Balloon Boy and the Puppet slowly dragged themselves out into the open daylight, clearly exhausted and aching from spending a good fifteen to twenty minutes inside a dark, cold and tight ventilation system.

"Oh, thank God we're out," Puppet moaned stretching her back.

"Never again," Balloon Boy groaned also stretching his arms and legs.

Then it suddenly dawned on them where they were, with the airship hovering overhead, seeing multiple endoskeletons dragging the Nightmares up into the hatchway and Vincent climbing up after them. Taking the opportunity, Puppet drew out both her strings, stood up and launched a long-range attack against Vincent, whipping the strings around his legs and pinning him in place.

Vincent noticed that he was suddenly immobilised within an instant, turning round to fire a spray of bullets at her with his pistol, aiming to drive her off.

Puppet instinctively ducked behind the roof vent cover, it's study metal frame, protected her and BB as the bullets bounced off the metal. But she hadn't let go of her strings and continued to pull from behind her entrenched hiding spot.

"You're not escaping us this time!" she cursed under her breath, as she tightens her grip on the ropes and pulled firmly, further trapping Vincent on the rope ladder.

Vincent growled as he felt the strings tighten, he swapped his pistol for the knife which he kept on his person.

However, the endoskeletons managing the cockpit had decided to take matters into their own hands, bringing one of the airship's harpoon guns online.

Using the onboard radar, it targeted the Puppet's location and issued the command order into the onboard computer.

There was a loud mechanical clang as the mechanics shifted into action, with the lone gun being turned on its base in the direction of its target, before launching its one harpoon. The missile soared through the air and almost struck home, had it not been for two things; one it failed to account for the vent roof cover which slowed its impact down to nothing and secondly, Balloon Boy taking the chance to pull Puppet out of its direction.

The harpoon had penetrated the vent's cover with its narrowed spiked tip, halting barely mere inches from the Puppet's face. Had it not been stopped, it would have gone straight through her head and out the other end, destroying her brain and killing her instantly.

Vincent took full advantage of the lull to cut his legs free of the Puppet's strings and proceeded to continue his climb upwards.

Then came sounds of banging from the rooftop door.

"COME ON ALL TOGETHER!" Chica shouted as she and the others shoved against the door with all their might.

Then Foxy felt something speak to him…from within the depths of his own mind.

"_Foxy…Foxy, I sensed something in one of the side rooms,"_ it was the ghost child whispering inside his head.

Stepping back from the others, Foxy turned and saw that off to the side was a door to the room which the ghost child wanted him to go into.

"_It might be of use for later…__say __in the next five minutes__ perhaps__."_

Trusting the child completely, Foxy walked over and opened the door to see a storage room of sorts inside.

"_On the second shelf to the right, you'll see it."_

Foxy did as the child said, walking forward, his eyes on the lookout from anything of interest and found much to his surprise a packed-up parachute.

"_The building is collapsing and soon there'll be no other way down." _

Foxy smiled, liking the child's thinking...so thoughtful to their hosts..._most of the time._

"I like the way you think kido."

If he could pat the kid he would, loving to see him smile.

"HEY FOXY, WHERE ARE YOU?" Bonnie called from outside.

"COMING," Foxy replied, picking up the packed parachute.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE STEP BACK, I'VE GOT THIS!" Freddy yelled, aiming at the door's handle with his shotgun.

He fired, the resulting blast destroying the lock mechanism and the door swung open. They charged forward, emerging out of the settling dust to see Vincent pulling himself inside the airship's hatchway.

"GUYS, YOU MADE IT!" Balloon Boy yelled, catching their attention, as he and the Puppet ran towards them. "Balloon Boy, Puppet your alive!" Chica squealed, hugging them both once they reached her.

"Thank God."

"Bonnie, you've got the best shot out of all of us, take it," Freddy ordered, eyeing Vincent at the far end of the rooftop.

"Sure thing Freddy, it'll be my pleasure," Bonnie replied, taking aim, placing her eyes to be in line with the scope. As she did, her eyes changed from their normal reddish purple to two small white dots…_the ghost child within her was in control._

"_Go to hell you bastard!"_ she hissed, pulling the trigger.

The bullet shot out like a bat, flew through the air…and hit Vincent in the right shoulder, just as he was reaching for the hatchway's side handles. He yelled in pain and fell, only to grab onto the rope ladder with his free hand. Several of his endoskeletons heard his cries and rushed over to help, reaching out and grabbing his hand.

"_Master Vincent, are you ok?"_ one of the endoskeletons asked, leaning out of the hatchway.

Vincent, despite the immense agony he was feeling from his right shoulder shot the fellow endoskeleton a look of utter annoyance.

"JUST PULL ME IN, GOD DAMMIT!"

With their combined strength, they pulled him inside, Bonnie fired again, but this time she missed with the bullet bouncing off the metal cover with a distinctive metallic clang. The endoskeletons leaned Vincent up against the airship's interior wall, the man groaned in pain as he felt his damaged shoulder being pressed against the cold hard metal. He clutched it with his other hand, earning several concerned glances from the surrounding endoskeletons.

"_Master Vincent you need immediate medical assistance, but where are we flying too now?"_ one asked.

Repressing his desire to groan once more, Vincent in a rather shaky tone answered the endoskeleton's question.

"Over Lake Michigan…fly to the centre of the lake….get us as far away as from here as possible and avoid any law enforcement."

The endoskeleton immediately rushed off to informed his fellow endoskeletons in the cockpit, while the remaining bunch proceeded to attend to Vincent's wounds.

Out of the corner of his eye, Vincent could just make out the hazy figures of Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, who by the looks of it were unconscious as the endoskeleton quickly underwent attempts to hook them up to various life support platforms. They had properly fallen unconscious from all the blood loss, those wounds looked pretty deep. All the while, the rope ladder was pulled inside and the hatch door closed shut as the airship with its new destination marked, started to ascend into the sky, its four propellers spinning wildly as it built up speed.

Sighing in agony once again, Vincent turned his head in the opposite direction, towards the lone hatchway window.

Through it he could just make out the Originals along with Balloon Boy and the Puppet on the rooftop, all watching the airship rise up into the sky.

Yet it was the look on Freddy's face that caught his attention.

The enraged eyes, the narrowed eyebrows, the lowered bear ears and gritted teeth, Freddy was clearly mad that Vincent had once more slipped away from his grasp.

"Well played Freddy, well played indeed," Vincent muttered to himself.

Slowly with his free hand, he reached back into his trouser pocket, wrapping his fingers around the object.

He smiled, his eyes regaining that distinctive glint as he stared out into space, seemly oblivious to the activity of the endoskeletons that now surrounded him.

"_This sure is a long game,"_ he thought to himself.

"_But I knew that the moment I started to play…all those years ago."_

* * *

The Originals ran forward firing at the airship in their desperation to bring it down, but to no avail.

"WE'LL FIND YOU, WHERE EVER YOU CHOOSE TO RUN!" Freddy yelled, clearly angry at their missed opportunity.

"Don't worry captain, we'll get them, at least they're on the backfoot now," Foxy said, patting Freddy on the back in triumph, watching as the airship flew over the rooftops of the surrounding buildings.

"Killing those Nightmares would have made things a lot easier for us though," Bonnie groaned, frustrated over how easy things were before Vincent took them by complete surprise with his flash bangs.

Now that the chase was over and the adrenaline within them was subsiding, a certain issue arose.

"Guys, we need to get down or-"

Puppet didn't get to finish her sentence as the entire building started to shake and this wasn't any ordinary tremor which had persisted since the explosion, but rather the building's death throes. From the basement up to the roof, cracks widen, floors collapsed, the ventailtion system fell apart, everything was being destroyed as the eight storey building started to collapse in on itself.

Luckily Mike and Jeremy had cleared the main doors before the shaking started.

From the ground, the Toys could see the dire situation their counterparts were in, not noticing who else Mike and Jeremy had brought out with them.

"GUYS, YOU NEED TO GET OUT NOW!" Toy Freddy shouted, cupping his mouth with his hands to be heard over the immense shaking.

Those on the roof, were too paralyzed to move, apart from Foxy. "Quick, we need to get on this parachute if we're gonna live!" he shouted, unpacking the item in question.

Everyone just stared at him, unable to believe his idea.

"But…" Chica began, pointing at the parachute as Foxy assembled it. "That can't hold six people, we'll fall to the ground."

"It's suicide Foxy," Bonnie stated, folding her arms in stern refusal to accept his suggestion. The shaking grew worse as the roof started to fracture while the number of floors between them and the ground decreased as each floor collapsed onto the one below.

"Do you have a better idea Bonbon?" Foxy asked, glaring at Bonnie, clearly annoyed with her stubbornness to see that this parachute was their only option…besides death.

"I'm with the parachute," Balloon Boy stated, clearly growing hysterical with the developing situation.

Foxy fitted himself with the parachute's gear, making sure it was secure and tight.

"Ok, now for the hard part…"

He looked at the others.

"Bonnie, you wrap yourself around my left shoulder, Chica you do the right and Freddy you get to hug my front."

"Hug your what!" Freddy exclaimed, looking confused as hell.

Foxy in frustration rolled his eyes, now wasn't the time for confusion.

"Hug. My. Waist."

"Oh," Freddy replied sheepishly, as he caught onto Foxy's meaning.

Then Foxy turned to Balloon Boy and the Puppet.

"Puppet, BB, you grab onto my legs ok."

Needless to say both of them were having second doubts about the likelihood of survival. However, the sound of the roof breaking up quickly forced their decision. With them onboard, Foxy walked to the roof's edge, upon seeing the height everyone's eyes widen in fear and uncertainty.

"Errr…I don't think…we'll survive this," Chica muttered. "Survive what, I can't actually see anything," said Freddy who was having to face Foxy's chest, so he couldn't see how far they were from the ground.

"We'll fly," Foxy replied, casting off their fears.

"We'll die that's what'll happen," Puppet exclaimed, burying her head into Foxy's leg.

"Everyone hang on!" Foxy shouted, preparing to jump.

"Guys if we die, I just want you all to know that...…I was properly the most popular one out of all you," Freddy shouted.

Cue everyone else glaring at him.

"Oh, you utter showoff," Bonnie groaned.

Then Foxy jumped…

They fell for a short distance until Foxy pulled the cord and the parachute erupted out of the backpack and unfolded in the air, creating an upwards draft so strong it pulled them up higher than the building itself and they started to make a steady descent.

"See…not so scared now?" Foxy asked, to which the others slowly opened their eyes to see that they weren't falling to their deaths like they feared.

"This isn't so bad," Chica muttered.

"Actually…this is rather nice," Bonnie added, looking around.

"Errrr…Guys?"

They looked down to see the Toys, including Mike and Jeremy waving at them from the ground. "They look so small," Balloon Boy remarked, waving back.

Then something caught their attention.

Off in the distance was the unmistaken appearance of police helicopters closing in on their location. "We got to get down quick, or we'll be spotted," Bonnie stated, looking up at the straps which attached to the parachute. "We'll be down and gone before they get here," Foxy replied, eyeing a good place to land.

"Easy, easy…just a little more."

He had just seen an ideal landing area when one of the straps snapped...the effect was immediately felt, with the whole gang swaying to the left as Foxy lost control of the parachute.

They start to descend quickly, quicker than they would have liked.

"EVERYONE HANG ON!" Foxy yelled, trying to regain control but to no avail.

The Toys looked on unable to do anything as their friends/extended family circled overhead. Then two more straps broke and they started to fall with the parachute flapping aimlessly in the wind.

"YOU ARE DOING GOOD!" Toy Bonnie cried, hoping that they would land safely.

"VERY GOOD!" Toy Chica yelled.

"JUST KEEP CIRCLING!" Mangle shouted.

Foxy with all the control he could muster, directed the parachute towards a nearby garbage dumpster.

"EVERYONE BRACE NOW!"

The landing was successful…kind of…maybe fifty percent successful.

They landed in the dumpster with Balloon Boy, the Puppet and Freddy getting squashed by the other three.

"YOU GUYS DID GOOD!" Toy Freddy shouted, punching the air with his fist.

Then the dumpster's lid fell on top of them with a deafening clang, trapping them inside.

"YOUR STILL DID GOOD!" Toy Freddy yelled, much to the concerned looks from the others.

"Whose hand is that, whose touching me, you're getting close to something rather private!" Freddy exclaimed, clearly panicking.

"Oh…sorry Freddy," Chica replied sheepishly.

"I am crushing someone?" Bonnie asked, looking around.

"MMMM…CAN'T….BREATHE!" Puppet shouted, being crushed by Bonnie's chest.

Balloon Boy using all his strength pushed the dumpster lid off, letting in fresh air as well as sunlight.

The others rushed over and instantly started to pull them out.

"Come on, the police are enroute and I sure don't fancy spending the night in a damp, cold prison cell," said Mangle, lifting Balloon Boy out. Once they were all out, Foxy disposed of the parachute by hiding it under the dumpester and together they raced over to join Mike and Jeremy. "Ok, let's quickly recap, the Nightmares are critically wounded but still alive, Vincent is also gone and we are all here…right?" Freddy asked, counting heads.

They were one short.

"Where's Springtrap?" he asked looking around.

"He's here, but he's not in a good state," Jeremy stated holding Springtrap up who was barely conscious admist all that had just happened. "Yeah, but look who he brought back," Mike added, stepping aside to show an unconscious Goldie lying on the ground, eyes closed, but still breathing.

Everyone froze on the spot, eyes widen, struggling to speak from pure shock. Freddy slowly stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the unresponsive body of his father figure.

"Is…that…"

Mike nodded smiling.

"Yes Freddy…it's him, he's back."

Toy Chica couldn't contain herself and screamed like a fan-girl, catching everyone's attention.

"YES, OH THANK GOD YES!"

Everyone punched the air with their fists and cheered.

"WE'RE BACK, ALL TWELVE OF US!"

Mike however looked very worried.

"Er…guys, if we don't get back soon, it's gonna be eleven, not twelve."

The sounds of Springtrap coughing violently caught everyone else by surprise. He fell forward, despite Jeremy's attempts to keep him upright. He coughed up blood, spitting it out onto the ground, his body pulsed with intense agony, his eyes diluted as he struggled to hold himself up with his hands.

"SPRING!" Mangle shouted, running forward.

"WE NEED TO GET HIM HOME!" Chica screamed, also rushing to support him.

They pulled him up, putting his arms around their shoulders for support so his legs didn't need to take on the burden of his own weight.

Toy Freddy did a quick check of his condition, seeing the damage up close made his eyes go wide with horror.

"Oh shit, he's in a really bad way, where did we park the van?" he asked, looking at everyone else for answers. The police sirens grew louder as police helicopters flew overhead armed with spotlights, along with the sound of car tyres originating from the nearby alleyways.

"Oh, God we need to get out right now or we're done for," Bonnie squealed, looking in every direction at once. "Which way though, every route here will soon be filled with cops and attack dogs," Toy Bonnie exclaimed, also hyperventilating like her older counterpart.

"_Quickly, through here."_

Everyone turned in the voice's direction and saw one of the ghost children, presumably Mangle's judging by the yellow colour of its eyes, floating above one of the alleyways. "_Come with me if you want to live__,__"_ it remarked, turning round and floating off down the alley, beckoning the others to follow.

"Quick, follow that ghost child," Mike ordered, dragging the unconscious Goldie along with him.

The sounds of police cars grew louder as multiple footsteps were heard from nearby passages. Shadows could be seen on the surrounding walls, getting larger as the police closed in from nearly every angle.

"EVERYONE RUN NOW!" Puppet shouted, taking off without a moment's notice, she was actually the first one to break ranks. Like hell was she spending another God dam second in this awful place. Everyone else followed, carrying Springtrap and Goldie with them as they ran down the alley as fast their exhausted legs would carry them.

Just behind them they heard the sound of voices, men yelling out orders at such a fast rate it was impossible to make out. Then there the braking of dogs, they sounded very aggressive, like the sort of dogs that would race towards their target without a moment's notice and sink their teeth in upon impact. All the while, the ghost child flew ahead of them, quickly switching from one alley to the next in order to avoid the police that were now swarming the area.

"Come on Spring, stay with us, when we get back home, you'll get proper treatment, the deluxe Fazbear special," Toy Chica joked, trying to keep Spring conscious amidst his neverending groans and bloody coughing.

"Toy…Chica?" he asked, slowly turning to face her, she could see the sad look in his pale grey eyes.

"If….Goldie awakes….after…I'm gone, tell him….I forgive him for…..the past…all of it."

Toy Chica shook her head, not wanting to accept Spring's own submission to the grim reaper.

"SpringBonnie listen," she used his old name for effect.

"We're getting both you and Goldie out of here, that's a promise," she replied, tightening her grip on his shoulder so that he didn't fall.

"Everyone come on, I think we're about two thirds of the way there," Freddy shouted in order to be heard over the helicopters that flew overhead, sweeping the area with their spotlights.

So far, they hadn't been spotted, a good sign.

"So, what's the plan?" Toy Bonnie asked, running alongside Jeremy whose was helping Mike support Goldie, who to no surprise as it turns out was quite heavy to carry. "Get back, keep Springtrap alive and wake up Goldie," Jeremy replied, trying to maintain his speed.

"Although it's not as simple as it sounds," he remarked.

"Nothing ever is," Toy Bonnie replied, laughing half-heartily as the wound from her shoulder ached with pain. Just how far had she gone from being a simple childrens' entertainer to being on the run from the law?

Oh yeah…life changing events…all bad ones.

Eventually after some time, the ghost child had lead them out of the maze of alleyways, they emerged onto the street corner which they had passed through hours earlier.

"LOOK THE VAN, THERE IT IS, STILL PARKED WHERE WE LEFT IT!" Foxy shouted, pointing at it with his hook.

"QUICK, GET INSIDE!" Mike ordered, running towards it and everyone else followed.

As they did that, the ghost child simply faded away into nothing, it's job completed.

However, like the others it would follow the Fazbears wherever they went, until it was freed.

Using Jeremy's keys, he unlocked it, throwing the back doors wide open. He and Jeremy then laid Goldie down inside, before jumping out and going round to the front doors. Everyone else clambered in, pulling one another inside and then closed the doors, bolting them shut. Jeremy forced the keys into the ignition, when he saw something up ahead, making his eyes widen.

"EVERYONE DOWN ON THE FLOOR NOW, DON'T LOOK UP!"

Everyone dived to the floor, hugging it, while keeping control of their breathing.

Then several police cars raced by, their sirens blaring non-stop.

Both Jeremy and Mike slowly rose off the floor, checking their surroundings to see if there were any more law enforcement vehicles nearby. "Ok, everyone we're moving now," Jeremy stated, turning the keys in the ignition, making the engine spark to life. He pushed down hard with his foot on the accelerator, making the wheels turn in an aggressive manner as the van started to move down the road.

"OK, JUDGING BY MY CURRENT SPEED WE SHOULD BE BACK IN FIVE TO TEN MINUTES!" Jeremy shouted.

"MAKE SURE IT'S FIVE!" Toy Freddy shouted back, as he and the others rested Springtrap against the van's interior wall for support. Jeremy then sharply turned a corner throwing everyone about in the back.

"DON'T KILL US JEREMY!" Chica shouted, pushing herself upright.

"SORRY CHICA, BUT SPRING DOESN'T HAVE THE LUXURY OF TIME AND NEITHER DO WE!" Jeremy shouted back, turning another corner which threw everyone off their balance again for the second time. Springtrap was resting against the wall, clutching his dislocated shoulder as he whimpered in pain, his vision was still blury and it was getting worse.

He could see the hazy brown figure of Freddy rush up to him along with the burly figures of Bonnie, Mangle, Toy Freddy, Chica, Foxy, Toy Chica and Toy Bonnie, all trying to figure out what to do with his injuries. They only understood the full extent of his wounds, when they ripped his shirt off.

"Oh…my….…God," Toy Bonnie whispered, her shock filled eyes shared the same expression as the others. Springtrap's chest was covered in multiple black bruises, some bleeding and a large gaping hole in his lower abedomen.

"How, but, who…?" Mangle asked, looking very confused.

Freddy knew who.

"Nightmare Fredbear did this," he stated, narrowing his eyes.

"That sadistic fucking bastard!"

"QUICK, SOMEONE GET THE FIRST AID KINTS!" Bonnie shouted, turning to BB and the Puppet, who immediately started searching various aid knit bags.

"Spring just rest, we'll fix this," said Chica, probing Springtrap's limbs to see what was broken. She slowly pulled on Springtrap's left shoulder, only to discover to her horror how loosely it hung.

"Holy shit, it's completely dislocated!" she exclaimed as Springtrap groaned in pain.

"I will….miss…..you…guys," he moaned, feeling very weak.

"NO, YOU ARE NOT GOING NOW, WE JUST GOT GOLDIE BACK!" Toy Chica shouted, grabbing a first aid knit from BB and opening it.

"QUICK WE NEED TO SEAL HIS WOUNDS, OR HE'LL BLEED TO DEATH!" Mangle exclaimed, ripping a bandage out of it's box and unraveling it.

"Mangle…..there's…no….need," Springtrap whispered, trying to raise his arm. "Shut up, I'm trying to save you!" she shot back, determination clearly ringing in her eyes. Instantly she proceeded to wrap it his minor wounds, while Chica held up a pair of needles and threads for sewing.

"This will hurt," she said, giving Springtrap a fair warning.

His reply was a simple nod.

She slowly pushed the needle into the skin surrounding the gapping wound.

The instant she did it, Springtrap with surprising strength rose up, screaming in absolute agony to which Freddy and Toy Freddy responded by holding him down. Then Jeremy made a sudden turn to avoid hitting an oncoming van, with the unexpected turn, catching everyone off guard, sending most of them flying around the van's interior.

"FOR CHRIST'S SAKE JEREMY!" Bonnie screamed, picking herself back up.

"SORRY, A VAN WAS ABOUT TO HIT US!" Jeremy replied, trying his best to manvoureve through the chaotic traffic.

"SPRING STAY STILL PLEASE!" Chica shouted, trying to sow while her hands became covered in his blood.

"Spring, look at me," Freddy pleaded, trying to distract Springtrap from his pain.

"Look at me Springtrap."

Springtrap turned to face him, his eyes held a wild, panic filled stare…he was afraid.

"You see Goldie."

Freddy pointed over to where Goldie lay, still unconscious with his hands by his side.

"You want to see him right, just hang in there, you'll be fine."

Springtrap smiled, his grey eyes shining with inner joy in light of his achievement of getting Goldie back.

"You need him….…he needs you."

He paused as he underwent another coughing fit.

"Easy, easy, just breathe, in and out, we'll be home soon," Freddy replied, supporting Springtrap as his body rocked with the coughing.

Freddy turned to Chica and Mangle.

"How's it going with the sowing?" he asked.

Chica shook her head in disappointment.

"Not good, I can't sow the skin back together, its far too damaged, whatever Nightmare Fredbear did it penetrated deep and I can't fix it, not right now."

"The bandages aren't working on the larger wounds, I think I'm causing more damage by moving his limbs, they turning black," Mangle stated, watching as every bandage she applied did little to stop the bleeding.

"Freddy…"

"Toy Chica, see if you can push the skin together, Chica you sow."

"Freddy….."

"Bonnie, go and find anything that will numb the pain."

"Freddy….please…."

"Toy Bonnie, help Mangle with the bandages, find more if possible."

"Freddy…...I'm….….not…..going…..to…..make it."

"Toy Freddy, try and push his other arm back into its socket, but only after we've applied the pain killers."

He felt something tap his shoulder.

Freddy turned to see Springtrap trying his best to get his attention.

Eyes locked.

"I'm really….glad…to have…met you…..and the others."

Springtrap smiled in his fading vision, he could still see the bright blue pupils of Freddy's eyes.

"Your….the face…..of Freddy…Fazbear's…don't…ever…..forget…to smile."

Freddy without taking his eyes off Springtrap, reached out and tapped Chica, getting her attention. When she stopped and turned, the others took note and followed her gaze. Springtrap's grey eyes shifted over to Mangle, whose eyes were only filled with deep concern and dread.

"You…..were…..right…..along."

He grasped her hand, taking comfort in the feel of her soft, warm skin.

"You….….guys…are….my…family."

He smiled, as an inner light shone brightly in his eyes, staring into theirs.

"I just…wish…I….could….have gotten….to know….you all…..better."

Mangle could feel his grip on her hand loosen. Toy Bonnie, sensing what was about to happen, turned and called Balloon Boy and the Puppet over.

"However…..I'm….glad….that…..you….…now….….have…..Goldie…back."

He chuckled.

"He's…..in…good…hands…I'm….happy.….clearly he...….raised you all…..up well."

Although he couldn't see it, he could sense the tears that were building up in their eyes.

"Spring…" Foxy pleaded, clearly in a mournful tone.

"Don't leave us…..not now."

"We had plans, for the new Pizzeria, us Toys having a stage with the Orignals having one opposite and you and Goldie having your own alongside so that wherever children looked, there would always be someone to entertain them," Toy Freddy stated, deeply depressed that they were gonna be one short.

"It would have been massive!" Balloon Boy exclaimed, drawing out the size with his hands. "With both Pizzerias combined along with Fredbear's Diner, it would have a play area, a pirate's cove, a Prize corner with the Puppet's music box."

"We want you to be there with us," Toy Chica begged.

"We would have liked to see you play," said Bonnie, she had always imagined Springtrap as a master guitarist when he first mentioned that he played the banjo.

"The children would have loved you," Puppet added, her vision like the others was becoming quickly blinded by tears.

Springtrap chuckled although it hurt his chest.

"I'm sure it would have been beautiful…"

He closed his eyes and breathed in despite the pain which originated from his ribs in doing so.

"I can see it now….the sky is bright blue outside…the sun is shining on a summer's day..….the tables are cramped with children all eating five star pizza…..us….singing and performing acts..…seeing their happy faces….heaven."

He opened his eyes, the world looked a lot darker now, he could barely out make the others….his mind was starting to slip into the realm of unconsciousness.

"I die…knowing…that…I've helped…..bring that….dream...….a little….closer…to reality…"

He could hear their quiet sobs, their strong desire not to let him go.

"I'm…at…peace."

He felt all ten hands grab his, stroking them to offer him some comfort admist the agony that surged throughout his body. Everything felt so far away, his eyes were very heavy…he wanted to sleep. Springtrap smiled….brightest smile he had ever given in all his years of living.

"I love you all….keep…on…smiling….."

Then he let the sweet embrace of enteral sleep overcome him…his eyes slowly closed and his hands relaxed by his side…he stopped breathing.

There was nothing….nothing but cold, heart wretching silence.

It felt like the world had just ended and there was nothing left to attract anyone's attention as there was no one felt alive. Everyone was devastated, shocked, scared, lost and unable to speak, as if they've lost the ability to do so. The dead cold silence was broken by a cheer from Jeremy, who along with Mike was completely unaware of Springtrap's passing.

"GUYS, WE'RE NEARLY THERE, ALMOST HOME AND DRY!"

Nobody said anything, eyes fixed on the now lifeless motionless body of Springtrap, somehow hoping in plain desperation that he would just 'spring' back to life within an instant.

"Guys….guys?" Mike called.

He turned round as Jeremy neared the junction that led onto their street.

"Guys is everything…."

Then he saw why they weren't saying anything, his eyes widen in realization of that fact.

"Oh no….oh God no."

He slowly turned to Jeremy.

"Jeremy, pull over."

"What, why, we're nearly there."

Mike grabbed his arm, which caused Jeremy to look in his direction.

"Just do it Jeremy…please...for their sake."

Quickly catching onto the tone of Mike's demand, Jeremy complied, pulling over onto side, only several houses down from his own residence. He parked the van, switched off the engine and turned round.

His eyes instantly caught the dead body of Springtrap with the others all crowding round, frozen in position.

"Oh…Jesus Christ….why," he moaned, feeling a deep sadness fill his heart.

"This….cannot end like this."

Toy Freddy slowly reached out with his hand and pressed it against the still warm skin of Springtrap's neck….there was no pulse.

He lowered his head and sighed.

"He's gone."

That brought multiple sobs from the girls, who were either covering their faces with their hands or looking away. Balloon Boy stared at the pool of blood that had collected around the messy tear in Springtrap's lower abdomen.

"He's saved us, he saved Goldie, yet we couldn't even save him."

His words summed up the thoughts of everyone else.

Puppet had buried her head in her hands, she didn't wish look at Springtrap's corpse anymore...to her, history was repeating itself yet again. "Why….why…..why must we lose something or someone whenever things start to go right for us," she cried sorrowfully.

Chica had gotten up and rested herself against the opposite wall, collapsing to the floor and rocking back and forth amidst her uncontrollable sobs.

"What…can I say…but that I'm sorry Goldie," she wept, quickly descending into a weeping wreck.

Needless to say, Foxy had to go and comfort her, whilst fighting his own tears.

"_I don't know what is worse, losing our old home, or losing a friend?"_ he mentally asked himself, but he didn't know how to answer it.

Both were heart ripping events which had buried themselves into his memory.

Toy Bonnie with rivers of tears falling down her face turned round to face the opposing wall.

But her tear filled eyes happen to catch the unconscious body of Goldie, lying there, completely unaware of his friend's passing. She knew that if they were devastated by Springtrap's death, then Goldie would be in a whole world of emotional pain should he awake up from his slumber. Toy Freddy had collapsed against the same wall which Springtrap lay against. He couldn't look anymore at the body anymore, he didn't want to accept reality, Springtrap for the few days he had come to know him wasn't the sort of person to go out so easily.

Balloon Boy wrapped his arms around Puppet and pulled her in a hug, her head falling to rest on his shoulder as she opened the floodgates. It was odd for him to be comforting her, when in the past she would be the one comforting him.

"Shh….shh…..he's at peace now….shh," he whispered, softly stroking her black hair as she sobbed her heart out.

Toy Chica opened her eyes, through the gaps in her hands that covered her face she could see the blood covered, battered body of Springtrap.

"I'm sorry…."

She paused to hold back her tears.

"I'm so sorry…we need you, what do we tell Goldie?"

Yet she knew Springtrap would never answer her question.

Mangle however just stared at the 'sleeping' Springtrap, knowing that he was gone, never to return. Tears weiled up in her golden eyes, she felt her heart break, cracking and breaking into several irreparable pieces. Everyone else was occupied with their own form of grief, so Mangle slowly reach forward.

As she did Nightmare Freddy's penetrating words came racing back.

"_However, I think I'm right in my little theory and do you want to know why?"_

She grasped his motionless blood covered hands.

"_You didn't deny it….simple as that."_

She pressed her head against Springtrap's and sighed. She whispered to make sure that the others didn't hear.

"You know…I'm…."

She sighed again, desperately trying to think of what to say.

"I'm not really one for romance…..I'm haven't really given it any thought actually."

She looked at his closed eyes.

"However…..if there was…someone…..who I might be interested in….who I thought I could enjoy falling in love with."

She sighed…what was the point….she was confessing to a motionless, lifeless corpse.

"I would have chosen you…..I felt…..that we…have a similar backstory and that somewhere….depending on who made the first move that we could light a spark….and see where it goes from there."

Springtrap just lay there, completely silent.

Mangle closed her eyes, fighting back the tears that were threatening to break free.

"I'm sorry Springtrap...we're sorry."

Yet somewhere in the depths of her soul…she knew who the fault really lay with.

"Perhaps, once Goldie awakes we can move closer to the truth..."

She planted a kiss against his forehead.

"Thank you SpringBonnie."

She fell back, bringing her knees into her chest and letting her head fall on to them, finally opening up the floodgates. Freddy was silent, holding his head in his hands, he couldn't say anything, the shock was too much. As he grieved, his conversation with Nightmare Fredbear came back to haunt him.

"I'll find out the truth before you and your wretched kind can kill anyone else."

"_Are you so sure about that Freddy, the truth hides in many place, plus I could kill you right now."_

"I am sure, I've uncovered so many things the last few days, nothing could surprise me."

He was wrong…he was so wrong.

Springtrap's death surprised him, shocked him to his core, he couldn't handle it.

If Nightmare Fredbear was here, he would be laughing at him, taking sweet enjoyment in his misery and his supposed achievement of killing Springtrap. However, an even more worrying thought appeared and one which Freddy now dreaded above all things.

What was he to tell Goldie…that his best friend was dead, that certain words would never be spoken?

Even though he had only known Springtrap for a few days, Freddy felt like he had really bonded with him. It felt like he had lost someone whom he had known for years…Goldie should he awake would properly feel the same way…but only much worse. Bonnie was sobbing, her head resting on his shoulder with her hair trailing down her back. She had never felt this sad, not since 1983 with the missing children's incident and the closure of their pizzeria.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

Freddy sighed, letting out all of his frustration.

"I don't know Bonnie….I don't know anymore."

All of them felt like their hearts had been ripped out and stomped on, the ghost children inside them felt the same…sad…depressed….guilty that they'd failed to save him. It was utter torture, but beneath all of it, lay a different emotion…Anger and it was growing.

The signs were small, but they were there and Mike and Jeremy had picked up on such signals from their collective experiences as nightguards. First everyone started to shake with their heads beginning to twitch in an odd fashion. Hands reached out and dragged their fingers across the floor, creating a scratching noise as their nails dug into the wood.

Their sobbing abruptly stopped and their breathing grew in intensity.

Sensing the worse, but hopping to calm them down, Mike slowly reached out with his hand and tapped BB on the shoulder.

The boy swung round, but his expression made Mike's blood go ice cold. His eyes were narrowed in anger, his head was constantly twitching and his entire body was shaking, but worse of all were his eyes.

One was BB's normal baby blue, but the other was completely black save for a small white dot in the centre.

"_Get…..out!"_ he hissed, his voice clearly wasn't his anymore, it was that of another child…a ghost child to be correct.

The Puppet slowly rose off the floor until she was floating in mid air, she turned her head in Mike's direction. Her eyes were two bright white dots, although one was clearly brighter than the other.

"_Leave…now!"_ she whispered, as her head twitched in all sort of strange angles. "Guys…just calm down ok," Mike stressed as calmly as he could muster whilst not trying to show any fear.

"There's no need to go berserk," Jeremy added, slowly reaching for the door handle in case he and Mike needed to make a swift exit. Then the others turned their heads and each one was the same, their normal eye colour alongside a bright white dot.

"_Get out…lock the doors,"_ Chica ordered, with her whole body shaking, as she struggled to contain her anger.

"_And don't come back in until the screams have stopped,"_ Toy Bonnie added, also trying to hold back the red mist.

Then she screamed, her scream sounding much like a child's, a high pitch wail of anger and depression.

That brought back buried memories for both men.

Toy Freddy slowly reached out for Mike, his head was twitching violently as he struggled to contain the ghost child's inner rage.

"_We…..can't…control…..them."_

Mangle slowly rose off the floor, glaring at Jeremy as her head twitched violently.

"_We….really….don't….want….to hurt you."_

Then Freddy jumped up, his raged filled eyes fixed solely on Mike.

"_GET. OUT. NOW!"_ his voice a mixture of his own and that of a child's, he was just barely keeping it in check.

Mike and Jeremy didn't need to be asked for a third time as they quickly bailed out of the van with Jeremy locking the doors shut. Together they ran far enough away and waited for the screams and hammering to start from a safe distance. With the two nightguards gone, the Fazbears allowed the children and their own anger to take full control, symbolised by their eyes going completely dark save for two white dots in their centre.

Together they emitted an ear shattering scream, so loud it made the hairs on the back of Jeremy's and Mike's neck to stand up, you could hear their screams from both ends of the street.

The two former nightguards had last seen the Fazbears like this in 1987 or 1993, between twenty to thirty years ago.

The Fazabears screamed as they took their anger out on their surroundings, destroying anything in sight, making the van violently rock from side to side like a boat in a storm. Freddy, with his eyes displaying the control that he was under, looked up to the ceiling and with one loud scream, he voiced the reason for everyone's rage.

"_GOD DAM YOU NIGHTMARES!"_

_At that exact moment…several miles away on board an airship _ _flying _ _over Lake Michigan…four pairs of eyes flashed opened. T__he first one was _ _a murderous _ _dark red, the second a _ _gloomily _ _purplish blue, the third a _ _bright _ _yellowy orange and finally the fourth_ _ being_ _ a _ _fiery _ _brownish red._

_They showed fear and confusion as their pupils widen in uncertainty, but once they recognized their surroundings, their pupils relaxed, taking immense comfort in their safety, while several miles away in a van, ten people swore a vendetta. . .vengeance was calling once again_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this wouldn't be a T-rated fanfiction if someone didn't die, but hopefully Springtrap's death was not in vain.  
I'm sorry to all Springtrap fans of which I am also one.  
Just to clarify something, I see the ghost children (that's what I'm calling them for now until they get any further development) as separate beings in relation to their hosts. They are effectively two people within one body.  
In FNAF Canon, the ghost children and the animatronics are inseparable, so having the two become separate entitles is my own head canon. That being said however, the connection between Circus Baby and Elizabeth Afton in SL was an outliner, although by FFPS the two entities had clearly merged to become one, given how Scrap Baby referred to herself. 
> 
> Please review and thanks for reading. :-)


	24. A Mournful Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry for the long delay, I've been rather busy as of late, so to make it up there'll be two chapter uploads this week. :-)  
I'll be expanding this story's universe over the course of the next few chapters, there's a lot of lore to cover and this is where the story links back into FNAF lore.  
Again, sorry for any grammar mistakes that I have missed.  
Enjoy...

** Chapter 24. **

** A Mournful Reunion. **

_ **"Those we love never go away, even when they can't be physically present."** _

_ **Unknown** _

"Do you think they're done yet?" Mike asked calmly, as both he and Jeremy sat outside, watching the rest of the world go by.

"Well they've stopped screaming, the hammering has ceased so I can only guess their anger has finally died down," Jeremy answered, stretching back and yawning.

Man had it been an exhausting day, not to mention surreal. It had been ten whole minutes since the screaming had stopped, when ten voices had been yelling nonstop amidst the sound of stuff behind trashed. "Well, it's been ten minutes, we might as well as go and check on them," Mike muttered, getting up.

If they were still in an aggressive state, then he would close the doors on them and leave them to it. The Fazbears themselves had suggested such advice decades ago for whenever they went into one of their 'fits'.

With Jeremy's keys, he unlocked the back doors and opened them wide.

What they both saw was what they were pretty much excepting.

The back of the van had been trashed, there were huge dents in the metal framework, boxes tossed about…although the pile of guns which they had brought back with them was rather surprisingly left untouched. Everyone else was sitting on the floor, knees up to their chests, with their arms wrapped around their legs and their heads resting on their knees.

All signs of a typical individual undergoing an immense amount of stress. Meanwhile the dead body of Springtrap rested against the van's interior wall and Goldie still unconscious lay on the floor, breathing in and out to indicate that he was still alive. Slowly so not to disturb them, Mike and Jeremy climbed in, expecting at least one of them to react.

However no one did.

Both nightguards looked at each other, confused as to what to do…were the children's spirits still in control, simply luring them into a sense of false security?

When their rage was in control they saw everyone in the same guilty light. Jeremy whispered something to Mike who after several seconds of deep thought nodded in agreement.

They both sat down, joining their companions on the floor.

"So…are you guys feeling any better?" Jeremy asked quietly even though any answer to be given was obvious.

Freddy was the first to speak and he was anything but happy.

"How...how can people like you put up with people like us?"

Then Toy Chica spoke up and her voice was equally mournful.

"We're messed up, two souls in one body, a toxic mix."

"We aren't like the Nightmares, yet somehow we are the same," Bonnie muttered.

"We have both killed people…even if we didn't mean to."

"Will this nightmare ever end?" Mangle asked, although it was more a moan of despair than an actual question.

For both men this kind of talk wasn't normal, the Fazbears they knew weren't the ones to blame themselves for their situation.

Mike was the first to answer.

"We know you….we know what you've been through, we know the situation that your locked in with being vessels for dead children." He paused for moment before continuing. "You're our friends, best even and we wanted to help you, back in 1993 I could have left you guys once my two weeks were up as you already know."

He then sighed, reviling moments of both terror, surprise and emotional trauma. "I almost called the police in on you lot when I found out about the murders." He brought his left thumb and second finger close together. "I was this close to bringing the law enforcement in, but I didn't because at the time a small part of me wanted to know why you had done it."

He chuckled, recalling a death threat from Freddy Fazbear himself. "You nearly killed me when I found out about the Toys, good thing I always carried a gun on my person."

And yes, there had been several close calls when he had nearly pull his gun out on them.

"But in the end, I came to realize that it wasn't your fault and seeing how downtrodden you all were living in that dump I decided to help you out."

"And it turned out for the better." His eyes then caught the lifeless corpse of Springtrap, still resting against the van's inner wall.

"Mostly for the better anyway…"

Then Jeremy interjected, reaching out and patting Toy Freddy on the shoulder. "I was in a slightly different position to Mike; you guys were not that hostile."

Then he remembered Mangle dangling above him every night.

"To begin with…"

His pause made Toy Freddy smile briefly, he knew what and who Jeremy was referring to. "Granted if you could all stop trashing my stuff, but like Mike I want to help you, this wasn't your fault…"

"You don't need to keep on covering for us Jeremy," Toy Bonnie sobbed, still clutching her bleeding shoulder. "We are responsible for what 'they' do."

"To an extent yes, but it wasn't your fault that you ended up in this position, was it?" Jeremy asked, pointing what he thought to be the obvious.

There was a long drawn out silence as no one answered his question. "Let me put this way, if I didn't believe that you were not in the wrong, then I wouldn't have stuck by your side for as long as I have…would I?" His words carried an undoubtable level of truth to them, he had been with them the longest out of anyone else they knew outside of their immediate family.

"Fazbear's Pizzeria was your livehood and it was wrongly taken away from you."

Jeremy eyed Freddy directly, remembering a pledge he had made to him back in 1987.

"And if there's still a chance for it to be revived which frankly you guys show no lack of having, then I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Have you ever stopped being so optimistic Jeremy?" Mangle asked, despite her sulked posture, you can tell by her tone that she was amused with his words.

"Well someone has too if Freddy stops being a dreamer."

"I never did!" Freddy remarked sharply, although it said humorously. "We're sorry for lashing out," Chica mumbled, still resting her head on her knees.

"_'They'_ should have known better."

Jeremy just chuckled humourlessly to himself.

"Well…" he muttered, looking around, studying the mess. "It's nothing I can't fix, so don't worry."

"Besides, you ordered us to leave, we know you don't want to harm us," Mike added solemnly. "We don't…" Foxy muttered sully, rubbing his eyes. "The children however. . .we can't control them, not when they get like that."

"We know what to do when things get tense, don't worry about us," Jeremy replied.

"We will though, you are our friends after all," Toy Freddy answered thoughtfully.

Another moment of silence passed before anyone spoke again.

"We should have stayed," Bonnie muttered, sounding very regretful. "We shouldn't have left him to face Nightmare Fredbear alone."

That sentence made everyone raise their heads, revealing their faces to which Mike and Jeremy could see were still red from crying. All eyes were on Bonnie who had curled herself up in a corner, arms around her knees which hugged her chest.

"It's our fault he's dead."

"NO!"

With an instant all eyes turned to face the newcomer, which was Toy Bonnie, whose eyes now held a serious expression.

"Don't you even think about blaming yourself Bonnie, Springtrap died because of Nightmare Fredbear…not you."

She crawled over to Bonnie and pulled her in a hug, embracing her fully.

"It wasn't you, it was him," she whispered, allowing her counterpart to sob mournfully into her chest.

"There, there, just let it all out."

"Besides, why did he face Nightmare Fredbear alone?" Toy Chica asked, as she and the other Toys didn't know the full story. "We got to the main office on the sixth floor, we found Vincent, but Nightmare Fredbear was with him…"

Freddy sighed, so Chica took over.

"With Goldie being 'turned' so to put it, Nightmare Fredbear had instant healing abilities, so we couldn't kill him."

"Instant healing abilities?" Mangle asked, looking confused as was everyone else. "How the hell does that work?"

"Vincent said it was a side effect of the transformation, but it only lasts for a day," Chica answered, running her hand through hair as she tried to make sense of what had occurred back at the factory. "Anyway, with additional endoskeletons closing in we ran, but Nightmare Fredbear caught up with us."

"He was a hard-tough bastard," Foxy muttered, shaking his head.

"The four of us could barely get him down on the floor with all the bullets we put in him."

Chica continued.

"He could heal very quickly, he pinned all four of us against the wall."

Again the Toys looked shocked.

"He was very strong," Chica stated, trying to remember the timeline of recent events. "He was crushing us, aiming to crack our ribcages or just suffocate us, but at the last moment Springtrap intervened."

She paused to hold back the tears that were starting to build. "He knocked Nightmare Fredbear out, saved us and then he ordered us to go and help the others, be it Mike, Jeremy, you guys or BB and the Puppet."

She breathed in, once again trying to control her tears.

"And we just went, we told him it would be suicidal to take on Nightmare Fredbear alone but…"

She started to sob, burying her head into Foxy's shoulder, who cradled her in support.

"He insisted that we went and helped the others, he said that he'll keep Nightmare Fredbear away…and he clearly paid for it…with his life," Foxy mumbled, casting his eyes over to Springtrap's motionless body.

Toy Freddy sighed.

"You know…as tragic as this is….it could have been a lot worse."

Both the Toys and Originals turned in his direction, putting him on the spot.

"If you guys had stayed with Springtrap and given the fact that Nightmare Fredbear was unkillable, you could have all died."

There were several nods of agreement from the others.

"However, if you guys didn't turn up when you did."

Toy Freddy's eyes wandered over from the Originals to the other Toys.

"The four of us would not be here, we would be buried at the bottom of a smoking crater."

He was right, the Nightmares would have surely killed them, leaving them free to go after the others.

Freddy sighed deeply.

"Your right, we lost one, but we could have lost four instead, plus on a lighter side, Springtrap got rid of Nightmare Fredbear and brought Goldie back…so it wasn't a complete failure."

"By the way," Balloon Boy spoke up, sounding very nervous.

"The Puppet and I would like to apologise for…"

He looked down at the floor, unable to meet the others in the eye.

"Blowing the building up."

"That massive explosion was caused by you two!" Toy Bonnie exclaimed, not out of anger, but rather one of complete shock which was shared by the other Toys.

"You did what!" Mangle yelled.

"How do you do it?" Toy Chica inquired.

"And most importantly why?" Toy Freddy asked, although he sounded the sternest out of the four. Feeling rather pressured, Puppet slowly joined BB in looking down at the floor, like a criminal waiting for their inevitable conviction.

"We. . .were trapped in the basement storage room, we took refuge there after falling through the ventilation system, the endoskeletons which chased us were trying to break in," Puppet started.

Her white dots for eyes glanced up briefly to read the Toys' expressions.

"For a time, we thought there was no way out, but we found a pipe that lead up to the roof, we've called the Originals and told them not to come down and to go and help you."

Both she and BB felt like they were being sentenced.

"We found some dynamite and a timer, placed it against the door which we had barricaded, set the timer and legged it up the pipe."

They both looked up.

"Sorry…for putting you all in harm's way."

For the Toys, it was that explosion which had left them in a very dangerous position.

Toy Chica sighed as she crawled over to the two and hugged them, her bright blonde hair smothering them both. "What you two did was very very dangerous, yes it put us in harm's way, in fact the four of us nearly died, yet…."

"You didn't know and you didn't intent for anyone to get hurt…plus."

She thought for a moment of what to say next.

"You did sort of make things difficult for Vincent, which is a plus for me."

"I do have a quick question, what happened to the Nightmares?" Mangle asked, turning to face Freddy.

Freddy lowered his head and muttered softly.

"They got away, we nearly had them."

"Vincent intervened with his endoskeleton pals and got them out, before we could strike the killing blow," Foxy groaned.

"Bastard!" he cursed, venting his frustration by hitting the inner wall of the van with his hook. "We were so close, had them down on the floor, groaning about in complete agony."

Again, came that strong sense of anger which Mike had seen countless times, the victim persona which had hung over the Fazbear ever since 1983.

Deciding to bring everyone back to the present, he wolf whistled to get everyone's attention.

"If we're all done with talking things over, then we should get back to the house, rest and decide what do to with Springtrap."

"I agree, you guys look like you could do with a rest, as well as get more bandages on those wounds," Jeremy added.

And then he fully saw Toy Bonnie's shoulder wound.

"And some stitching."

He turned and hopped out of the van and went to the front, getting into the front driver's seat, while Mike closed the van's back doors shut.

"Ok let's go," he said, giving Jeremy the all clear to start the engine.

Within a minute, he pulled into his drive and parked.

He got out and proceeded to unlock the door, while Mike helped the others out of the back. Freddy and Toy Freddy along with Foxy and Toy Chica proceeded to carry the body of Springtrap out, being carefully not to drop him. At the same time, Bonnie, Toy Bonnie, Chica and Mangle slowly carried Goldie out, being extra carefully not to drop him on the ground.

Together they went inside, carrying the two along and slowly laying them down on the lounge's floor. They stared at the two, one alive, the other dead.

"So, what do we with them?" Balloon Boy asked, looking at his elders for a sense of direction.

At first no one knew the answer.

"I…guess we could put Goldie in one of the rooms, have someone watch over him until he wakes up," Mangle suggested.

The Puppet folded her arms and nodded in agreement.

"I think that'll work, the watcher can call us in when he finally wakes up."

"Aye lassie, but what do we do with…Springtrap?" Foxy asked, unable to take his eyes off Springtrap's motionless corpse.

"We…."

Bonnie sighed.

"I think…we should leave him here, covered him with a sheet and then when Goldie awakes, he can decide what do to with him."

She turned to looked at the others, sadness filled her eyes. "He was his best friend…it's only fair that Goldie gets to decide…he knew Springtrap best."

"Yeah…your right Bonnie, it should be Goldie's decision," Chica muttered in agreement. "Ok, but which room should we put Goldie in?" Toy Bonnie asked indecisively.

"He can go in ours…we have enough space," Freddy answered, stepping forward.

Together with Foxy, Toy Freddy and Bonnie helping him, they carried Goldie into Freddy's/Bonnie's room and laid him down on the bed. Meanwhile the others proceeded to cover Springtrap in a bright white sheet, exited the lounge and closed the doors behind them.

"Right…ok…anyone for coffee?" Jeremy asked, throwing the question out there.

"I'll take one," said Chica, raising her hand as did Toy Bonnie and Foxy.

"There's just one thing I want to address before I can actually relax," Toy Freddy stated, getting everyone's attention.

"Given that there are now four Nightmares, who have the ability to enter people's dreams and do God awful things to them…we cannot sleep alone."

"He's right we need to change our sleeping arrangements, I for one know what can happen when they enter your dreams," Chica added.

"Same," Freddy replied, raising his hand.

"So…there's around about….one, two, three, four, five…. twelve of us…thirteen counting Goldie as well as," Jeremy said, doing a quick headcount. "There's four of them so they can either target one person or take on four individually, so if the Originals along with Mike and Goldie were to sleep in one room and the Toys, with BB, the Puppet and I sleep in another, we should outnumber them and can alter the others if need be," he suggested.

Everyone else nodded in agreement, in the light of their current situation it was properly the best option they could take to guarantee their safety.

Then Mike decided to lay out what people could do to help themselves relax.

"Ok with that issue out the way, if you guys want to run a bath you can, take turns, but don't use up all the water and feel free to sleep, but make sure there's someone watching you."

Then he noticed Toy Bonnie's shoulder wound.

"Oh, yes and don't forget to heal yourselves…"

He smiled, with mischief glinting in his eyes.

"After all we can't have our five-star children entertainers looking all battered and bruised, now can we?" he asked.

Freddy laughed, finding the humor in Mike's words.

"Oh…Mike Schmidt…"

Their eyes locked.

"I'm so glad we decided not to stuff you into a suit."

"Yeah," Mike replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"I'm especially glad that didn't happen."

Everyone laughed, remembering past moments when things were very different, when they didn't trust anyone, when they disliked everyone around them.

Until two men, complete strangers over time helped them regain their humanity, to see beyond the miserable present into the bright future…and they were forever grateful.

* * *

A mechanical skeleton like hand holding a needle containing some odd colored fluid approached an arm, this one made of flesh.

Holding the needle above the arm, the mechanical hand slowly lowered itself down towards its target. The needle touched its target…or it would have done had another hand not grabbed it, stopping it in mid-action.

The endoskeleton's grey eyes turned to come face to face with a set of aggressive looking orangery yellow pupils.

_"And just what do you think you're doing?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, sneering at the endoskeleton in question.

It paused for a few seconds, deciding on how to answer her question.

_"Adminstering certain anti-botics and healing agents to help you recover, done so on the orders of Master Vincent."_

Nightmare Chica relaxed her expression…although only slightly.

_"Master Vincent ordered us to see to your welfare,"_ the endoskeleton answered, actually staring her down with its grey emotionless eyes.

Nightmare Chica slowly let go of the endoskeleton's hand, releasing it from her grip and allowing it to continue with the procedure. The needle was slowly pushed into the skin with its contents being injected into her bloodstream and began its trip around the body.

Once the needle was removed, the endoskeleton left to administer other tasks. Nightmare Chica sighed, clearly the contents of the needle were targeting the pain, acting a sort of pain relief.

Although her body was still ranked with pain, sores and aches.

She turned to her left and saw that across the living compartment was Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie and Foxy, all lying down on makeshift beds, covered by a quilt with various endoskeletons standing around, injecting all sorts of chemicals into their system.

_"You guys ok?"_ she asked, trying to catch their attention.

Nightmare Foxy turned his head in her direction.

_"Yeah, I'm fine as I can be lassie,"_ he answered, grinning from ear to ear.

_"I'm as happy as a bird."_

Clearly, he wasn't fine.

_"My world is spinning,"_ Nightmare Bonnie groaned as the drugs took hold of her mind.

_"Jesus__ Christ__, my __brain, it feels like it is pounding against my skull__,"_ Nightmare Freddy moaned, clutching his head as he underwent a massive headache.

_"Painkillers sir,"_ a fellow endoskeleton suggested, holding two small tablets in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Nightmare Freddy took both without any hesitation, swallowing the tablets and forcing them down his throat with water.

_"Thanks,"_ he grunted, looking at the endoskeleton who only gave him a blank stare.

It turned and walked away to pursue other tasks, just then the curtain to the cockpit was pushed aside and Vincent entered. All four Nightmares turned in his direction, instantly noticing that he had most of his right shoulder covered in bandages.

"Well…" he began, surveying the room.

"You guys pulled through…good, because you were about to know how death feels, I'm sure Nightmare Fredbear does."

He walked forward, instantly Nightmare Freddy attempted to stand up, only for a shot of intense pain to rip through his leg, making him fall to the floor...or he would have done had nearby endoskeletons not intervened and helped him back onto the bed.

"I'm afraid that despite the best of my abilities as well as that of the remaining endoskeletons, you all remained critically wounded, especially your legs."

An endoskeleton handed him a medium sized glass jar, which was filled to the brim with metal shards…all of which were covered in blood.

"We pulled this much shrapnel out of you four," he stated proudly, passing it casually back and forth between his hands like it was a ball.

"Your bodies will heal, but it'll take time."

_"And we don't have the luxury of time,"_ Nightmare Chica answered scornfully to which Vincent nodded in agreement.

"Correct I'm afraid, but still…"

He sat down on a nearby chair, turning it round to face the four.

"As you properly already know, we lost Nightmare Fredbear…Goldie is back."

_"How?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, his eyes narrowing in anger.

"Well, it's a good thing I stored the camera footage on a memory pen, before we had that massive unexpected explosion which knocked everything out," Vincent replied, smiling with some sense of satisfaction.

He clicked his fingers and an endoskeleton came running carrying a small laptop. Upon taking it, Vincent turned it on opening up the file explorer and searched for the data he needed.

When he found it, he opened the file, turning on the laptop's video player as a result. He turned the device round to show the others, increased the volume and then pressed the play icon.

The four Nightmares leaned in as best as they could in order to see properly. The footage, whilst a little bit hazy showed Nightmare Fredbear beating Springtrap, something which brought a smile to the Nightmares' faces.

They're ok with hurting others, but heaven forbid that any harm should come to them. Then after Springtrap's confession, he hugged Nightmare Fredbear who opened his mouth and proceed to bite down on Springtrap's head.

So far there was nothing out of the ordinary…until it became evident that something was clearly wrong.

Nightmare Fredbear had now frozen in place, his sharp teeth barely even scratching the top of Springtrap's head.

_"Have you paused it laddie?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, trying to figure out what was wrong.

Vincent shook his head.

"No, the footage is still running."

For a few seconds, Nightmare Fredbear did absolutely nothing, Springtrap didn't even appear to notice as he was too busy crying his heart out. Then suddenly Nightmare Fredbear began to twitch violently, he grabbed his head and screamed, so loud that made the other Nightmares covered their ears.

Their expression was one of complete and utter shock as they saw their figurehead wail like a demonic orchestra.

Nightmare Fredbear fell forward, still screaming with his body twisting itself in all sorts of weird angles.

_"What the fuck is going on!"_ Nightmare Bonnie exclaimed, shouting to be heard over the intense screaming.

"Just watch," Vincent ordered, his eyes locked forward, he hadn't fliched once since the screaming had started.

Then all sound abruptly stopped much to the Nightmares' surprise as Nightmare Fredbear fell silent with his head falling forward, becoming motionless. Then they saw a brownish golden orb fly out of his chest, it flew around the room, getting faster and faster until it shot out into the corridor like a rocket never be seen again.

Then Vincent pressed pause, ending the video.

The Nightmares' jaws had dropped to the floor, their eyes widen in complete shock…this was new and they didn't much like the fact that they couldn't control it.

_"What just happened?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, as reality of the new situation settled in.

Vincent closed the laptop.

"It would appear and I've studied the footage for a considerable length of time, that Goldie was able to regain control and reverse the whole process."

_"How and are we in danger?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, gesturing to the others.

"I'm still looking into it, but judging by my understanding due to the process having been completed only recently and Goldie's will, he still resided somewhere within the subconscious." Vincent paused, gathering his thoughts together.

"Thus, when Nightmare Fredbear attacked Springtrap, it gave Goldie enough determination and willpower to fight, win and force Nightmare Fredbear out." He then looked at Nightmare Foxy directly.

"And to answer your second question, no you four should be safe from what befell Nightmare Fredbear, remember you've been inhabiting those bodies since 1987, the souls of the men and women who once existed are no more, those bodies are yours...until you die, go back to Limbo and then I'll have to start the whole process over again."

_"Well…at least we're safe,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, his eyes reading Vincent's.

"Still it doesn't solve the fact that your injured," Vincent replied, breaking into a small smile.

_"We're not incapable,"_ Nightmare Bonnie stated firmly.

"Can you all walk then?" Vincent asked humorously, raising an obvious point.

All four Nightmares were determined to prove to him that they could, threw off the covers and moved their legs round, dropping to the floor. The instant they did, a harsh stab of intense pain shot up their legs, causing them to cring and immediately push themselves back into their respective makeshift beds.

"You shouldn't overestimate yourselves, nothing good will come from it," Vincent stated, getting off his chair and standing at his full height, effectively towering over the Nightmares. He looked from one Nightmare to the next, his eyes holding that mischevious look to them.

_"What's so assuming laddie?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, eyeing him.

Vincent sighed, sounding somewhat relieved.

"Everytime I look at you four, I am reminded of them…the Originals."

That comment made the Nightmares' narrow their eyes in annoyance, although to be completely honest, Vincent had a point…besides their nightmarish features and tattered clothes, the Nightmares were just another version of the Originals like the Toys were.

_"You do know who we really represent…don't you?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked in a cold tone.

Vincent's eyes immediately darken in response.

"Yes…I know who you're based on…I knew it when I first saw you…I've never forgot those faces."

He stepped forward, towering right over them, his shadowy presence made the Nightmares feel small inside. "However….I know you are not the real thing….we both have the same goal, why else are we fighting on the same side."

He laughed.

"What is seen in the real world, can be misunderstood in the mind of a child."

He smiled, patting Nightmare Freddy on the head, something which he didn't particularly like. "I'm not gonna betray you guys, if that's what you're thinking."

_"Anyway…"_ Nightmare Chica muttered, looking away and letting the moment past.

_"We need to heal quickly."_

"Yeah and I don't have anything onboard that can do instant healing I'm afraid," Vincent replied scratching his head.

Then an idea came to Nightmare Foxy.

_"I have an idea….it might work, but do you guys remember…"_

He paused, trying to find the answer.

_"Nightmarione."_

The instant the words left his mouth, the other three Nightmares turned to face him, their eyes going wide with uncertainty. "_Her…and how would she be of help exactly?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked burtly to which Nightmare Foxy smiled in response.

_"She has powers…one of them might be healing, in all these years of knowing her we've never really asked what she's truly capable of."_

That was a fair point given the fact that the Nightmare Crew had spent most of their time watching over the child and waiting for the signal to act. "_You have a point there N-Foxy,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered, nodding in agreement.

_"I suppose we could go back and inform the others of recent events, although Nightmare Fredbear has properly told them already," _Nightmare Freddy suggested, thinking about the idea.

_"Well I'm for it, what other option to we really have,"_ Nightmare Foxy argued.

Slowly the others nodded, seeing how there was no real alternative or quick fix to their situation.

_"Ok, we'll sleep for as long as we need be,"_ Nightmare Freddy ordered.

"I'll keep the airship over Lake Michigen until you four wake up, got plenty of fuel in the tank so take your time, plus we need to plan our next move later," Vincent replied, sitting back down on his chair.

Nightmare Freddy smiled, his eyes glowing with an unexplainable joy.

_"Why not let them make the next move…for a change?"_ he asked in a delightful tone, throwing the option out there for discussion. "Indeed…perhaps it's better to leave the ball in their court…for now," Vincent replied, seeming to agree with Nightmare Freddy's suggestion.

The four Nightmares laid back, resting their heads against the pillows, meanwhile Vincent instructed several nearby endoskeletons to administer sleeping tablets to help the Nightmares drift off to sleep more easily. They knew how to get back, for them it was a simple route from reality to limbo and vice versa.

As they drifted off to sleep, one crucial question remained on their minds. Just how long would it take for their counterparts to put together the puzzle which was slowly being laid out.

Yet further still would they fully understand its interpretation upon completing it?

* * *

Toy Bonnie sighed in complete tranquillity as her skin soaked in the warm soapy bath water, this….was perfect…just what she needed. Once everyone had gone their separate ways, Chica had kindly offered to see to her shoulder wound, dousing it in TCP which hurt and dressing it in water proof bandages.

She also took time to administer treatment to the wounds on her lower back which she had received when Nightmare Bonnie had proceeded to slash her with her claws. The other Toys had also received treatment with Jeremy having to extract the bullet from Toy Freddy's shoulder…that wasn't an easy task in itself with him screaming throughout most of it.

Above all she was ok, allowing the warm bath water to refresh her aching limbs.

She wanted to stay in this bath forever…unfortunately she couldn't as Mangle wanted one next.

However, it did give her time to think and voice her opinions alone.

"There was something Toy Freddy wanted to tell me later?" she pondered, her mind flashing back to the moment when after pulling the glass shard out of her shoulder.

He had said there was something he wanted tell her…but not then and now.

Now she had remembered, she couldn't forget it…she wanted to know, it burned within her mind like a bonfire.

She hoped that he would say that he loved her like she loved him.

Dousing her hair in shampoo, she thought over the moments where she'd try to catch his attention, but Toy Freddy just didn't seem to notice. Either he was too busy trying to manage everyone else or his mind was elsewhere and Toy Bonnie had made several serious attempts to get his attention….very serious attempts.

She knew that the others had made comments about him having his head in the clouds and being oblivious...he was just never in the 'game'.

"Has he even noticed…for real?" she asked herself, for each time she failed, the more it hurt her inside. She then completely submerged herself underwater and allowed the water to wash away the shampoo, as she allowed her mind to wander over recent events.

_"Springtrap_ _ is _ _gone…Goldie hasn't woken up yet…and Vincent and his Nightmare friends are still loose."_

She rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"_What a day…"_

That was properly an understatement.

_"And I thought things couldn't get any stranger."_

She rose up, sitting fully upright as she broke through the surface of the bath water.

_"Hopefully something good can come out of all this."_

Her eyes narrowed as her mind flashed back to Nightmare Bonnie.

_"She will get what's coming to her…that sadisitic bitch."_

Nightmare Bonnie along with her friends nearly killed her family, nearly killed Toy Freddy and they would have done if they could. She wanted to kill them, to make them feel what she felt…it was only fitting.

"No...not now…not yet," she muttered, shaking her head and dismissing the army of negative thoughts.

Turning to look at the bathroom's clock she saw the time and decided that she should get out. Lifting herself out of the bath and wrapping herself in a bathrobe, she proceed to dry herself. "I must really thank Jeremy for letting us stay here, we've never really done anything for him in return for his hospitality."

She smiled as her mind drew on past memories.

"And to think we were about to kill him then," she chuckled, remembering the moment when she and the others had completely surrounded Jeremy who had his Freddy mask on and it was 5.59am.

They were literally about to take him away to be stuffed, Goldie had even brought the suit with him so they could do it there and now.

They were so close…then the clock chimed six and everyone had go back to their positions, the Toys on the stage, the Originals in the parts and services room and Jeremy immediately legged it for the exit, she had never seen him looked so relieved.

Then again, who wouldn't be when you were about to be stuffed alive into a suit, an old worn out prop suit to be specific. However and to be fair, she and other four were just playing a game to the pass the time, they had no real intention of actually killing Jeremy unlike the Originals.

Puppet however...she seemed to take on a more sinister personality at night.

How little did she and others know of what was truly going on until they got possessed themselves and then everything made sense.

Bonbon…are you done yet?" a voice called, followed by knocking on the bathroom door. "Almost Mangle, just let me get dressed…do you want me to pull the plug and let you run your own bath?" Toy Bonnie asked, pushing her inner thoughts aside to focus.

"Errr…no, I'll use the current water…it'll help save on Jeremy's water bills," Mangle replied.

"Good thinking," Toy Bonnie muttered, throwing the towel over her hair.

After rubbing off a sufficient amount of water, she got dressed in the new clothes she had brought in and then opened the door. She smiled at Mangle who was waiting patiently on the other side with her own change of clothes.

"Hey," she said, smiling back in a friendly manner.

In truth Mangle wasn't one for smiling given her troubled past, but when she did...she really did shine.

"Hey, the bath's yours," Toy Bonnie gestured, stepping aside to let her enter.

"Thanks Toy Bonnie," Mangle replied warmly, taking the initiative.

"Where are the others?"

Mangle turned around to face her.

"Oh, some are in the kitchen and the others are watching over Goldie in Freddy's and Bonnie's room, nothing really happening as of now."

"Oh…thanks," Toy Bonnie said, grinning as she turned to go with her hair swinging from side to side.

* * *

Several hours later…

They had been waiting….waiting for a sign….still there was nothing.

The sun was starting to set as Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy stared at the sleeping Goldie who lay on the bed.

Everything was quiet…yet the atmosphere in the room was tense as they watched his chest rise and fall.

"So…" Freddy began.

"Has anyone thought of what to tell Goldie when he wakes up?"

The others merely shook their heads.

"No captain, every sentence I've thought of will only end in tears," Foxy replied, his eyes remained downcast. "He'll be so happy when he wakes up though and it'll all just end in tragery again," Bonnie muttered.

"What do I say other than hey Goldie welcome back to reality, by the way your best friend Springtrap is dead!" Chica exclaimed, clearly the most nerevous out of all of them. "We'll have to tell him, lying would only make it worse," Freddy stated, his voice a plain monotone.

"Yeah, there's no easy way out of this…at least he's in the bliss of ignorance at the moment," Chica remarked, rubbing her hands together and trying to ignore her fears. "He'll ask where Springtrap is once he's woken up fully…I guess we could show him the body," Foxy suggested sorrowfully. That caused both Bonnie and Chica to turn in his direction, mouths wide open.

"What if Goldie has a mental breakdown upon seeing it, remember he has answers, no one has gone through what he has, just imagine what he's seen," Bonnie argued.

"He could answer so much, and I don't think he would even want to see the body," Chica added.

"If it meant starting closure for Goldie, then I think it would be a good thing for him," Freddy muttered, agreeing Foxy's suggestion.

He turned to face the others who in turn faced him.

"Goldie will want to tell us what he's seen and heard, he will also want to pay his last respects to his best friend…he deserves that and it would be wrong of us to deny him the chance."

Chica sighed, lowering her head.

"You're right, yes Goldie needs it, we all do," she said, agreeing with him. She then turned away and instantly she gasped with her eyes going wide with shock.

The others turned and they also gasped, their bodies freezing in place.

For there right in front of them was Goldie, sitting upright and eyes wide open.

"Oh…. Goldie…."

Freddy tired to smile.

"Hi."

"Hey Goldie how are you," Bonnie squeaked, clearly shocked.

"Welcome back to reality," Chica cheered, although she was struggling to smile.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Foxy asked, clasping his hands together and trying his best to look not surprised. Yet Goldie didn't respond to any of them, but rather stared at the four, his dark red eyes slowly shifting from one to the other, studying them in great depth.

For a moment, nothing happened as he just continued to stare at the people in front of him.

But slowly his expression changed…to one of anger, he narrowed his eyes.

"Goldie…what's wrong?" Freddy asked, clearly put off by Goldie's aggressive expression. Goldie shot him a glare of utter hatered, something Freddy himself had not seen in over thrity years.

"What have you done to him, what have you done to the child!"

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me Nightmare Freddy!"

Freddy's eyes widen as did the others.

"Wait, what!"

Then within an instant Goldie leapt off the bed and went straight for Freddy like a hawk on the warpath. Knocking Freddy straight to the floor, Goldie grabbed his throat and started to squeeze, cutting into Freddy's airways.

"GOLDIE, ITS ME FREDDY!" He shouted, trying to desperately pull Goldie's hands off his neck.

"GOLDIE IT'S US!" Bonnie shouted, trying to pull him off Freddy.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Chica screamed also attempting to yank Goldie away.

However, he merely turned round and smacked her right in the chest, knocking her onto the floor.

"GOLDIE WAKE UP!" Bonnie yelled, pulling on his hands to drag him off Freddy.

"I'VE SEEN SO MUCH, YOU JOINED FORCES WITH VINCENT TO PURSUE THE SAME GOAL, BUT WHY, I CAN ONLY GUESS!" Goldie screamed, putting more and more pressure onto Freddy's throat, effectively cutting off his breathing.

All Freddy could do was kick his legs aimlessly and thrash at Goldie's arms in a vailent attempt to free himself.

"YOU NIGHTMARES THINK YOU'RE SO TOUGH, WELL HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE COMPLETELY HELPLESS!" Goldie shouted, strangling Freddy so hard that his face was starting to go purple due to lack of oxygen. "GOLDIE, YOU'RE GONNA KILL HIM!" Bonnie yelled, yanking one of his hands off Freddy while Chica grabbed hold of the other.

Togther they pulled Goldie away from Freddy which enabled him to breathe once more.

Bonnie and Chica wrestled with Goldie trying to control him, but an angered Goldie was a dangerous Goldie. "GOLDIE WAKE UP!" Chica shouted, trying to tied him down, but Goldie shook her off and turned on Bonnie.

With a swift kick he swept her legs out from under her, sending her crashing to the floor, then Chica leapt onto his back, making Goldie temporarly lose his balance. Foxy meanwhile was looking round the room in desperation for something to use.

By now Goldie had thrown Chica off, having grabbed her by the collar and flinging her off, before turning to face Freddy once more. "You Nightmares are gonna reap what you've sowed!" "GOLDIE IS ME FREDDY, BONNIE, CHICA AND FOXY!" Freddy shouted, breathing heavily as he stood up.

Then Foxy saw something he could use.

Goldie's dark red eyes locked with Freddy's light blue.

"You're not Freddy, your Nightmare Freddy, I can see it clearly," he snarled.

He advanced on Freddy, raising his fists.

"You're going to pay for what you did to Freddy and Chica you cold hearted bastard!"

"I AM FREDDY AND THAT'S CHICA!" Freddy yelled, putting his fists up.

He really didn't want to fight Goldie, he really didn't.

Goldie was about to bring his fists against Freddy when there was a loud smack. Everything went silent as Goldie fell forward onto his knees and collapsed to the floor with a thud. Freddy saw Foxy standing above the now once again unconscious Goldie, holding a metal lamp shade.

Clearly he had just used it to knock Goldie out by smacking it hard against the back of his head.

"Sorry Goldie, but we don't want to fight you," he muttered, putting it back on the bedside table.

"Freddy are you ok?" Foxy asked, stepping around the unconscious Goldie.

"Yeah," Freddy answered, rubbing his aching neck.

"I'm fine, although my neck hurts like hell, but what on earth made him do that?"

"His mind must have been struggling to understand his short term memories in other words, when he woke up he wasn't fully aware where he was, his mind must have recreated a scene involving him and the Nightmares, hence why he attacked us," said Bonnie as Chica pulled her up.

"Still I never knew Goldie was that strong, he nearly took us all out." There was groaning as Goldie stirred, everyone stepped back in case he tired to attack them again. Slowly Goldie lifted his head, opening his eyes, only now his expression was noticeably one of confusion and dizziness.

Sitting upright, he looked around, unsure of his surroundings.

Eventfully his eyes fell on Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy who all looked nervous, backing away with their fists raised, excepting a fight.

"Bonnie…. Foxy….Chica….Freddy?" he asked, slowly standing up on both feet.

"Goldie…you can see us?" Chica hesitantly asked, still keeping her fists up.

He slowly nodded.

"Yes…I can see you."

Everyone slowly lowered their fists, letting their hands fell naturally by their side.

Freddy stepped forward, he held out his hand, Goldie grasped it. "Welcome back to reality Goldie," he stated, as he shook Goldie's hand. However, Goldie decided to make things more personal and he pulled Freddy into a hug, enjoying his comfort and the sensation of being back.

He beckoned the others to join in, pulling them into the hug as well. For all five them, time appeared to stand still as they all embraced one another, hugging their mentor, tutor and father figure.

To them Goldie was family, they owed a lot to him.

Nothing moved, no one spoke, allowing the moment overtake them, each one was overjoyed inside that Goldie was back…and that he wasn't attacking them.

"So Goldie…..how do you feel?" Foxy asked, being the first to break the silence.

Goldie smiled.

"I'm fine, Foxy…it's good to be back."

"Ok, I know you've just come back, but we need to tell the others," Chica said, breaking off from the hug. She turned and ran to the bedroom door, threw it open, cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled at the top of her voice.

"GOLDIE'S BACK, HE'S UP!"

Instantly wherever they were in the house, everyone picked up on the message.

The Toys who were upstairs playing cards in the loft stopped what they were doing and ran down the stairs. Toy Chica was so desperate to see Goldie that she nearly killed herself running down the steps, even shoving her family members aside.

"Excuse me, out of way, coming through!"

Upon reaching the room, Toy Freddy was about to enter and shake Goldie's hand.

"Goldie it's so good to see yo-"

Then he was knocked aside by a crazy Toy Chica.

"GOLDIEEEEEEE!"

She was clearly in fangirl mode.

She ran forward and leapt at him, Goldie's expression slowly changed from one of happyines to one of pure terror as Toy Chica closed in. She wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head into his chest and giggling like a school girl.

"YOU'RE BACK, YOU'RE BACK, YOU'RE ACTUALLY BACK!"

Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy had stepped away with Freddy turning to Toy Freddy and mouthing the words.

'Does she have a thing for him?'

Toy Freddy who was pushing himself off the floor, only nodded and rolled his eyes in slight annoyance.

'You think!' he mouthed back.

Then the other Toys arrived, along with Mike, Jeremy, Balloon Boy and the Puppet. They all stared at Goldie, their eyes unable to accept the hard-cold fact that he was now up and walking about. Toy Chica was still hugging him, acting like a corba and squeezing him in her iron grip.

Toy Freddy approached the pair and made a noise with his throat, catching their attention.

"Toy Chica…could we hug him now?" he asked, looking right at her in order to point out the obvious.

Instantly Toy Chica appeared to drop out of fangirl mode and then realized the message she was sending out to everyone. Needless to say, Toy Bonnie and Mangle were grinning at her, they even wolf whistled just to make the scene that bit more awkward for her. Now blushing bright red, she released Goldie from her grip and slowly stepped back, moving herself right out of the picture.

"Goldie, its' great to see you back in one piece, both mind and body," Toy Freddy remarked, stepping forward to shake his hand.

That comment caused the Originals to chuckled among themsleves, Toy Freddy hadn't seen what had occurred earlier when Goldie thought they were the Nightmares and attacked them.

Toy Bonnie and Mangle hugged Goldie, greatly enjoying his physical presence to which Balloon Boy and the Puppet joined in.

Finally, Mike and Jeremy took their turn, each individually embracing Goldie.

"God, I've missed you Goldie," Mike muttered.

"It's been hard keeping the others in line."

That earned an annoyed groan from the others to which Mike smiled.

They were so easy to wind up.

Jeremy hugged Goldie, patting him on the back. "Glad your back, it just isn't the same without you," he said, relieved that the death toll from their rescue mission wasn't any higher. Goldie smiled as he looked around, he was so happy to see them all, alive and well.

Until he noticed that someone was missing…someone very important to him.

"Where's Springtrap?"

The sound of glass shattering into a million pieces would be the best description for the mood dropping in the room. Everything went quiet as everyone apart from Goldie froze in whatever expression they had on.

"Where is Springtrap?" Goldie asked again, looking around.

"Why isn't he here?"

Everyone casted glances at eachother, unsure of what to say. Understandly they didn't want to be the first to break the news.

"Goldie…" Chica started, looking down at the floor.

"You see," Puppet muttered, rubbing her arms in discomfort and joining Toy Chica in staring down at the floor. "Springtrap…he got you back…." Mangle couldn't even finish her sentence with her voice trailing off into nothing.

"However, he had received terrible injuries from Nightmare Fredbear when he was in control and…"

Mike sighed…This was difficult, properly one of the most hardest things for a person to do…to tell someone that their loved one was dead. "We try our best to seal his wounds, we did everything we could…but…" Toy Bonnie looked away, she couldn't bring herself say it.

Goldie was confused, his eyes looked around at everyone and saw nothing but depression wherever he looked.

"The bleeding was too much…his wounds...were too great," Freddy mumbled.

"Goldie…Springtrap is dead."

Instantly the moment those words hit Goldie, he spun round to find the source….to see Balloon Boy staring at him, his bright blue eyes brimming with tears.

"Goldie…he's dead."

Everyone looked at BB, unable to believe that he was one who had just broke the truth to Goldie. Complete and utter silence followed with Goldie just staring at Balloon Boy with a blank unreadable expression.

"We're sorry Goldie, we did all what we could…to save him."

Balloon Boy lowered his head and sighed with an unquestionable amount of sorrow.

"If you wish to see him…. he's in the lounge."

Goldie much to the surprise of everyone started to laugh, chuckling to himself. "Oh, BB you joker, it's just like you to try and make me laugh after a horrible experience."

Balloon Boy held his cold stone gaze, the sad part was that he wasn't joking….how could he? Goldie continued to laugh, struggling to contain himself, either he really thought that everyone was telling him a bad joke or he didn't want to believe what he had just been told.

"Ok, ok, ok, ok, where is he, where's Springtrap?"

Goldie looked around only to see the same sad faces.

"Come on, where are you guys hiding him?"

Goldie's playful attitude towards not fully understanding the situation was tearing everyone up inside. "Guys…seriously, where is he?" he asked, becoming more stern as his happyiness faded away to be replaced with worry.

"Goldie…he's dead," Toy Bonnie answered, lowering her head. "He's isn't coming back," Chica added, trying hard not to look Goldie square in the face.

Goldie's bear ears dropped, everyone was nodding…that could only mean one thing.

"Spring…dead…but…"

His eyes narrowed…he knew how and he knew who did it.

"We've put him down in the lounge, do you…. want to see him?" Toy Freddy asked, concerned over Goldie's mental welbeing. Considering that he had been recently used as a vessel for his Nightmarish counterpart, he could snap and Toy Freddy was ready to restrain him if it was required.

Goldie sighed, swaying his head from left to right, unsure of what kind of answer to give.

"Yes…. it's for the best…I want to see him."

"Are you sure?" Jeremy asked, opening the door to the hall.

"Yes," Goldie replied rather sternly, turning in his direction.

Taking the opportunity before him, Goldie marched through and went straight for the lounge with everyone else following close behind in case he broke down and or in the Originals' case attacked them…again.

The door to the lounge was swung right open, all the way with Goldie casting a long dark shadow over the wooden floor boards.

Upon letting light into the room his vision cleared.

Casting his eyes and left and right, they fell upon the motionless figure covered by a white sheet. Slowly he walked forward, eyes locked, fingers trembling, he could feel his heart banging against his rib cage.

The others watched from the doorway, all twelve of them, observing Goldie and the sheet covered figure that lay upon the floor. Goldie was shaking, his breathing was tense as he got down on his hands and knees. With his hands still trembling, he reached out and grabbed hold of the sheet. Yet for a moment, he was unsure of whether he really wanted to see what was underneath, his best friend…dead.

To the others, Goldie appeared to go stiff and unresponsive.

He sighed and shook his head, dismissing his thoughts.

_"No…I need to see this…respect for him."_

With one swift motion, he pulled the sheet back, revealing what he feared.

Springtrap covered in black bruises, open dired up wounds and looked like he had been dragged through hell. His eyes were closed, thank God, Goldie knew he couldn't cope with Springtrap's dead greyish green pupils looking back at him.

"Spring…are you really gone?"

No answer, which in itself was effectively an answer.

Yes..he was gone.

Grasping his cold lifeless hands, interlocking his fingers with his, Goldie struggled to keep himself together.

"Your silly sod, you shouldn't have come for me…I do worry about you…getting yourself hurt, but it was good of you to come."

"What is he doing exactly?" Balloon Boy asked, looking confused by Goldie's words.

"He's speaking to him as he were alive."

"It's called griefing laddie, it works in different ways for everyone," Foxy answered, keeping his voice low so not to interrupt Goldie's moment.

"After all Spring…it's not as if you had a personal motive for coming to save me," Goldie muttered, feeling his eyes well up with tears. He could easily guess why Springtrap had come to save him, but Springtrap himself would never confirm it.

"Its ok I know why you came Spring, I just wish I could have regained control sooner, it would have as you said…. spared you a beating," Goldie whispered, keeping a firm grip on Springtrap's hand. He struggled to breathe, feeling a lump form in his throat, as his vision started to blur with tears. "I'm glad that you decided not to hate me after all…"

He started to sob with his entire body shaking all over.

"I won't forget you…my friend….my brother…"

He let the flood gates open as he pulled Springtrap upright and hugged him, burying his head into his shoulder.

"I won't let anyone forget you."

Then he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Goldie…I know how you feel."

It was Freddy.

"Even though I only knew him for several days…."

He struggled to find the right words admist Goldie's sobbing.

"I'm glad that I got to know him…. he will be greatly missed."

"Same here," said another voice, with a pair of arms pulling Goldie into an warm embrace.

Toy Chica cradled Goldie, slowly rocking him and stroking his hair to comfort him.

"I miss him too."

She didn't care what anyone thought of her feelings for Goldie...there was no room for it now. By now everyone else had gathered round, all looking at the heart wretching scene.

"Goldie, are you handling this ok?" Bonnie asked, watching with growing concern as Goldie wept.

"Yes…," he answered, regaining control of himself.

"I'm fine…mostly."

"Listen Goldie, we thought it was for the best that with you being Springtrap's best friend…"

Mike sighed as he sat down, so he was at eye level with Goldie. "You get to decide what to do with him, you knew him best."

That fact didn't surprise Goldie, although understandly it wasn't something he had given any proper thought too. "I don't know…maybe he would have wanted to be buried…I didn't get to ask him," Goldie replied, still shaking all over.

"Give it some thought, nothing will happen to Springtrap without your say so," Toy Freddy stated warmly, patting him on the shoulder.

It was then that Puppet decided to bring something up.

"Well…I suppose I could say this to cheer you up, but before he died Springtrap wanted us to tell you that he forgave you for abandoning him in the past…it was why he came back for you."

She smiled a little as Goldie turned in her direction.

"He wanted to fix the past too, he said that he felt like he finally belonged somewhere…with us."

"He did?" Goldie asked, looking round to see several nods from the other comfriming the Puppet's words. That proved what he had been hoping for was Springtrap's reason for coming back…that he forgave him.

"I just wish that I could have saved him…like he saved me," Goldie muttered, eyes downcast.

Freddy hugged him as did the others.

"Hey…I know how you feel, we all do, he came back because he loved you, deep down he truly did."

"I wanted to save him too, but he's a better place now and away from the evil of this world," said Mangle, casting her eyes aside, unable to look at Springtrap anymore. Her mind as uncomfortable as it made her feel wandered onto her confession from earlier.

_"But we won't get to know him like you did..."_

"Speaking of evil…" Foxy muttered, gathering his thoughts together.

"What actually happened to you Goldie, how did Nightmare Fredbear take control?"

Everyone felt Goldie go tense as harsh memories came flooding back.

Slowly he rose up.

"Goldie…you ok?" Jeremy asked, watching him rise.

"Yes, I'm fine…"

He sighed deeply.

"You all properly want to know, I shouldn't be at all surprised by your question Foxy, I have much to tell…the things I've seen…it's like a door has been opened."

The others also got up, ready to leave.

"We should go to the kitchen, and discuss things there," Chica stated.

"BB, can you and Puppet pull the sheet back over Springtrap…please?" Toy Bonnie ordered.

"Yeah…" Balloon Boy replied, trying his best not to look at Springtrap's motionless corpse.

"We can do that."

Together the two of them slowly pulled the white sheet over Springtrap.

"Rest in peace SpringBonnie," Puppet whispered, as Balloon Boy drew the Christain cross across his chest. "Ok, let's recap on the events so far," said Mike sitting down at the head of the table with a fresh cup of coffee.

"Goldie was kidnapped by the Nightmares, they took him to Vincent who somehow I guess changed him into Nightmare Fredbear and then we turned up shortly afterwards, Springtrap took Nightmare Fredbear on, got him back, but…"

He sighed mournfully.

"He died as a result."

"Why do I get the feeling and tell me if you guys are feeling it too…that there appears to be more now to what's been going on for the past thrity so years than there was previously," Freddy suggested.

"I feel the exact same way Freddy," Toy Chica muttered, slowly nodding her head in agreement.

"We thought we knew everything…but now…it's clear that we don't."

"It's because of what Nightmare Fredbear said, isn't it?" Bonnie asked, turning in Freddy's direction.

"What was that?" Goldie asked, following her gaze.

"Something along the lines of…."

Freddy paused to think.

"Something about…. there might be more to why things turned out…. the way they did."

"Yes, captain he definitely said that, he also mentioned something about an event that happened…in….19….83….and that he…"

"Represented Goldie's darkest secret," Bonnie added, giving Foxy the answer he needed.

"Cheers lassie," Foxy grinned, giving her a wink.

Goldie sighed, lowering his head.

"How are we sure that he's telling the truth, what if he made it up to confuse us?" Mangle asked. "I wouldn't put it pass any of them Nightmares to lead us on a goose chase," Puppet muttered.

"More like a dead end if we're honest," said Toy Freddy, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his back. He had to be careful when moving his right shoulder, although Mike had been able to remove the bullet and bandaged it up, it would require a good length of time to heal.

So, that meant no sudden movements, unless it was absolutely necessary.

"We don't know why they're with Vincent, they properly won't even tell us why, Nightmare Fredbear could be trying to mislead us," Mike argued. "The Nightmares appear to be masters of deception, there must be a reason, but it's likely that we'll never know," Balloon Boy added.

"We will know..."

Everyone turned to Goldie, his hands clasped together, his expression now blank and unreadable.

"Nightmare Fredbear wasn't lying…what he said was true…completely true."

"Wait…so…" Jeremy began, confused like everyone else.

"Something did happen in 1983?"

Goldie only nodded.

"All we know that happened in 1983 was the First Missing Children's Incident," Chica pointed out to which many others nodded in agreement.

"It wasn't the only incident in 1983," Goldie muttered, eyes downcast.

"Nightmare Fredbear said he represented your darkest secret…what is it exactly?" Freddy asked, clearly curious.

"As you all know…I have made several mistakes in my life, some very bad, my treatment of Springtrap for example."

He paused to gather his thoughts and form his next words.

"I've tried my best to protect you all from the past, but now you know everything."

He sighed deeply.

"Apart from one thing."

Everyone was focused on listening, wary yet curious to learn more.

"This is something which only I and maybe a few former staff members know of, but no one else outside the incident knows…"

His eyes narrowed.

"Not even Springtrap knows…for obvious reasons."

"So, what happened in 1983?" Foxy asked, leaning in.

"Nightmare Fredbear said it had terrible conquences for all of us."

"I think that's now an understatement considering recent events," Goldie replied solemnly.

"At first I didn't think it held much significance, but now with what's happened and with certain words being exchanged…I think it might be the root cause for everything."

Everyone's eyes widen with the thought of finally getting to know the truth behind all this chaos and misery.

With everyone looking at him and his mind ready to rely the infamous event, Goldie started to tell his dark story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FNAF fans know where this is going...  
And yes, I am including the Halloween Nightmares in this story to balance the numbers, not the Jackolatens Nightmares though, to me they're just Nightmares Bonnie and Chica but with a reskin design.  
Please review.  
Next chapter should be up sometime later this week.


	25. The Bite of 83 and Homecoming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the other chapter as promised, now we are really getting into the lore of FNAF, the story's timeline and other places within this story's universe.  
The past certainly likes to cast long dark shadows.  
Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I have missed.
> 
> Enjoy...

** Chapter 25. **

** The Bite of 83 and Homecoming. **

_ **"All secrets become deep, all secrets become dark, that's in the nature of secrets."** _

_ **Cory Doctorow** _

_Around the same time within the realm of Limbo…_

At first there was nothing to be seen, just pure darkness…apart from one little thing.

A house, just a house floating about in the pitch blackness, unseen and unheard.

It wasn't big or small for that matter, just a normal family sized home. Its windows were closed and locked, its curtains untouched and there were no lights on inside.

Everything within this dark barren world was silent, dull and hidden away from prying eyes. Then the front door swung open with a strong gust of cold uninviting wind and there was a bright flash of white light.

Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy flashed into existence out of thin air, all looking very dazed and confused as their feet landed on the soft blue carpet.

_"Woah, I don't like the trip back to this place, it always makes me feel sick,"_ Nightmare Bonnie moaned, stumbling as she clutched her stomach.

_"At least it's quick dear,"_ Nightmare Chica replied, patting her on the back for comfort as the Nightmare struggled to contain her body's refluxes. "_Come on lassies, we're here with a mission,"_ Nightmare Foxy stated, shaking his head as the effects of the trip started to wore off.

_"Indeed, they'll want to know why we've suddenly returned,"_ Nightmare Freddy said, dusting himself clean of cobwebs and thick dust.

_"Good God this place has never got a proper clean."_

His dark red eyes focused on the various hallways that lead in all sort of directions. _"Come on, it's this way." _

They walked down one particular corridor, normally if someone was to be in a place like this they would be scared shitless. However these people were Nightmares and this place was their home...as old and dusty as it was.

_"They'll__ all__ be in the child's bedroom, well most of them might be,"_ said Nightmare Chica, her eyes wandering from one dark shadow to the next. _"I know that I'm currently walking, but back in the real world my body is lying down, unable to move its legs."_

_"That's the big difference between our spirits and the bodies we use to exist in their world, what affects the body doesn't affect the spirit however in the spirit world our abilities are unlimited," _Nightmare Freddy replied. He then paused for a moment before speaking again. _"Unless the body were to be destroyed, I remember being told that the spirit ends getting impacted by the damage when it leaves the body as it dies, it's basically an aftereffect."_

_"However moving onto other things I fear we've lost now the initiative, the power of surprise is gone."_

Nightmare Bonnie turned to Nightmare Freddy and muttered rather plainly.

_"You basically used it all up."_

_"Hey, I was the only one up and about at the time and I think I did pretty well on my own,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied burtly, turning to face her, determined to defend his past conduct.

_"Yeah you got the Originals to break up for two days and that's it,"_ Nightmare Foxy muttered in a somewhat sneering tone.

_"You deserve a noble bell prize captain."_

_"I put the fear of God into Chica, Freddy and the Puppet for that matter thank you very much," _Nightmare Freddy argued, growling ever more in his defiance.

_"And they put the fear of God into us…when they were about to kill us," _Nightmare Chica stated, her eyes narrowing in anger as the feeling of utter helplessness came racing back.

_"They're a clever bunch, they're learning and we need to change our tactics."_

_"Agreed, the Toys were far easier to take out, until the Orignals intervened and wrecked everything,"_ Nightmare Freddy moaned, unhappy about the miss of scoring a complete victory.

_"They find it so easy in their little world where everything is ordered and defined, I would like to see them struggle in our world, without their guns and-"_

Nightmare Bonnie stopped completely in her tracks, making Nightmare Foxy bump into her from behind. "_What the hell woman!"_ he yelled, clearly annoyed.

A sick but delightful smile appeared on Nightmare Bonnie's lips as she flexed her claws and gritted her sharp teeth. Slowly but steadily a dark chuckle came out of her throat, she started to laugh, gripping her head as her sweet sadistic voice bounced off the walls.

_"What's so funny honey?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, eyeing the giggling Nightmare Bonnie.

_"Don't you get it…don't you guys understand what we can do if we were to put our powers together as one?"_ Nightmare Bonnie replied, still laughing.

Then it clicked inside the minds of the other three Nightmares, who instantly smiled once they caught on to Nightmare Bonnie's meaning.

_"Why of course,"_ Nightmare Foxy shouted, face palming himself.

_"Why didn't we do it before!" _

_"Your full of ideas aren't you N-Bonnie?" _Nightmare Freddy asked, amused.

_"Well one does have her moments of genius," _Nightmare Bonnie replied, smiling smugly.

Nightmare Chica folded her arms and rolled her eyes. "_Whatever, as good it as is don't we have certain people to meet?" _she asked, reminding everyone of their reason for coming back.

_"Well I'm sure they'll like my idea,"_ Nightmare Bonnie commented gleefully, straightening her hair. They continued to walk down the corridor, passing various framed pictures all of which were frozen images of the child with his family, his life when he was one among the living.

Before he underwent complete and utter hell and passed into this world.

While doing so, something caught Nightmare Chica's eye, making her freeze in place…which unfortunately meant Nightmare Foxy bumping in her from behind.

_"What the hell is it with you women and stopping abruptly!"_ he cursed, throwing his arms up in frustration.

_"Look…"_ was all Nightmare Chica said, completely the Nightmare as she pointed forward. Everyone's eyes followed hers and saw a clear wooden framed mirror standing on one side of the hallway.

_"How odd, I've never seen that before,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, questioning its existence.

_"We haven't been back often remember, things might have changed since we last left,"_ Nightmare Bonnie added, walking forward.

_"This house isn't what one would call 'normal'..."_

She examined herself in the mirror, wanting to see if anything about her appearance had changed since leaving the Nightmare world that was this lifeless plane of existence called limbo. Nightmare Chica also joined her, taking a good look at herself.

_"Huh, women, they always need a mirror,"_ Nightmare Foxy sarcastically moaned, rolling his eyes. He then saw that Nightmare Freddy had also gone and joined the pair.

_"Oh you too, didn't know you had a thing for fashion N-Freddy,"_ Nightmare Foxy called.

Nightmare Freddy smiled as he straighten his tattered top hat.

_"One likes to have secrets N-Foxy."_

As the three Nightmares stared at their reflections, Vincent's words on their appearance came racing back.

_"Everytime I look at you four, I am reminded of them…the Originals."_

And now looking back at themselves, they can see why he said it.

They did hold a certain similarity, holding a very strong likeness to their counterparts.

Nightmare Foxy joined in, staring at himself, examing his features.

_"I am just another version of Foxy?" _he asked plainly, seeing the similarity.

He had it all, the clothes, the ears, the hook, and the eyepatch.

_"Am I in his shadow?"_

_"No,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered, his eyes fixed on that of his reflection.

_"I am my own_ _ shadow_ _…and no one else's."_

_"I am not a lesser version of Bonnie," _Nightmare Bonnie growled.

_"And I am not like Chica, I am who I am," _Nightmare Chica muttered. Then without any warning she smashed the mirror with her claw like fist, although the mirror didn't shatter in a million pieces as one would be expect it did crack, badly distorting their reflections.

_"WHAT THE HELL!" _Nightmare Freddy yelled taken back by Nightmare Chica's sudden rage.

_"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?"_

However Nightmare Chica didn't appear to notice, staring longely at her twristed reflection.

_"What am I_ _ truly though_ _…twisted…monsterous…vile…feared…an expression of utter rage and hatered…"_

Slowly blood started to drop onto the floor, dripping from the wounds that had been cut into her hand with the mirror's glass.

_"Why am I here…why do I feel such rage towards my counter oppsites…why do I want to kill everything that I come across?"_

Although she couldn't see it, her words were arousing questions within the other Nightmares who stared at their shattered reflections, seeing their stretched and fragmeneted forms look back at them.

_"Just what are we?"_ Nightmare Chica asked.

She suddenly laughed, her sudden outburst catching the others by surprise.

_"It's funny because it so easily defined."_

Slowly she removed her bleeding hand from the hole she had created.

_"I am who I am because I was made this way, people will alway see me as the villain, the monster hiding under their beds, behind their doors."_

Her eyes briefly flickered over to Nightmare Foxy.

_"Inside their closets."_

_"What are you saying?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked, although she could easily guess the answer.

_"We are like this, because it's who we are, who we are based on…we'll never be normal because we can't be normal…we are Nightmares from a bad dream made real,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered.

She sighed, lowering her head.

_"All I want to do is exist…the Originals exist…the Toys exist…but I don't, I need a physical host to exist, otherwise I am nothing."_

_"I'm linked to this place and should it ever go...then I go with it."_

She turned to face the others.

_"Can't you all feel it…the undeinable sense…of your own mortality?"_

_"I feel it," _Nightmare Freddy answered, darting his eyes away from Nightmare Chica's sorrowful expression.

_"I am not immortal…I felt death's hand when they were about to shoot us back at the factory."_

_"Same here…I felt fear…for the first time," _Nightmare Bonnie muttered, hugging herself as the fear crept over her.

She casted her gaze to the floor.

_"I didn't like it."_

_"Nightmares aren't suppose to feel fear, they are fear itself,"_ Nightmare Foxy argued, although he couldn't deny that he had felt the same thing. They looked at their broken reflections, wondering the reason for their existence.

_"All we know is hate and rage, a love for killing others, an obsession…it's all I know," _Nightmare Chica muttered, her eyes glowing with currousity.

_"I want to be real, yet I am not real, I don't really exist, should my body die I will merely return here and be trapped like the others."_

Nightmare Freddy stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder…in a sense offering her comfort.

_"Vincent told me that the others hate us for who we are…they see us as a threat to their existence, they'll dislike what we like…so we must get them before they get us."_

_"I can see his point, we're psychopaths compared to them" _Nightmare Bonnie muttered, twirling her hair with her fingers.

_"It's either kill or be killed in this deadly neverending game that we play," _Nightmare Foxy stated.

He sighed.

_"Only now we are starting to feel like prey."_

Nightmare Chica clutched her bleeding hand, watching the blood run across her skin. _"I am alive, I bleed therefore I exist and if the universe condemns me to be the villain in both mind and body then what's I'll be, if we cannot be accepted then we'll make the world ours, we'll be the masters of our own fate."_

Slowly a smile crept its way onto Nightmare Freddy's face.

_"I like it when you go all Shakespearean Nightmare Chica, you really_ _ do_ _ have a thing with words."_

Nightmare Chica turned and smiled, her orangely yellow eyes glowing with pride and sadistic mischief…gone was the sorrowful expression and sad eyes.

_"I am who I am Nightmare Freddy, I can't deny it, we four have expericed new things, yes we fear death…but so do the others."_

_"AND WE'LL MAKE THEM RULE THE DAY THEY TIRED TO KILL US!"_ Nightmare Foxy yelled, slashing his hook against the wall, leaving a noticeable deep gash behind in the wallpaper, his brownish redish eyes displayed a strong vicious anger. _"WE'LL PLAY ALL THE RIGHT CARDS, GIVE THEM WHAT THEY EXCEPT!" _Nightmare Bonnie shouted, clapping her hands in delight as her purplish blue eyes gleamed with excitement. Nightmare Freddy laughed, he was glad that the rest of his family had refound their pride and determination. "_We will…we will, we aren't immortal, we may die in these bodies, we will remain here and even if they are able to vanquish us completely."_

His dark red eyes glowed with a sense of passion and enjoyment.

_"We'll make them fight for every inch of ground…yes we've suffered setbacks, even felt overwhelmed sometimes."_

He clelched his claws into fists.

_"Yet we are still here, what doesn't kill us will only make us stronger and believe me guys, we will make them regret not killing us."_

_"Next time we meet, no more beating about the bush,"_ Nightmare Bonnie added, running her finger along her throat, as she ran her tongue along her two sets of teeth.

_"Unless is required."_

_"We'll make them fear us, fear all of us," _said Nightmare Foxy, baring his fangs.

_"Let's use our mistakes to our advantage…after all," _Nightmare Chica hissed, flashing her three rows of sharp teeth.

_"Goldie said we had huge egos…let's change his opinon and show the world just what we are fully capable of." _

"_We are nightmares, it's a fact, we are untamed, chaos unleashed, the monsters inside your head..."_

Then Nightmare Freddy spun round and smashed the mirror with his fist. The glass broke and shattered into millions upon millions of pieces, falling to the floor. "_AND WE'LL ALWAYS COME BACK!" _He roared, with his three Freddy Heads sliding out of his suit and letting out an ear wrenching shriek.

The Nightmares smiled, self doubt was disappearing, the panic was over...they were back to form.

Nightmare Freddy stood up tall and straighted his bow tie and top hat. "_And I also feel like putting on a show, come let's see to the others." _He walked forward, followed by Nightmare Bonnie and Nightmare Foxy. They then all noticed that Nightmare Chica wasn't with them and looked back to see her staring down at the broken glass that littered the floor.

She slowly looked up and turned in their direction.

_"Was it weak of me…to show self doubt."_

Nightmare Bonnie approached her.

_"No dear it wasn't…after all, having self doubt only shows that you are real and have independent thought," _she said holding out her hand for Nightmare Chica to take.

_"Besides as long as you have a conscious you do exist even without a physical body."_

Nightmare Chica smiled, gripping her hand.

_"Hey ladies, we've got things that need sorting out so come on, the faster we get this done the quicker we can go back," _Nightmare Foxy called. _"Yeah, yeah, but some self discussion can really go a long way,"_ Nightmare Bonnie replied, walking up to them. _"You know what, I think we do have something in common with our enemies,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, as they started to walk.

_"And what's that exactly?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, looking back to see if the other two were following.

Nightmare Freddy turned round to face him.

He smiled once more, his dark red eyes displaying a spark of sudden realization.

_"We treat one another as family…we stick together no matter what happens..."_

Together as one they set off down the corrider towards the child's bedroom and an unexpected reunion.

* * *

"As most of you already know my old name is Fredbear and you've always wanted to know why I refused to tell you anything about my past until recently."

Everyone listened closely to Goldie's words, leaning in to get as close as possible.

"I was called Fredbear back when I performed with Springtrap in Fredbear's Family Diner, however I didn't cease to be a performer for children."

That last bit made everyone feel confused, however Goldie continued.

He turned to the Originals.

"Do you four remember somewhere back in early 1983 before the Missing Children's Incident that I wasn't always there at the Prizzia?"

"Yeah…now that I think about it you did disappear quite often, sometimes you would vanish for days on end," Chica replied, replaying old memories in her head.

"I remember when I asked you where you had gone and you said it was a on business trip to promote the company," Bonnie stated.

Goldie nodded.

"It's wasn't a complete lie, I was promoting something, a new franchise that was closely linked to the current Fazbear Prizzia…Fredbear and Friends."

"Fredbear…..and Friends..." Mike said slowly digesting his words.

"Why does that sound like an 1980s sit com."

"So wait there was another Prizzia in 1983…and we didn't know about this because?" Freddy asked, gesturing over to Goldie.

"Under the orders of Fazbear Entertainment you four weren't to know, I would have told you if I could but I wasn't allowed to, plus after the incident that occured there it was kept under lock and key and shortly wiped off the record," Goldie replied.

"Only a few like me know, it was a closed incident."

"So you were performing again, that's great right?" BB asked, unsure of whether to smile at the prospect of Goldie being back on stage.

Goldie however did smile.

"It was at first, being able to play for the kids and brighten their day...however."

His face suddenly darken, wiping away the smile that had existed previously.

"It wasn't great for me on the whole…beside the incident."

"Why, by then you're back on form and doing what you loved?" Mangle asked.

"Because of what had happened back at Fredbear's Family Diner, the company was scared of me breaking down, they knew I was the most stable of the two, I mean Springtrap was locked away so I was the next best thing."

"Hang on, why would they want to bring back a performer who by location is associated with a child's murder?" Jeremy asked.

"Again it's down to profit, it had only been about…five years since the Diner had shut down, I was still known back then in the minds of children and the company considered that they might as well as bring me back," Goldie answered, trying to follow the timeline as correctly as possible. "However, they didn't want to risk me breaking down on stage, so they decided that I should undergo an intense psychological procedure that made me only focus on performing and nothing else."

He shook his head.

"They did all sorts of things, effectively if you were to interact with me back then I would be a like robot."

"That goes against your human rights…bastards!" Toy Freddy yelled, slamming his fists down on the table.

Instantly Toy Bonnie reached across and put her hands on his to calm him down.

"Please Toy Freddy…just wait for Goldie to finish."

Previously and on many occasions Toy Freddy wouldn't have reacted much to Toy Bonnie touching him…until recently.

He could feel his heart start to race as his skin enjoyed the warm sensation of Toy Bonnie's hands, which only made his heart race faster as he tired his best not to tremble. "Toy Freddy…are you ok?" Toy Bonnie asked, noticing a change in his body behaviour.

Seeing those bright light green eyes look at him made his heart beat to the speed of a marathon, filling his ears with the loud 'ka-thump, ka-thump, ka-thump' rhythm.

"Yeah…I'm fine Bonbon," Toy Freddy replied, smiling to hide his nervousness.

Toy Bonnie's eyes widen in surpise at his use of her nickname.

"_He's never call me by my nickname before."_

If anyone were to be looking at the pair, they might guess the chemical signals that were being sent, however everyone was too busy focusing on Goldie to pay any sufficient attention. "The procedure worked and I performed perfectly without error which in its self was a good thing…however…."

Goldie lowered his head and his bear ears dropped.

"What they did next…although it done was for the children's sake, I considered it be a personal insult."

He raised his head, revealing a sorrowful expression with sad eyes.

"Why, what did they do?" Puppet asked.

"They…they made a new Springtrap," Goldie answered.

"WHAT!" was basically everyone's reaction as their jaws hit the table in shock. "They decided that I needed a partner and since Springtrap had been my partner but he wasn't available they made a robotic version of him instead," Goldie muttered, recalling his memories of the newer Springtrap.

He chuckled.

"Oh they put so much effort into making him just like the original, gave him some of Springtrap's clothes, made his skin feel like real skin and filled his data core with a copy of Springtrap's personality which they had gathered from all kinds of sources."

Goldie smiled, remembering their first meeting.

"They even gave him the ability to eat, drink, sleep and do all the other things that a normal person could do."

"They really wanted him to look and act as humanly as possible for the crowds, so they built him with a special ability, with a crank mechanism a trained member of staff could push the cross beam endoskeleton frame aside and step inside the suit and then the suit would act according to his movements, the user effectively became the suit."

Freddy put his hand to his head, struggling quite understandably to process this new information.

"So a staff member could operate the suit, if done right?" he asked.

Goldie nodded in confirmation.

"That's right, as well programed as the new Springtrap was, he would lack a certain touch, I mean he was great with the kids, but they needed to make him seem more realistic."

Then he lowered his head again.

"However I knew that everytime I interacted with him, the real Springtrap was somewhere locked away in the darkness."

He smiled a little.

"He could only remember up to the day before the child was killed outside the old diner so it was as if nothing had happened."

He paused to gather his thoughts together, trying to remember everything was hard.

"Most of the time that I looked at him, I saw the real Springtrap on his knees begging for my help…at times it was utter torture, yet I kept my head up high and kept on performing."

"Yet even though I knew he wasn't real and that underneath his face was a machine with a voice box talking back, I let myself believe that he was real…so things would go back to normal."

Without even being asked, he answered a question which he suspected was on everyone's mind.

"Yes…I was that desperate to go back to better times, I wanted to believe…so badly."

Everyone could sense his sadness, the situation which he had been locked into.

"So I lived a double life, when I was back at Freddy's Fazbear's Prizzia I was Goldie, but when I entered Fredbear and Friends I was Fredbear."

"I remember the four of us, our faces pressed up against the window glass, waiting for that bus to pull up outside and to see you step off," Bonnie added, remembering the countless occassions when they would act like children.

She smiled, to her it was a happy moment to greet Goldie when he got back from being on company business. "You would be so tired, but you always made the effort to say hello when we greeted you home."

Goldie smiled back.

"Yes…your right Bonnie it wasn't all bad, but it was tough."

Then he remembered his train of thought.

"So yes, I was Fredbear again performing with a robot version of Springtrap, for the next few months it was great, we actualy got a good reception…but if life's taught me anything, is that if something is too good to be true then it properly is."

"I think it was May…on one of those days when the restaurant was open, children would flood the place, I never noticed anything special or odd about them…apart from one."

Everyone leaned in, waiting to hear what Goldie would say next.

"A boy….about eight maybe nine years of age…he was odd, he didn't appear to like the place, he wouldn't go anywhere near me or Spring that's for sure."

Slowly he set out the scene.

"He would cry a lot, he would often shake with fear whenever he looked at us."

"Why didn't he like the restaurant, why come to a place which you yourself dislike?" Bonnie asked.

"I must agree that doesn't make sense?" Foxy added. "He properly didn't have a choice, he was forced to go," Mike answered, seeing a more logical reason.

"Anyway, I think he was builed by…what I could imagine to be his brother and his friends."

"He had a brother?" Chica asked.

Goldie nodded.

"Yes, he had an older brother, not a nice one though…he kept on bullying him, I heard he even locked the poor boy in the parts and services room for a laugh."

"I never saw his face, he was always wearing a Foxy face mask, in fact so were his friends, one wearing a Freddy face mask, a Bonnie face mask and a Chica face mask."

That caused the eyes of the Originals to widen with surprise. "Face masks you say?" Freddy asked, sounding confused. "It was part of the whole franchise, the company sold face mask besides plushies hand many other things" Goldie answered.

He proceeded to continue.

"Anyway, this kid was builled a lot, he was always in tears…I felt sorry every time I saw him hiding under the tables."

"However as horrible as the brother was to the boy, I never expected that he would do the unthinkable…until one fateful day in May, it was a birthday, it was actually for the boy himself…although as always he wasn't happy to be there."

His eyes started to fill with tears.

"Sometime into the celebrations, the kid's older brother and his friends all wearing their separate face masks decided that seeing how the boy was such a crybaby that he would like to get up close and personal with me."

"So being the 'smart kids' that they clearly were they picked him up, he was kicking and screaming of course but to no avail and they dragged him over to the stage where the new Springtrap and I were performing."

Goldie's expression went dark, he stopped talking and closed his eyes…they could clearly see that he was physically shaking.

"Goldie…are you sure you want to continue?" Toy Freddy asked.

"You can stop if you want to," Toy Chica said, clasping her hands together and looking visibly concerned.

Goldie shook his head, opening his eyes to reveal tears.

"No I need to finish this story for your sakes as well as mine."

"They said he wanted to give me a kiss, so…."

Those sitting next to him put their hands on his to calm him down.

"They…."

His breathing became tense.

"They forced him into my mouth and…."

Clearly he was on the verge of a major breakdown.

"I…I….I…I"

He tore his hands away from the grip of others and covered his eyes.

"I….with no independent thought….or action….bit…down on his head….AND I CRUSHED IT!" he shouted, breaking down.

"I CAUSED THE BITE OF 1983, IT WAS ME!"

That one sentence caught everyone off guard, no one was excepting that, not from Goldie.

As his words echoed through Freddy's mind, the words of Nightmare Fredbear came back to haunt him, his words mixing with that of Goldie's.

"_What happened in 1983 will shock you and when you discover it's meaning and what it lead to, don't be too surp__r__ise to find everything you thought you knew being turned inside out."_

"_I CAUSED THE BITE OF 1983!"_

"_I represent Goldie's darkest secret, it was an accident, but it had terrible consequences for everyone…including you four."_

"_I CRUSHED IT!"_

"_However I will give you credit if you can figure the truth out, but if you think you've brushed death before, seeking the entire truth will take you to places you don't wish to vis__i__t or…revisit."_

"_IT WAS ME!"_

"_I'll give you all a hint, it was in 1983 and that's all I'm saying."_

Nightmare Fredbear was right, he knew he was right, how could anyone react calmly or indifferent to an event like that. This past event was turning everything Freddy thought he knew inside out….just like Nightmare Fredbear said it would.

"Goldie…it wasn't your fault," Mike said, patting him on the shoulder for comfort.

"YES IT IS!" Goldie sobbed.

"You just said that you were put under a special procedure in which you could do nothing else but act…you made no independent decision to bite down on his head."

"Besides it's those little shits' fault, excuse my French," Bonnie argued.

"Those idiots did it, not you, I hope that kid's brother is rotting in hell!" Foxy yelled.

"Amen to that," Toy Chica added, getting up and instantly going over to hug Goldie.

"HE WAS SCREAMING FOR ME TO LET HIM GO!"

"Shhh…shhh...shhh…" Toy Chica whispered, softly stroking his golden hair.

"It's ok….it's ok….we love you regardless of what's happened….we don't blame you."

"I CUT OFF SPRING, I FAILED TO KEEP THE PAST AT BAY, I'VE LIED TO YOU ALL FOR SO MANY YEARS AND I'VE KILLED A CHILD!"

Goldie collapsed into a mass of regret and tears, right before Freddy who sat opposite him. The man he'd looked up to, the man who had raised him and the others, the man who could provide advice whenever he needed it…was now a broken pale figure…all because of several past events which he didn't intentionally create.

"Goldie…this isn't your fault," Freddy stated, reaching out.

"IT'S BECAUSE OF ME THAT THE NIGHTMARES EXIST!"

"Wait…what about the Nightmares?" Jeremy suddenly leaping to his feet.

"Goldie…Goldie…tell us about the Nightmares how are they linked to the bite?" Toy Chica asked, cradling him like a child. Goldie appeared to recover and gathered himself to together to give an answer.

"They told me themselves…that within his twisted and broken mind they emerged…also..."

He sighed as his body trembled all over.

"Looking back…it's obvious that their based on the bullies, Nightmare Foxy is the boy's mental interpretation of his brother…Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie and Chica are the other bullies and that includes their personalities which have clearly been exaggerated to the extreme."

"And Nightmare Fredbear is the child's interpretation of you, but clearly far beyond anything realistic…yes?" Mangle asked curiously.

"Yes…he is," Goldie answered, looking very sullen.

"So that explains why they exist…but with that being the case….shouldn't the child have gone to heaven?" Chica inquired.

"Because within a spiritual sense, if he's passed on and with the Nightmares being a product of his mind…shouldn't have they also gone?"

"If they're here, then he must still exist…somewhere," Toy Bonnie answered. The Puppet so far was quiet as she was thinking, trying to connect past events together with the new information that Goldie had shared.

"Hang on, I hate to be a realist here, but your mouth is too small to fit a child's head, in fact all of our mouths are," Bonnie stated, trying to understand how such an incident could physically happen.

"During my psychological _'upgrade' _they decided that they needed me to sing better, that I needed to improve on my performance so they gave me…"

Goldie lowered his head, as if he was ashamed to admit it.

"Jaw extensions."

"Jaw extensions, they widen your mouth so you could sing better, yet at the same time it was wide enough to fit a child's head?" Toy Freddy asked, still struggling to process Goldie's confessions.

Goldie nodded, signing as he did.

"Yes, as strange as it sounds they did give me extensions of my jaw, but after the incident they reversed the process, it was quite painful, this time they didn't give me any pain relief."

"So just to confirm the child who you 'accidently bit, still exists?" Chica asked, leaning across the table. "He does exist, while I was fighting Nightmare Fredbear to regain control of my body and mind, he told him that the child is locked within his house with them for company," Goldie answered mournfully.

"So much for a happy afterlife and all that."

Chica seemed to sigh mournfully as she withdrew to her usual sitting position.

"There really isn't salvation after death, or at least it's very hard to reach," she muttered sorrowfully.

"Poor kid…that must be hell…" Jeremy murmured, running his hand through his hair.

"At the very least, even with the loss of Springtrap, we are only dealing with five Nightmares."

Instantly he noticed that Goldie was now staring at him, his dark red eyes having gone wide with shock, as if he was unable to believe Jeremy's sentence.

"Oh Jeremy Fitzgerald…you couldn't be more mistaken," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Why…wait, there's more than five?" Mike asked in disbelief, leaning in to know more.

Goldie went quiet for a moment before speaking.

"I might as well as explain what happened and how Nightmare Fredbear was able to take control."

Everyone turned in his direction as he laid out the next set of terrible events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's always more than there first appears when the past is concerned and I hope that you liked the introduction to Limbo, it will be reappearing in later chapters.
> 
> Poor Goldie, the past weighs so heavy on him. 
> 
> Please review and thanks for reading. :-)


	26. A Hollow Victory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, thanks for reading so far, here's a long chapter, this one was a lot of fun to write.
> 
> Unfortunately, my time was heavily divided this week, so I am only now able to get round to uploading another chapter.
> 
> There is a song in this chapter and it is 'You Can't Escape Me' by ChaoticCanineCulture, all credit goes to them.
> 
> I aim to upload another chapter or two before the new year, no promises though.
> 
> Enjoy...

** Chapter 26. **

** A Hollow Victory. **

** _"What's a victory, when its hollow."_ **

_ **Keshia Chante.** _

Five dark shifting shadows flowed across the blue carpet like a thunderstorm covering up the sky as Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, all followed Nightmare Fredbear into the dark.

After receiving Nightmarione's _'loving touch' _to their wounds and having discussed recent events with the other Nightmares, Nightmare Fredbear had insisted on taking them to one side for a _'private conversation'._

His broad shoulders rocked back and forth as he walked, kind of like a bear when prowling in the wild with his hair swaging from to side to side in sync with the rest of his body as his tattered golden suit ruffled whenever he stepped forward. His scarlet red eyes swept the area before him like a searchlight, he could easily see in the dark as one can see in the daytime, it was a trait which all Nightmares possessed.

In this environment there was no obstacles to his array of abilities.

He was like the leader of a wolf pack with the others following on behind like submissive servants, edger to hear what he had to say.

They walked like that in silence for what seemed like ages, passing numerous boarded up rooms and wandering through various murky hallways, until at last they reached the far end of the house…all the way back to the front door. Only then did Nightmare Fredbear turn round to face them, and his mannerism set the posture of an alpha dog.

"_Now that we've reconvened…do tell me," _he remarked smoothly.

"_Was it simply due to your blind ignorance that you were almost killed?"_

Immediately all Nightmares looked away or down at the floor, their collective expression were one of unease and concern.

"_Well to be completely honest…" _Nightmare Chica began, gesturing with her claws. "_It was more due to a set of unfortunate circumstances, we were not expecting the Originals to turn up."_

Then she remembered something, her eyes narrowed as she stared back at the Nightmare. "_Speaking of which, where were you when we were attacking the Toys, because apparently according to Vincent, you were with him in the office when the Originals turned up?"_

"_Yeah, now that you mention it, it seems odd that they were able to survive encountering you if they made their way down to us?"_ Nightmare Foxy enquired, brandishing his hook.

"_Yes, I was on their tail, but Springtrap caught my attention and so I decided to take him out first,"_ Nightmare Fredbear replied, somewhat quietly, properly because he was embarrassed.

"_So your decision to ignore them is the real reason why they turned up so quickly,"_ Nightmare Bonnie remarked in an accusing manner with eyes to match. "_Maybe this isn't our fault after all."_

"_But you thought that you could take them on?" _came Nightmare Fredbear's disapproving tone.

"_We thought we could dispose of the Toys before they got there,"_ Nightmare Bonnie burtly remarked, brushing her hair back over her shoulders. "_Obviously looking back, we took too long with that task." _She then glanced at Nightmare Freddy.

"_And it isn't the first time we've done that..." _

The Nightmare in question returned her gaze with a cold look of his own making, replying rather sharply.

"_Have you ever considering taking the reins then N-Bonnie, I can't control time and space as much as I would like too." _

_"In fairness N-Fredbear, they may not admit it straight away but I will," _Nightmare Foxy said, holding up his hands as a form of surrender.

"_We simply got carried away with the sensenation that we are technically gods, can never really die and are therefore invincible." _

"_So in the end you were too slow, got distract by gloating and allowed your goal to slip away from you?" _Nightmare Fredbear inquired, bringing the Foxy lookalike under his full gaze.

Nightmare Foxy slowly nodded in confirmation, making the elder Nightmare stroke his chin as he pondered on what he was going to say next.

In the end, all he said was...

"_Time to test that statement."_

And then he vanished into thin air.

Yet Nightmare Foxy instantly sensed where this was going, his eyes widen with anticipation as a deep loud laugh rippled through the air, it was Nightmare Fredbear's signature chuckle.

He spun round on the spot…only to get punched straight in the chest, knocking him backwards as the elder Nightmare delivered what would otherwise be a killing blow. Nightmare Foxy felt his back slam into the nearby wall with a loud thud, internally he growled with immense dissatisfaction at being caught off guard.

With barred fangs he launched himself at the Nightmare, going at lighting speed like a wolf with his claw and hooks out stretched. However Nightmare Fredbear merely teleported away before him, reappearing on his flank and shoved him hard in the side, knocking the Nightmare to floor.

"_More brawn than brain, you've gotten lazy Nightmare Foxy,"_ he remarked plainly.

Luckily the other Nightmares leapt to their comrade's defense before Nightmare Fredbear could advance any further. "_Now things get interesting,"_ he muttered, putting up a defensive pose.

Nightmare Chica was the first to reach him, bringing all of her strength to bear on him as her claws craved deep wounds into his skin only for them to turn red as they started to bleed. Yet she kept on going with her attack, slashing and thrashing all the way, yet it never occurred to her that Nightmare Fredbear wasn't actually fighting back. With being so long since they last squared off against each other, Nightmare Fredbear wanted to see her fighting style and then use it against her.

And she had just wandered right into his trap, although with Nightmares Bonnie and Freddy quickly closing in he needed to throw her off. She brought her blood-soaked claws to strike again, her face was framed into a crooked smile.

"_I have more brain than brawn,"_ she smirked proudly, slashing forward once more. However, Nightmare Fredbear swiftly caught both her claws by the wrists with his own.

"_Your problem N-Chica is that you gloat too much, less words and more action next time."_

Then Nightmare Bonnie made her entrance, having leapt into the air and coming down on Nightmare Fredbear like a hawk.

"_It might just cost you your life,"_ he stated bluntly.

He then twisted Nightmare Chica's wrists back and spun her around on spot and shoved her forward, straight into the path of the incoming Nightmare Bonnie who could do little to change her current course.

Inevitably they collided with each other with Nightmare Bonnie knocking her nightmare counterpart to the floor, but the former was quick to recover, rising to the challenge. Her claws clashed with Nightmare Fredbear as the two fought a sparring match, she was very good in close quarters with her agility.

Yet again once he caught into her fighting style, Nightmare Fredbear brought his full strength to bear, increasing the pressure on her as his fighting skills began to outmatch hers.

"_Mmmh, I'm impressed with N-Bonnie, your actually trying to beat me,"_ he sneered, although it was genuinely a compliant. "_I'm no quitter!"_ she snarled as her claws interlocked with his, becoming a contest of strength.

"_Well there's no doubt about that my dear,"_ Nightmare Fredbear replied flatteringly as he dug his feet in to maintain a strong foothold. Then suddenly something leapt out of the dark and latched itself onto Nightmare Fredbear's ear. . ._Nightmare Chica's cupcake._

In fairness she rarely used it nowadays, being confident in herself to deal with whatever threat came her way, unless it was something which she couldn't handle alone. In the old days, she and her cupcake were like partners in crime, always together and never apart. With its beady orange eyes and jagged array of sharp teeth, it could really bite and sink in deep. Nightmare Fredbear grunted in response as pain surged from his left ear, he had to admit that he had forgotten about its existence over the years.

And then Nightmare Chica herself reappeared, launching herself into the air and landing firmly on Nightmare Fredbear's back, digging her claws into him like a set of blades. However, the Nightmare had remembered such a move being performed by Foxy, so he was well rehearsed in dealing with it. Not to mention that he carried a high tolerance for pain, hell he put up with a barrage of gunfire from the Fazbears, this child's play of a fight could never compete with it.

Then Nightmare Foxy charged in from the side, having recovered his strength, plunging his hook into the Nightmare's lower abdomen. Nightmare Fredbear gritted his teeth in response to the pain, but he shrugged it off, he could take the hit. With all three nightmares attacking him outright in a crazed attempt to prove themselves worthy, he noted that Nightmare Freddy was just standing a fair distance away…_watching._

Normally you would expect him to look smug and confident in his position, but instead his expression was completely blank. He quickly raised his arm like one holding a gun, aiming it straight at the Nightmare as he summoned all of his strength and started to throw his companions off. A single Freddy Head leapt out from inside his sleeve, flying through the air like a serpent with its jaw wide open, revealing an array of sharp teeth.

Yet it never reached Nightmare Fredbear as the Nightmare merely pulled off his oldest trick and teleported away, leaving the other three without anyone to attack. Nightmare Bonnie ducked in time as the Freddy Head flew over her, still in attack mode as it hadn't registered Nightmare Fredbear's disappearance.

And it happened to fly right into Nightmare Chica's mouth and in her panic she swallowed it whole, but it soon became stuck in her windpipe. She began to choke, grasping her throat with her claws as she started to retch. Her cupcake was unsure of what to do, just looking at its owner with a look of confusion and dread.

Nightmare Foxy spun around, doing a full circle as he looked around for Nightmare Fredbear, the man liked to surprise people with sudden appearances. A loud, confident, deep laugh erupted into being as it echoed off the surrounding walls and being the one with the sharpest hearing, Nightmare Foxy turned to its point of origins, Nightmare Freddy followed his gaze.

Empty space. . .there was nothing but a blank grey wall.

"_Then where is-"_

Then Nightmare Foxy spotted something in the corner of his vision, but it was too late to say anything. Nightmare Freddy found himself being smacked forward, temporary flying in the air until gravity took over and brought him down to the floor. Luckily, he quickly adjusted and landed on two feet before rapidly turning round to face the intruder who was of course Nightmare Fredbear. "_You not so alert as expected N-Freddy, maybe you need to be demoted to backup instead," _the Nightmare remarked slyly, knowing what kind of reaction he would unleash.

And just to salt the wound a little to make sure...

_"Fancy being Nightmarrione's 'little helper'?"_

And he got just what he wanted…

Slash after slash came along with wild uncontrolled swipes, kicks and bites as Nightmare Freddy unleashed complete hell on his senior, trying to outmaneuver him or to break his defense to the point of submunition. Yet Nightmare Fredbear wouldn't give him any ground, although he was glad that Nightmare Freddy was putting in so much effort.

Insult his pride and you get your just deserts.

"_Ha, haa, now finally you show some strength when your forced on the spot," _Nightmare Fredbear gloated in grim satisfaction as the young Nightmare continued his relentless onslaught.

"_I WILL NOT GO ON NIGHTMARROINE'S TEAM_!" Nightmare Freddy yelled, feeling very enraged, delivering a swipe which could have scratched out Nightmare Fredbear's eyes out had he not blocked it.

"_I will not play the role of babysitter,"_ he hissed as anger blazed in his eyes like lava, which only served to make Nightmare Fredbear chuckle.

"_Keep it up and you won't be."_

Nightmare Foxy eyed the conflict and began to stalk around the edges trying to find a way in so he could strike a devastating blow. Meanwhile Nightmare Bonnie was trying to remove the Freddy Head for Nightmare Chica's throat by means of the smacking her on the back, but it only made the situation worse as the Freddy Head became more logged in her windpipe.

"_Keep still I'm trying to help you God dammit,"_ Nightmare Bonnie hissed, trying to control Nightmare Chica as she gasped and choked, struggling to breathe properly.

"_Do you want my help or not?"_

"_GAAA, RAAA, HARRRRR!"_ was all that could be made out of Nightmare Chica's garble speak.

All the while Nightmare Freddy constantly fought Nightmare Fredbear to a near standstill, with Nightmare Foxy watching from the sidelines for an opening.

"_If your able to be this good N-Freddy…"_

Nightmare Fredbear sidestepped Nightmare Freddy to deliver what would be a crippling kick to the back of the knee, although the Nightmare stumbled he didn't fall. "_Then how is it that you lost to someone like Freddy Fazbear?"_

He teleported away as Nightmare Freddy came round to give him a slash only to slice through thin air. "_I could ask you the very same thing,"_ he replied, looking about for any signs of him.

"_True, but as Freddy's counter opposite I am asking you," _Nightmare Fredbear asked as he reappeared behind Nightmare Freddy.

Yet he was prepared unlike last time as he swung round to face, just catching the Nightmare's claws with his own. It was then that Nightmare Foxy struck with precise timing, hitting Nightmare Fredbear right in the side. Yet it was merely a feint, a trick to make the Nightmare believe that this was his main attack as he dived his hook into the back of his o3pponent…that was the actual attack. It brought a growl of irritation from Nightmare Fredbear as with his one free hand, he attempted to whack Nightmare Foxy away.

Seeing an opportunity Nightmare Freddy launched a Freddy Head out of his suit collar as it burst from its holdings, having pushed itself out of his skin first.

However, Nightmare Fredbear easily caught the thing in his teeth, trapping it, before biting down hard. The Freddy Head squealed in immense pain as it thrashed about to break free, but it changed nothing…other than setting Nightmare Freddy ablaze with anger as he threw himself at Nightmare Fredbear.

"_LET HIM GO!"_ He growled, not holding back for a second, thrashing and slashing at his opponent.

Nightmare Fredbear's scarlet red eyes displayed a deep sense of satisfaction as the Nightmare unloaded his anger on him. Meanwhile Nightmare Bonnie was trying to help Nightmare Chica dislodge a Freddy Head which had become stuck in her throat. After countlessly trying to make Nightmare Chica cough the thing up, Nightmare Bonnie by now at her wits end took drastic action.

She forced her hand into the Nightmare's throat and grabbed hold of the Freddy Head's spinal tail with some difficulty. She then pulled it right out, releasing it from the trap it had got itself into. With air flowing back into her lungs, Nightmare Chica collapsed to the floor, feeling rather breathless.

Nightmare Bonnie threw the now freed Freddy Head away, turning back to check on Nightmare Chica.

"_Thank…you. . .N-Bonnie,"_ she gasped, letting her breathing relax as she lay on the floor, clearly not in any shape to act.

"_Just remember, you now owe me,"_ Nightmare Bonnie replied, now turning round to observe the fight taking place between Nightmares Freddy, Foxy and Fredbear.

"_Sure, sure…I don't mind," _Nightmare Chica softly groaned, rolling over onto her back, becoming somewhat oblivious to what was going on nearby.

"_YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I LOST TO FREDDY, HOW THAT SON OF A BITCH WAS ABLE TO BEAT ME!"_ Nightmare Freddy yelled in a fit of rage as he brought attack after attack against Nightmare Fredbear, but he was like a giant, he wouldn't go down.

"_I'm all ears,"_ he remarked back in a tone of pure amusement. "_I underestimated him from the start," _Nightmare Freddy stated, interlocking his claws with the Nightmare as a way to hold him in place.

"_Very good," _Nightmare Fredbear replied, sounding very satisfied. Then out of nowhere, but at the same time not the least surprising Nightmare Bonnie rushed in, head ramming Nightmare Fredbear right in the stomach.

That sent him stumbling backwards.

"_Not so tough when we all gang up on you!"_ Nightmare Foxy sneered as he jabbed the Nightmare in the leg with his hook.

That brought a grunt of immense disapproval from the Nightmare as he kicked Nightmare Bonnie in the stomach, giving her a taste of her own medicine which forced her back.

He then smacked Nightmare Foxy away with a swipe of his claws, threatening to elbow him should he attempt to come any closer. He was seemly focused on breaking Nightmare Freddy who was pouring all of his strength into beating his mentor to a standstill. And all the while Nightmare Chica lay on the floor, somewhat out of it, as her cupcake kept on nudging her, trying to get something out its owner but to no avail.

"_Is there nothing better than simply breathing_?" she asked dreamily, as her orangey yellow eyes flickered over to the cupcake, who just continued to nudge her, trying to snap the Nightmare out of her dream like state.

"_What do you think?"_ she asked again, to which the cupcake only rolled its eyes in response, before tipping its head in the direction of the fight.

Yet Nightmare Chica only brought her eyes to the ceiling, or what was the ceiling as it completely shrouded in darkness. She reached out for it with her claws, stretching out into the dark maw that stared back at her with its unseen eyes. She could hear the others fighting nearby, but her attention was solely focused on other things, after it wasn't a real fight, Nightmare Fredbear was only trying to make a point, he would never actually kill them.

After all…they were family...a fucked up one, but still a family.

Her gaze now turned to that of her claws, studying them with an interest as if they were something new. Starting from the wrist down, you would have what you could call a normal human hand, soft and white. However, from the knuckles onward the hand changed, becoming more skeletal and boney, the ends of the fingers weren't nails, but rather sharp jagged pieces of bone.

Hence it was so easy to rip a man's throat wide open, these things were practically kitchen knives, all ten of them. She ran them across her face, with the expectation of her teeth and eyes, it was 'normal', smooth and milky, a little puffy on the cheeks, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Her ears certainly had nothing wrong with them and her sense of hearing was fine, in fact it was better than most, although Nightmare Foxy's hearing was far superior to hers. Bright blonde was the best way to describe her hair colour, obviously it was dirty and untidy, but it was a part of her identity. Her nose was normal, a bit short perhaps, but after seeing that Chica had the same nose type, it made sense, they were mirror images after all.

Her bodily frame was slim and a little round, despite her dress making it look otherwise. The opposite could be said for her breasts, at times it felt like they were being squeezed inside this thing. Not that she was fashion consciousness, but it wasn't something which sat heavily on her mind.

There came the sounds of someone being smashed against the wall…properly Nightmare Bonnie judging by the sounds of the groans. The cupcake nudged her again to get her attention, but the Nightmare didn't move a muscle, returning her gaze to the ceiling. She tried to remember being born, technically she had two births, the first having occurred in this place and the second on Earth.

Her memories about her first days were hazy and foggy, she wasn't even in Limbo for the first five or six days, but locked inside the broken mind of a traumatised child.

* * *

She tried to recall in detail those days, but all that she could drag out of her subconscious were several moments.

The very first thing she could remember was laughter, the cold and cruel laugh of a boy, mean and brutal.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

It kept on going becoming a never-ending loop.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

Again and again it went round.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

Forevermore.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

Then something changed.

"Ha, ha, ha, _ha,_ ha, ha."

The voice's tone flickered briefly for a second going deep on one of the notes.

"Ha, ha, ha, _ha, _ha, ha."

Before resetting.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

The voice offered no love or comfort, it was just someone verbally beating someone else repeatedly.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

And then it changed again, only this time the change lasted for longer.

"Ha, ha, _ha, ha,_ ha, ha."

The voice was beginning to change, morphing from the high, smooth, mean spirited laugh of a young boy to the deep, broken, sadistic laugh of a demonic being.

"Ha, ha, _ha, ha,_ ha, ha."

The laughter became louder and sinister with each reoccurrence.

"Ha, ha, _ha, ha,_ _ha,_ ha."

It was embracing, dominant above anything else in the dark recess of the child's traumatized mind.

"Ha, ha, _ha, ha, ha, _ha."

And then a new development began to make itself known.

The laugh started to adopt a more feminine tone, turning into something of a gloat.

"Ha, ha, _ha, ha, ha, ha."_

It continued, becoming mischievous in its expression, a cruel delight in pain and suffering, but perhaps with an undertone desire for being dominant.

"Ha, ha, _ha, ha, ha, ha."_

Soon madness settled in, becoming hysterical and deafening.

The laugh echoed throughout the mind, its attachment to the original owner who had helped to drive the dagger of fear into the poor boy's heart only further rattled his fear induced mind to the brink.

"Ha, ha, _ha, ha, ha, ha."_

Something was taking shape behind the laughter, morphing into the ideal owner of the now demonic female laugh, as layer after layer was laid down.

Its sole purpose was to be terrifying both physically and psychologically.

"Ha, _ha,_ _ha, ha, ha, ha."_

Shifting about in the dark, as each laugh brought in a new wave of detail to the being, as the child's psychological reimagining of his bully festered into the extreme.

It was literal nightmare fuel.

"Ha, _ha,_ _ha, ha, ha, ha."_

What was once hands being now claws, what were once teeth were now fangs and finally what was once human, was now a manifestation of humanity's collective evil. What was once a male had now become female, perhaps the face mask's femininity had come to play a part in its creation, but she had no belonging to the term '_the gentle sex'._

Two fiery orange yellow pupils burn out of the darkness like stars, revealing a tangled web of blonde hair and a nasty array of sharp teeth which could easily be mistaken for fangs. In the thrill of being alive she let out a confidence exotic laugh of delight for she was burden with a glorious purpose.

Scaring the shit out a little kid.

"_Ha_, _ha,_ _ha, ha, ha, ha!"_

Then a strange sensation came over her, the feeling of being trapped, encased, surrounded.

Which gave way to her second memory. . .

This memory vivid, but still foggy, she remembered struggling to burst out of something, something large, soft and fluffy…like a toy, a big one.

Like a baby driven by an instinctual desire to be free, eating its way out of its mother's womb, like a chest bruster for the iconic Alien Films. Another memory was of her peeking out from behind a corner with her cupcake, both looking down a hallway and spying out a door which was slightly ajar. Out of it shined a bright light, a torch light to be specific, blasting all the way down the hall and binding her, forcing her to withdraw behind the corner with her cupcake in tow.

The one after that was her standing outside a door, properly the same one, breathing deeply as if in she was anticipating something. The door itself was still ajar with some lighting peeking out through the gap, but then a pair of light blue eyes appeared, taking up the space.

Suddenly the door was slammed shut on her and with the only entrance point closed off, she turned round and headed back down the hallway, feeling frustrated at her failure to gain entry as she shook her head with disappointment. And that was it for her early days, back before she became sentiment so to put it.

Her second birth was different, and this time she was fully aware for most of it. A massive tunnel of bright white light, which she rode down as she attached herself to the poor unfortunate person who was chosen as her host to anchor her to the physical realm. There was screaming, painful yelling coming from an unknown woman as the tunnel became brighter, until finally it ended.

The light faded away to be replaced by blackness, but the sounds didn't stop. Grandly her vision returned to her, still murky and foggy, but a few things about her new surroundings stood out.

It was all metallic in a sliver colour and held a reflective edge to it.

There was a fairly bright yellowish light being shone above her, exposing her to this new world. In fact, judging by the level of light within her field of vision everything else around her was mostly hidden away in darkness. Her wearily eyes slowly turned from left to right, on the latter was another figure immediately to the side of her, wearing reddish ragged clothing.

Properly Nightmare Foxy if she remembered correctly, although as detailed as things were in her mind's eye nothing could be taken at face value.

And he did look quite dazed and unsure of his surroundings. . .this wasn't Limbo anymore.

On the former, that being the left was. . ._something_. . ._or rather somethings_, it wasn't clear, anything beyond her personal space appeared blurry and unfocused, colours blending into each other or her mind made them up to help make sense of things.

But there was something there, she could just make it out, reflective metal. . .shinny.

She remembered turning back to face her front which was no better, there was something at the far end of the room, a black rectangle like shape situated on the wall. However, that only held her attention for a second, before something else took it away entirely. Voices, two exactly both speaking to one another in close proximity, whenever one said something, the other would quickly reply.

"Amazing, they're exactly here in the psychical world, I have to say, I am very impressive," the first voice said, sounding very pleased and blown away.

"_I do share your amazement, this was the first attempt and it succeeded without any flaws," _the second one voice replied with an undertone of satisfaction, yet it stated as if what it knew was actual fact_. _"So now they need to go into long term hibernation right, I'll apply a strong dose of barbiturate that'll put them into a controlled coma until the time is right," the first voice stated firmly with the sound of it walking away.

Yet the second voice, now clearly sounding deep and authoritative made the owner of the first voice stop.

"_There's no need for drugs, I'll administer the process myself, it's more controlled that way and without the risks, if done wrong then barbiturate can be extremely lethal to the human body."_

Then a third unrecognizable voice entered the discussion.

"Master. . .the results are in, the machine preformed almost brilliantly, the procedure has succeeded but a few minor faults did develop during the process."

A slave perhaps?

It sounded so plain and neutral.

"Can you fix them?" the second voice calmly asked, although one could sense an undertone of urgency. The third voice returned with the same tone, but Nightmare Chica could swear that there was an undertone of concern.

"Yes, luckily, they were all in isolation of each other, if not then who knows what could have occurred-"

Then the first voice jumped in, cutting the third one off in mid sentence.

"See to it and make notes, this cannot happen again, minor or not, any fault could be fatal to a machine this complex…it took us a whole week to set it up right."

A complex machine. . ?

"_Still we have succeeded, you should be proud, I think I am right in saying this, but what we have witnessed was the first of its kind in history. . .if you stretch the term."_

First of its kind?

"Yes, it is an achievement on a worthy scale, but still. . ."

There was a pause. . .hesitation perhaps?

"Whilst there's no doubting what we've achieved on a technical level, this machine is clearly state of the art being the first of its kind…there are just certain…design choices for this machine as well as the original model which I don't fully understand."

Original model for what?

"Can you now shed some light on those, you've done the research and oversaw the changes made to the design plan?"

Best guess, the owner of the first voice was properly facing the owner of the second, who replied in a calm and statesmen like tone. "_It can give life, transfer souls, it can open portals, consider it to be a mini interdimensional gateway to the realm of the dead."_

A sense of ambition ran through its voice with the next set of words. "_And perhaps if we were to tinker with it some more, let say. . .travel to infinite dimensions if it were to be possible."_

And then the next few sentences made no sense, no matter how hard she tired to place them. "_Like that religious ink covered zealot said, sometimes you just have to believe."_

"_He was very irritating to say the least, but I'll give the plans back once you have made a copy of them, he'll never know that it left his study."_

"_Although I am quite surprised that it didn't dawned on anyone to investigate the studio after it suddenly went quiet."_

"The very same could said of Fazbear's," the first voice replied with a strong sense of irony.

"_Very true, well said," _the second remarked, although without a humorous tone. "_However, we have built upon their failures and turned their dreams into successes with some major modifications, but still in principle it is the same idea."_

"Now we need to get them to the location," the first one stated with a sense of direction and purpose, only for the second one to reply with. "_Location, if I were you I would hide them in separate places, should they ever be discovered then you will be on your own."_

The way the first voice responded indicated that they felt an insult to their pride.

"I can hide them well beyond the sight of any prying eyes, no one will return to the new location. Fazbear Entertainment is done with the Toy Pizzeria, we've just moved back to the old location and took everything with us, it is completely empty now." Then the third voice who had remained silent so far made a return. "Master if I may interject, the Nightmares will need some time to regain their memories upon waking up, perhaps moving them about to different locations, one for each should lower the risk of them getting discovered."

And then it made a superb point of logic. "Imagine the bloodbath that would come should someone accidentally discover them." There was a sigh, as if the first voice was accepting their line of argument.

"Ok, we'll cross that bridge when it comes."

And now it appeared to have turned back towards the owner of the second voice.

"Still, these Nightmare friends of yours better be worth all the effort I've thrown into this. . ._'deal'."_

"_Trust me Vincent, they are worth it." _

* * *

After that…was nothing but blackness, pure, sweet, embracing blackness.

Yet by now she knew who the voices' owners were, making her smile. The third one however remained a complete mystery to her.

Still…sometimes it was nice to think back.

A fifth nudge from her cupcake finally caught the Nightmare's attention. "_What!"_ she snapped, turning to glance at it.

The cupcake tilted its head towards the still ongoing fight. Nightmare Chica's eyes went from hostile to shock and then realisation.

"_Oh right, the fight!"_

She quickly pushed herself upwards off the floor and soon back on her feet.

Holding out her claw, the cupcake grinned with excitement, taking the invite as it jumped on. Racing forward with her feet stomping the ground, the Nightmare went into all-out battle mode. Nightmare Fredbear was currently occupied trying to shake off Nightmare Foxy who was on his back, his favorite place to attack apparently; Nightmare Bonnie was attacking from the side and Nightmare Freddy was locked into duel with him, trying desperately hard not to end up on the backfoot.

Nightmare Chica had the opportunity to do damage and she grasped it with both hands, leaping high into the air. "_SURPRISE MOTHER FUCKER!"_ she snarled in her excitement as the adrenaline kicked in.

SMACK!

Her collision with the Nightmare knocked him backwards, as his hands went flew up in the air in surprise, Nightmare Freddy took the chance to kick him in the stomach whilst Nightmare Bonnie whacked him in the back of the knee to further undermine his footing.

Nightmare Foxy jumped off his attack, not wishing to be crushed when he eventually contacted with the floor. The Freddy Head which had been caught in Nightmare Fredbear's jaws, burst free from its holdings and dived to the floor for safety. Nightmare Fredbear came crashing down, falling onto the floor with a heavy thud, the other Nightmares took the opportunity to assert their dominance over him in a somewhat unusual manner.

Nightmare Chica sat on his left arm, pinning in place, with Nightmare Foxy doing the same for the other hand. Nightmare Bonnie saddled Nightmare Fredbears between his legs, keeping the lower half of their body immobile. All the while Nightmare Freddy stood on his chest, leaning over like the victor, smiling with grim satisfaction.

"_Thus the student becomes the master," _he stated victoriously, his smile matching that of the others.

He clicked his fingers and the lone Freddy Head slithered back inside his suit to rejoin its brethren.

"_We win…"_

Nightmare Fredbear just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"_Typical, your declaring victory before you've even won, I'm seeing now why they beat you four so easily." _No sooner had he said it a foot came down, crushing his face into the floor to shut him up. "_As I was saying,"_ Nightmare Freddy stressed, drowning his groans out.

"_Together we are quite effective, so yes, we need to be more of a team, break them down, bit by bit."_

"_I do wonder if your mindset would change if you lost the ability to return here, for should your host die then the threat of death might make you fight better if there's something at stake?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked out aloud, voicing his inner thoughts. "_Oh, but there is something at stake N-Fredbear and we all know it, death remains a possibility for us, as remote as it is currently,"_ Nightmare Foxy injected, leaning into his field of vision.

"_So why are you taking your sweet time then, don't you want to remove the possibility of death completely,"_ Nightmare Fredbear replied plainly, turning to face the Nightmare directly.

"_Don't you want to be free, don't you wish to live, instead of being chained to that boy like a wolf is to a sheep." _Nightmare Foxy slowly nodded his head from side to side, trying to come up with an answer. "_Of course, I do, but I want to have as much fun as possible while doing it_," he replied honestly, continuing with. _"__The Fazbears are in the dark, they can kill us as many times as they want, but we will always come back."_

"_Although I like the idea of attacking them through their dreams, so much easier and we hold a monopoly on it," _Nightmare Bonnie added, being obscured by Nightmare Freddy.

"_Hey, that's a good idea N-Bonnie, far more entertaining then what we just did,"_ Nightmare Chica remarked cheerfully, jumping in.

"_We shall honor our agreement with Vincent, it was a heartfelt promise to aid one another." _Her words made Nightmare Fredbear turn to face her with a look of interest. "_So why are you four taking your sweet time then, dragging your heels instead of getting on with it?"_

She responded with this statement.

"_Well after being stuck in this mausoleum of a house for four boring years and then kept in hibernation for the last thirty, we got overly excited with being alive and wished to drag things out for maximum satisfaction."_

"_And has this 'sensational' overdose for life gone away?" _Nightmare Fredbear inquired amusedly, eyeing Nightmare Chica.

There was a slight pause before anyone else spoke.

"_Yes, after that brush with death I certainly feel more cautious, reality has made itself known to me,"_ Nightmare Bonnie stated, effectively surmising what everyone thought.

"_So, you all agree to be more level headed then?"_ Nightmare Fredbear asked, looking from one Nightmare to the next, reading their expressions.

_"Yes…"_ was the collective response. "_Well I guess that concludes today's training session,"_ the senior Nightmare remarked coolly.

He then turned to face Nightmare Chica again. "_Yet there is always room for improvement."_

He smiled mischievously.

"_Surprise…"_

Then he vanished from sight within the blink of an eye.

The four Nightmares were now clutching at empty space where there was once a person, all eyes darted in various directions to find the Nightmare before he could get the drop on them again. He was nowhere to be seen, but he certainly got the _drop_ on them.

A huge force slammed into them from above, crushing them all into the floor and pinning them down with its immense weight. Nightmare Fredbear lazily stretched his muscles as he lay on top of the four, who were completely trapped underneath him.

"_Now that..." _he began.

_"Is what I call a 'crushing' victory."_

"_GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"_ Nightmare Bonnie yelled in immense frustration, trying to lift him up, but to no vain. "_FOR CHRIST SAKE GET UP N-FREDBEAR!"_ Nightmare Chica screamed, trying to crawl her way out from underneath him.

Nightmare Fredbear stretched some more, putting even more weight on them, he could feel Nightmare Foxy's partial free hook hand repeatedly hit the floor in a desperate attempt to find something to grab onto. "_WHAT EXACTLY IS YOUR POINT BY DOING THIS?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, trying to crawl free, but he could only get so far.

Nightmare Fredbear sighed joyfully and before answering with.

"_It's a way to break your ego, I'm not even fighting back and you're still finding it to be a struggle."_

He smirked, enjoying every second of the moment.

"_Imagine if the Halloween gang saw you four like this, now that'll be a laugh."_

"_NO IT BLOODY WON'T!"_ Nightmare Foxy screamed, smacking the elder Nightmare in the back, but Nightmare Fredbear didn't move a muscle.

Instead he yawned, stretching himself some more.

Then he felt something new, he was slowly being lifted up by the other four as they all combined their respective strengths to push upwards. And they made good headway with their back and shoulder muscles screaming out for relief from the immense burden that they carried.

"_FOUR IS STRONGER THAN ONE!"_ Nightmare Chica screamed, venting her pain and stress.

Being lifted up like a royal emperor of sorts was actually an enjoyment for Nightmare Fredbear, he could get use to this. Hell, they could carry him around the house in this fashion by crawling on the floor. However, he couldn't let this rebellion last, so he relaxed completely and in doing so, brought his full weight to bear.

Which soon proved to be too much for the four Nightmares to cope with as they collapsed under his weight, being crushed to the floor and left panting for breath.

"_It depends on how well the 'four' cooperate between one another to defeat the 'one', numbers don't mean everything these days,"_ Nightmare Fredbear proudly remarked. In the amidst of things, Nightmare Chica's cupcake had succeeded in becoming free, the Freddy Heads however, did not dare leave the safety of their master's body.

Upon seeing the cupcake, standing there all confused and aghast, Nightmare Fredbear extended his claw out to it, enabling it to hop on. He then brought it to him, eye to eye, scarlet red staring back into yellowish orange. "_Should we keep them down there until they've learnt how to listen properly?" _He asked softly.

The cupcake remained still for a moment, before nodding in approval, making the Nightmare smile in both agreement and amusement.

"_My thoughts exactly…"_

* * *

_Flash back…_

Darkness…just darkness…just plain, dull and unresponsive darkness.

That was all Goldie could see, apart from the mental image of Vincent glaring down at him which had become ingrained into his psyche.

Slowly the darkness faded away…or it died down in its intensity as Goldie was introduced to new surroundings, although they were not comforting.

The first thing he noticed was that he was now in some sort of bedroom.

Now this was strange…until he noticed some of the room's content and then it all made sense.

There were toys scattered around on the floor, some clothes hanging loosely from a chest of drawers with a purple colored operational fan on top.

Before Goldie lay an empty bed with a digital clock on one of the bedside tables with a switched off radio on the other.

Looking both left and right he noticed that there two doors one for either side.

That seemed odd for a child's bedroom…shouldn't there be one door per room?

Finally turning round he noticed the closed closet built into the wall...there was something about it Goldie didn't like, maybe it was because it appeared to tower over him, becoming big and imposing.

A child…this was a child's bedroom…for a certain child...a child with contest nightmares.

And he had been brought here only to be taken over by his supposed Nightmarish counterpart, the highly praised Nightmare Fredbear...that's how the other Nightmares saw him.

Speaking of which…

Suddenly to Goldie's complete and utter surprise, the radio switched itself on with a loud crackle of static followed by music which added to the already high feeling of tension.

That didn't scare him though, but what he heard next did, sending multiple alarm bells off in his head.

"_Hehehe hahaha!"_

(Begin the song now if you wish.)

_Goldie spun round only to see the closet doors being pushed open to reveal a chuckling Nightmare Foxy inside._

**"I'm lurking in your closet, never seen the light before, animatronic bodies breathing lurking at your door."**

_He approaches the now terrified Goldie._

**"We've come to terrorize you, broken bodies with a score, we'll never really give up your fate is sealed for sure!"**

_Goldie turned and runs, throwing one of the bedroom doors wide open and legging it down the hall, Nightmare Foxy merely follows, still singing._

**"The night's not over yet, you can't escape me, you simply can't forgot, you can't escape me, the party's just began, you can't escape me."**

_His eyes narrow in delight._

**"You can try, that just makes things more fun!"**

**"The night's not over yet."**

_Goldie opens a door only to find Nightmare Bonnie right behind it._

**"You can't escape me!"**

_He instantly slams it shut._

**"You really can't forget."**

_He opens another door only to be confronted by Nightmare Chica._

**"_You can't escape me!"_**

_Goldie quickly shuts it close._

**"The party's just began."**

_He turns and opens another door only to come face to face with Nightmare Mangle._

**"You can't escape me!"**

_He closes it shut._

**"You can try, which just makes things more fun!"**

_Goldie backs away as the Nightmares come out and advance on him, showing their sharp teeth and flexing their claws._

_He looks around for a possible escape route when he feels something tap him on the shoulder, he turns round only to come face to face with Nightmare Freddy who smiles, displaying his jagged teeth._

**"Our looks have changed a little, hidden monsters in these masks, reaction terrifying, slowly let the hours pass."**

_He grips Goldie's shoulders whilst narrowing his eyes._

**"There's no running from us, your life's within our grasp, no longer have a safe place, this night will be your last."**

_Goldie breaks free and runs pass him, Nightmare Freddy grins, joining the others in the pursuit._

**"The night's not over yet, you can't escape me, you really can't forget, you can't escape me, the party's just began you can't escape me."**

_The Nightmares' shadows creep across the carpet._

**"You can try that just makes this more fun!"**

**"The night's not over yet."**

_Goldie opens a door only to encounter Nightmarionne right behind it._

**"You can't escape me!"**

_He instantly slams it shut._

**"You really can't forget."**

_He opens another door only to be confronted by Nightmare Balloon Boy._

**"You can't escape me!"**

_Goldie quickly shuts it close._

**"The party's just began."**

_He turns and opens another only to come face to face with Plushtrap._

**"You can't escape me!"**

_He closes it shut._

**"You can try, which just makes things more fun!"**

_He finally finds a door with no one behind it, enters and slams it shut._

_Goldie quickly barricades the door with anything he could find, only to be stopped dead in his tracks._

**"Let me go!"**

_Before him is an active film projector, projecting a film reel onto the nearby wall…showing the Bite of 1983._

**"Please help me!"**

_He can't move._

**"Let me go!"**

_He doesn't want to move._

**"I don't wanna go in!"**

_Seeing the child scream in terror._

**"Help me!"**

_Seeing his head getting crushed by his teeth._

**"Help me please!"**

_Seeing his bullies laugh at his misery._

**"I don't wanna go!"**

_Seeing his darkest moment._

**"Let me go!"**

_The frighten eyes of an innocent child._

**"HELP ME!"**

T_hen the door is bashed wide open and Nightmare Fredbear enters along with the other eight Nightmares, Goldie backs away, his eyes widening in fear._

**"The night's not over yet, you can't escape me, you really can't forget, you can't escape me, the party's just began, you can't escape me."**

_The Nightmares surround him, baying for his blood._

**"You can try that just makes things more fun!"**

_Nightmare Fredbear approaches him._

**"You can't escape me!"**

_His sharp claws are outstretched._

**"You can't escape me!"**

_He gives Goldie a cold smile._

**"You can't escape me!"**

_He then grips his head, pushing his hands into his skull, making Goldie scream in agony as they meld into one._

**"Oh, please let me go, out of this place where darkness grows."**

_He feels Nightmare Fredbear take over his soul and body._

**"Behind the closet door…they'll be coming back for more."**

_The Nightmares flicker between themselves and their more loving counterparts._

**"Oh, please let me go, out of this place where darkness grows."**

_Goldie still screaming fades away, taking Nightmare Fredbear with him._

**"Behind the closet door…they'll be coming back for more…"**

_In the open doorway behind the Nightmares, the pale face of a young boy peeks out slowly, only to then withdraw silently without arousing attention._

_End of flashback..._

* * *

Goldie stared back at the shocked paled faces which surrounded him at the kitchen table.

All eyes were on him as he recalled his experience in the Nightmares' world or in Limbo to put it correctly. And what he had just said changed everyone's perception on what kind of threat they were truly facing. There weren't just five Nightmares, but nine plus Vincent with his army of endoskeletons. . .vs thirteen of them.

"Nine, there's nine Nightmares, did I just hear that right?" Foxy asked, his hook hand was shaking from nervousness.

Goldie slowly nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, there are nine Nightmares," he replied softly, lowering his head, allowing the others to digest his words.

"Nine and they're all the same," Toy Freddy muttered, like the others, his eyes were wide with fear.

They all had the right to be afraid.

Needless to say, Mangle, Balloon Boy and Puppet were shocked by the very idea of there being a nightmare version of them. "There's a nightmare version of me now?" Mangle asked, her mind already drawing up images of what she could look like.

"I'm afraid so," Goldie answered, sighing as he recalled the awful experience.

"How BB, Mangle or the Puppet weren't around when the child got bit, so how could his mind create nightmarish replicas of them?" Bonnie asked, unable to see a link between the two time periods.

Goldie shook his head.

"I don't know, but somehow they exist in his head."

"But going back to your description of the machine which Vincent used to bring Nightmare Fredbear in he could technically bring the others into this world too right?" Jeremy asked.

Then Mike interjected.

"And think about this, Vincent clearly didn't use Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy as hosts for their nightmarish counterparts, so he must have used other people and he's not on the polices' watch list, he was never charged for the childrens' murder. . .so."

He sighed and gripped his head with his hands.

"He could go out onto the streets and kidnap anyone and perform the operation, he could do it so easily."

"You're right, even though we number thirteen and they, including Vincent would be ten…we've seen what four Nightmares can do…I don't want to see what nine Nightmares can do!" Chica exclaimed, hugging herself with overwhelming worry. "This changes everything, we need to act now, I suggest we go straight after Vincent; he's the only one who knows how to conduct the operation, even if we kill Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, Vincent would only find new hosts to bring them back," Toy Bonnie stated, going straight to the point.

Freddy raised his head, his brain struggling to process this new information. . .this new threat.

"She's right, we need to kill him, it's the only way we can end this nightmare, we can average the children and guarantee our safety as well as many others."

He looked at the others, but especially Goldie. "We kill Vincent and the Nightmares that are currently here will be vulnerable, plus the others can't get through either, if that is the only way for them to get here."

"And what of the child?" Goldie asked plainly.

That caught everyone's attention.

"That poor boy. . .having those monsters for company…he's not in limbo, he's in hell," Toy Chica mourned, who was still hugging Goldie and had been doing so for the last twenty minutes.

"I don't know…how can we help him, we cannot get there," Balloon Boy argued. "Point well raised BB, right now we need to plan this out, we aren't in the best of condition," Jeremy added, gesturing to the Toys because their recent injuries. "We don't even know where they are, we need to relax, this information is too much for me to take in one sitting," Puppet groaned, pulling on her hair.

"While I'm sorry to fill your head with more knowledge, but…"

Goldie sighed as he brought forth a mind blowing confession.

"When I was passing out, but before I entered the machine…Vincent told me why he killed the children."

"WHAT!" was everyone else's reply.

"HE TOLD YOU WHY?"

Goldie only nodded in response.

Freddy leaned, across and grasped his hands tightly.

"What was it…what did he say?" he asked, his eyes desperately searching for answers. Goldie's eyes looked away unable to face Freddy's.

"I can't fully remember the details, I need time to think, but I know he told me."

Freddy sighed, struggling to fight his inner frustrations, they were so close yet so far. "Thank you for telling us Goldie and I mean it, its good to know this now."

Goldie gave him a small smile.

"Thanks Freddy, I know you mean it."

"So…what now?" Bonnie asked, leaning back in her chair.

Once again, everyone was thinking, trying to balance what they could do and what would put them in harm's way. "I say we relax and rest, I need to think this through again, but I know what we need to do with regards about Vincent," Toy Freddy stated.

"Aye laddie, that's properly best," Foxy added, grinning, happy at the idea of relaxing.

"Ok, that's what we'll do…just remember when we go to sleep we sleep in groups of five or six," Jeremy announced.

He stood up straight, pushing his chair back.

"I'll get dinner ready for everyone, any helpers?" he asked, sounding exhausted, today's events had been tiring.

Several raised their hands in response.

"Great, just follow my instructions," Jeremy ordered, proceeding to open up various drawers and cupboards.

"Everyone else do what you want until it is ready."

They all rose and went their separate ways, edger for some relaxation and something to distract them from recent events. Their minds which had been mentally shell shocked by recent years, now had to digest this new bloc information which was equally shocking.

They needed time to make sense of things, to mellow and then return with a clear head. However, they knew or at least they knew more about the past and its dark secrets, but wether they could make anything good out of it was anyone's guess.

It was something of a hollow victory for them and history is never one sided, at least when it comes to peoples' perspectives…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's always more secrets to be revealed.  
The past cannot be outrun, you'll only dwell in its shadow.  
Again, apologies for the delay between chapter uploads.
> 
> Please review, feedback is greatly appreciated.


	27. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are, keeping this one simple as the last few chapters have been rather big, I'll try to stay within a 10,000 word limit, anything bigger and I'll cut the chapter in half.  
Do enjoy and if anyone likes angst and romance then this is the chapter for you.  
I've added in a song for this one, although it isn't a singing one this time, it's A Warning Sign by Coldplay.  
I've also put markers down to separate the song from the story, to make things clearer.

**Chapter 27.**

  
**Confessions.**

  
**"In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours."**

  
**"In all the world, there is no love for you like mine."**

  
**Maya Angelou.**

Feeling tired and weary, Goldie pushed himself forward to get up the stairs, which given Jeremy's house was two to three stories high, it was a struggle. When he finally reached the attic, he found the bed which he had shared with Springtrap…only now it was a bed for one. As he approached it his mind filled with bitter memories of Spring, seeing him perform for the children all happy and smiley…now they were all gone.

Goldie sighed, letting himself fall forward onto the bed's soft duvet covers.

He relaxed, enjoying its touch, spreading himself out across the bed so at least he could feel something besides guilt. Closing his eyes, he could imagine a much better world, free from the horrors that had befallen his family…many of which he blamed himself. If he could describe the one emotion which he had felt for most of his life then it would be guilt, but it wasn't all bad he told himself.

He remembered meeting Springtrap or as he was originally called SpringBonnie for the first time. That was an awkward moment to say the least as they both tried to find some form of connection. Luckily their love for music, acting and natural sense of humor allowed them to forge a bond which grew over time.

Until…that dreadful day when he broke it...right in two.

Yet despite that Spring had forgiven him, but he didn't live to see it himself. Goldie buried his head into the covers, trying to stop the mental images that were racing through his head. The child…his expression of complete terror as he was pushed into his mouth and the jaws slamming shut with a defining crack. He had been screaming internally, trying to break the program, but he couldn't but watch with emotionless eyes as the child hung out of his mouth with his legs in the air…hanging like a corpse.

Then came the day when he got back to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, seeing Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all rush up to him like children, eager to find out where he had been.

That was properly the hardest thing he had ever done, maintaining a happy calm face, while battling his emotions inside, keeping them under lock until he could find a safe place where he could just let it all out. They didn't have to know, they didn't need to know, he couldn't let them know…they were innocent. Yet they suffered equally with several murders of their own.

Goldie buried himself into the bed quilt even further as images of that fateful day burst forth like a whale breaking the surface of the ocean.

Hearing the screams of parents and their children, seeing himself watch from the doorway of the Parts and Services room as families fled from the Pizzeria in horror. He remembered seeing some parents gang up on Foxy simply because he had a hook, thinking him to be the murderer.

They were going to seriously hurt him had he not sought refuge in Pirate's Cove, then there was Chica being knocked to the ground as people ran over her, crushing her and her precious cupcake. Bonnie was struggling to make sense of what was going on, trying to reason with people, but they wouldn't listen, pulling their children away and cursing her with foul language for not doing her job right.

Freddy…poor Freddy, he was shocked as the Pizzeria emptied right before his very eyes.

He had jumped off stage and sought a nearby little girl who seemed lost in the crowds, he was doing it for her safety after all that's what children entertainers do, they entertain and look after children. He had asked her where her parents were…only for a hard leather handbag to come out of nowhere and smack him to the ground...knocking his top hat off and sending it rolling away.

It so hard, the impact made him bleed from the nose.

Seeing a dazed, injured and bleeding Freddy look up to see what Goldie could best describe as a mother bear of a woman standing over him, her hand tightly clutching her daughter's arm. She then shouted at him, telling Freddy that he couldn't do his job right, that she had always suspected he was doggey and that quote on quote 'had a certain thing for children'.

That hurt him, but no where near as much as what happened next.

The girl protested as her mother dragged her away, kicking and screaming.

"_No, I want to say bye bye to Freddy, he's my friend!" _

To which the mother replied rather sharply.

"_He's isn't your friend, he's no one's friend!"_

That drove a dagger right into Freddy's heart, his pained expression showed it...he hadn't forgotten those words...not after all these years. Soon the Pizzeria was empty and lifeless save for the five of them, all wondering what had just happened…and most importantly why. Now the nightmare was repeating itself, but in an even worse fashion.

"_Is this all because of me?"_ he internally asked himself to which he didn't know the answer.

"_Because what if-"_

His train of thought was suddenly cut off by the sound of someone lying down next to him. Goldie opened his eyes…to see Toy Chica staring back at him, laying down on the soft covers.

"Are you ok?" she asked worryingly.

"You looked like you were sleeping, so I came to give you company."

Goldie stopped to think of a response. "I'm ok, I was just…thinking," he replied quietly.

"About what?" Toy Chica asked, looking concerned, although she could easily guess what was on his mind.

Goldie sighed.

"The past…my mistakes basically."

He looked away and mumbled.

"How everything is interlinked and, yet it still makes no sense."

"You feel guilty, don't you?" was Toy Chica's concerned reply, staring back at him with her bright green eyes.

"Yes…" Goldie whispered, not giving her the eye contact which she so deeply desired.

"Do you think that you have could done anything else to prevent it?" Toy Chica enquired, still not breaking off her line of sight, determined to get him to look at her.

Goldie replied with.

"I could have helped Spring, be there when he needed me the most."

"But Spring has forgiven you, he doesn't hate you anymore," Toy Chica remarked.

"That part of your past has been buried."

"I know that…but still..."

Goldie turned and buried his head into the bed covers.

"I had so many opportunities and I dropped the ball, I could have stopped Vincent if I had been more alert."

**xxxx**

**"A warning sign…"**

**"I missed the good part, then I realised."**

**"I started looking and the bubble burst..."**

**"I started looking for excuses."**

**xxxx**

Toy Chica edged closer, reaching out with her hands.

"I could have revealed what I knew to Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, I could have told you and the others so you all would all be on the lookout."

"Goldie…" Toy Chica whispered softly, trying to catch his attention.

"But I kept my mouth shut for the shame of what I had done to Spring and I was deeply concerned with your safety and care, thus I allowed myself to ignore potential warning signs."

Goldie…stop," Toy Chica called, a little louder this time, but now he was on a roll.

"I could have stopped him, I could have caught him in the act, instead of watching Freddy and the others preform on stage that day I could have gone into the backroom and stopped him before he could harm any of those kids and beat the living shit out of him!" Goldie rambled with his mind working overtime as vivid images of past events flooded into his head.

Yet Toy Chica continued in trying to reason with him, raising the seriousness in her tone to snap him out of his ramble. "Goldie…this isn't helping you."

"I could have apprehended him, get the kids to bring the adults in and then call the police, he would have been arrested the children saved as well as our live hoods, then the other five children wouldn't be dead either!" Toy Chica snapped into a tone sounding more controlling then she would have liked as she grasped his hands tightly. "GOLDIE!"

He started to physically shake, she could see the regret of not doing enough had eaten away at him over the years, consuming him until he was almost hollow. "Goldie," she began softly, returning to her original tone.

"You didn't know what would happen next, you didn't know that, telling us properly wouldn't have made a difference, no one knew it was Vincent, we had nothing to go on."

She hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It could have been Amy, David, Laura, Richard, Henry, Helen, Jessica or anyone else, hell it could have been Minister Fazbear himself or some random pyscho off the street." She cradled him lovingly, trying to stop his shaking.

"You did nothing wrong…your innocent in all of this," she whispered.

"I'm not," was Goldie's muffled reply, but Toy Chica wouldn't let up.

"Yes, you are, your Fredbear, your Goldie Fazbear, you're a victim of cruel fate."

"I'm just Goldie, I'm a complete wreck."

"No…"

Toy Chica pulled him in even closer, resting her head against his.

"You are so much more than that…the Goldie at the start, the happy Goldie, the entertaining Goldie, he's still there…inside…he wants to shine again, but you won't let him, because you feel duty bound to wear a chain around your neck…but you don't need it anymore…you've never needed it in the first place."

She sighed, burying her head into his chest.

"We know everything, and we don't blame you, it wasn't your fault, stop beating yourself up," she muttered, savouring his warmth. "I'm scared…" was Goldie's reply, he was still shaking, although he enjoyed Toy Chica's company…it made the whole world feel less scary.

**xxxx**

**"Come on in…"**

**"I've gotta tell you what a state I'm in."**

**"I've gotta tell you in my loudest tones."**

**"That I started looking for a warning sign."**

**xxxx**

"I know you are…I'm scared too, but you need to accept the fact that you are innocent, do you want to fix things?" Toy Chica asked, stroking his golden hair.

He shivered as he muttered his response.

"Yes…badly."

Toy Chica tighten her grip, replying with.

"Then you need to accept your innocence you need to move on Goldie, we all do"

She decided to ask another question and was certain of Goldie's answer. "Goldie, did you intend to harm that child, the one that you bit?" No response.

"Goldie," she asked again, enforcing her demand for an answer.

"No," was his reply, sounding all weak and small.

"Then it was an accident, because if you didn't mean to do it, then what was it?" Toy Chica asked, now slowly releasing him from her grip. Goldie however remained quiet, thinking her words over.

He slowly sat upright, pushing himself up.

"I…I…I never to meant to do it, I did everything I could, but still I failed."

Toy Chica hugged him.

"Yet your right, it was….an accident," he muttered, eyes downcast.

"A fatal one…"

**xxxx**

**"When the truth is, I miss you."**

**"Yeah the truth is…that I miss you so."**

**xxxx**

"You may feel as if you're the only one in the world who has been in this position, but in the aftermath of what had happened at my pizzeria I felt devastated." She lowered her head in shame as past events flooded into her mind, vivid images of that fatal day flickered back and forth.

_Children screaming in terror, an enraged Mangle with blood covered lips standing above a body of an unconscious woman, people running for their lives, police and ambulance sirens._

_She remembered the condemning words of the CEO when he took them to one side for a 'friendly' conversation._

"_YOU LOT WERE BETTER TRAINED THAN THE ORIGINAL FOUR, SO HOW THE FUCK DID YOU LET THIS DISASTER HAPPEN?"_

"_ALL SIX OF YOU ARE AN UTTER DISGRACE TO THE FAZBEAR BRAND!"_

_"YOU'LL ALL BE LUCKLY IF THE COMPANY KEEPS YOU IN THE WINGS FOR ANY FUTURE RELAUNCH, NOT THAT I MYSELF WOULD WANT IT CONSIDERING WHAT A WASTE OF OUR EFFORT YOU'VE BECOME!"_

_He then sighed deeply before stating._

_"You were a waste of our time and resources and due to this unfortunate event no child would want to be anywhere near you."_

Toy Chica could feel herself choking up with tears, but she held them back, she needed to be strong for Goldie, it wouldn't help his mental state.

"I failed those under my protection, I failed to live up to Chica's standard and I disgraced the Fazbear name, I felt unworthy and in truth a good part of me wanted to die right there and then." That last bit made Goldie turn to look at her, seeing her depressed expression of naked sorrow made his heart ache.

"You felt suicidal…like me?" he asked softly, sounding somewhat surprised, he knew that she had a hard time, but to hear it from Toy Chica personally made the event more heart felt. "Yeah," she answered quietly, although her voice ached with emotion, withdrawing her hands from Goldie's neck to rub her eyes.

"I felt like shit, we all did, although Mangle had it harder for obvious reasons."

She turned to Goldie.

"You weren't alone in your pain."

And then she hugged him again, trying to keep him feel stable.

"We understand everything now, there's no need to hide anymore and no need to blame yourself," she stated, sounding very emotional.

"We don't hate you."

Then one of her hands shifted to grab Goldie's hand, when his eyes made contact with hers, he could see that she was trying to smile.

"We love you Goldie, if we can see past your mistakes then so can you."

She leaned in close.

"I can see right past them and see the kind-hearted person you really you are, you always had us in mind, but never yourself…you wanted to protect us."

She rested her head against his shoulder and whispered lovingly in his ear.

"So let me protect you…for a change."

**xxxx**

**"Come on in..."**

**"I've gotta tell you what a state I'm in."**

**"I've gotta tell you in my loudest tones."**

**"That I started looking for a warning sign."**

**xxxx**

Her tone made Goldie's cheeks blush red, her desire to protect him made him feel safe and something else. At the same time, he remembered something Nightmare Foxy had told him earlier, he was curious regardless of whether it was true or not. "Did you try to save me from the Nightmares by jumping onto a van?" he asked slowly, his eyes maintained contact with hers whose expression went straight from surprise to embarrassment.

"Errr…" Toy Chica mumbled, now fiddling with her fingers. "Yeah…I did and I nearly died as a result, everything just went so fast."

That bit caught Goldie by complete surprise.

"You risked your life trying to save me!" he shouted, louder than he would have liked.

"Well…yeah," Toy Chica replied sheepishly, she lowered her head, being unable to look at Goldie for what she was about to say next. "I do care about you."

Now it was her turn to blush…_deep red._

"You…mean alot….to this family."

**xxxx**

**"When the truth is, I miss you."**

**"Yeah the truth is, that I miss you so..."**

**xxxx**

Although that wasn't what she intended to say, evident by her saying the last bit rather quickly, something which Goldie immediately picked up on.

He squeezed her hand softly.

"Thank you."

Toy Chica was now clearly physically shaking, making Goldie looked concerned.

"Why are you shaking?" he asked.

"What's worrying you?"

Toy Chica looked around, checking to see if anyone was around.

There wasn't.

Deciding that this was her one and only chance, she seized it with both hands. She turned to face Goldie, his dark red eyes studying her bright green.

It was now or never.

"Goldie…I….I."

With one swift motion she grabbed Goldie, pulled him in close and pressed her lips against his.

For Toy Chica it was like a spark of electricity bursting through her entire body, for Goldie…it was a lighting blot of complete shock. They just sat there, lips pressed together with Toy Chica's hands keeping a firm hold on Goldie's suit.

Everything was still and quiet as if time itself had come to a halt...they were now on another plane of existence.

Slowly Toy Chica opened her eyes, the golden sun's rays were emulating the glow coming off Goldie's suit.

His expression was one of shock, his dark red eyes said so with their wide pupils. Toy Chica pulled away, letting go of Goldie and returning to her former position.

"I love you Goldie…you mean a lot to me," she muttered, looking evermore embarrassed.

She lowered her head and clasped her hands together. "I just wanted you to know…even if you don't feel the same way about me." She paused for a moment, turning her muddled thoughts into words. "I'm ok if you don't see me in the same way that I see you, but I just want you to know that…"

She slowly reached out and grasped his hand again.

"I'll be there for you…for me that's the next best thing."

Goldie's mind was completely blown away, normally he could pick up on what people were really feeling, even if they didn't say it out loud.

But this…he never saw this coming his way.

"Toy Chica…I….this…."

To say this was unexpected would be one hell of an understatement.

And of course, Toy Chica was nervous about his response having just put her heart out on the line.

"Toy Chica…I'm…." Goldie's voice trailed off into nothing, he didn't know what to say.

His mind was trying to work out why she would like him and how often she had shown it. Well her bright red face after she had hugged him, not to forgot the face she made before so was a big hint. Everytime she had approached him in the old Pizzeria, she seem 'off', somewhat on the edge and he could never guess why.

He had always assumed she was like that because of being in a new place and then having to radically adjust to hiding all the time after he and the others had saved them from being 'lawfully killed' as the company put it.

Now it made sense, she held feelings towards him and he had always been too preoccupied to fully investigate.

His mind shifted through past events, going over his entire life from the beginning to the present day.

**xxxx**

**"And I'm tired."**

** "I should not have let you go..."**

**"Oooooooo."**

**xxxx**

He had thought himself worthy at the start, enjoying his role, having Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy see him as their father figure, a role which he carried out…despite his guilt…which he had felt every day.

Then he met the Toys, who saw him as idol to follow, an advisor basically, but they valued him greatly never the less. Mike and Jeremy saw him as a close friend, someone who they regarded as wise and could be trusted…trust…they trusted him…yet he could not trust himself. Finally, there was Springtrap…his closest friend, yet after what Goldie did to him he came back to save him from the Nightmares and Vincent…sadly dying as a result.

He had forgiven him for abandoning him so many years ago, yet Goldie had struggled to forgive himself. Even when the others knew his dark secret and how it led to their current situation they didn't leave him, they didn't hate him, and instead they stayed…why?

The answer was obvious, they saw him not as selfish failure of the past who had kept secrets from them, but as Goldie, their friend, family member.

They still valued him deeply, even after everything that had happened to them.

And if Toy Chica could sit next to him, hold his hand and say that she loved him, then she must see something worthy in him. They all did, even if Goldie had lost sight of it himself. He knew why as the answer hit him like a lighting blot.

Forgiveness…

He had never forgiven himself for the past, even if it wasn't his fault as they all reasoned, he would not let himself go back to that happy warm persona which he once held.

Because if he did, he would feel like he was rejecting his guilt, disregarding his failings as nothing when they had caused life destroying results. He would enforce his self-imposed mantle as a form of self-punishment, never going back into show business, isolating himself and spending the last four decades repenting his life choices.

He felt that he wasn't worthy anymore, that he had lost it in 1979 and finally losing all hope of redemption in 1983 with the infamous bite.

However, what was once lost…can be rediscovered with time.

Toy Chica noted that Goldie had started shaking, his whole body was trembling. "Goldie…I'll accept if you don't love me, it's ok," she said smoothly, gripping his arm to offer comfort.

Although in reality, she was terrified on the inside.

Then rather unexpectedly…Goldie began to laugh, suddenly going from a low chuckle to full blown laughter. He fell backwards onto the bed, laughing to himself while Toy Chica just looked on in confusion and worry.

"Should I…get someone to help you?" she asked sounding very confused as she reached out for him.

Goldie suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her in close, making her lose her balance as she collapsed on top of him. When she saw his expression, she knew something inside him had clicked. "You've helped me," he whispered, smiling with his eyes gleaming, expressing both joy and mischief.

"Far beyond my wildest dreams." He then kissed her, putting his lips on hers.

Toy Chica was so suddenly taken back by his apparent transformation that she had no idea of how to react.

Now it was her turn to be surprised, although it melted away to be replaced by lighting again.

Then as suddenly as it had started the sensation faded away they parted lips, with Goldie bringing his arms around Toy Chica and pulling her into a hug, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

"Thank you Toy Chica," he muttered, sensing her rapid heartbeat.

"Seriously thank you so much…"

Within seconds the previous scene had repeated itself with the two roles now switched.

"What are you trying to say?" she squeaked, unsure of it all. Goldie merely smiled, his dark red eyes locking with her bright green.

"I love you, I need you and at the end of all this chaos I don't want to be alone."

Instantly Toy Chica's entire body which had been tense became loose, she exploded with joy. "_Dreams do come true!" _she squealed internally.

"Thank you," Goldie remarked.

"Thank you for helping me find myself, you saw it, everyone else saw it, yet I didn't want to, because I felt so guilty and believed myself to be unworthy."

He chuckled lightly as he held her close. "Yet there is a thing such as second chances."

"Yeah," Toy Chica smiled, wrapping her arms around him in return.

"There is…"

**xxxx**

**"So I crawl back into your open arms."**

**"Yes I crawl back into your open arms."**

**"And I crawl back into your open arms."**

**"Yes, I crawl back into your open arms..."**

**xxxx**

"So, just to be sure...we are a couple…right?" she asked, sounding a little bit confused. "It's just that this feels very suddenly, everything is moving so fast." Goldie softly stroked her hair, making her feel very sensational.

"Yes, I suppose we are…'girlfriend'."

That last bit made Toy Chica giggled, she liked the way the word sounded in her ears.

She reached up and pecked him lightly on the cheek.

"Boyfriend," she teased to which Goldie chuckled.

"That's right."

He closed his eyes and rested his head against hers, their hairs one gleaming gold, the other a bright sunshine yellow interlocked.

"I feel everything within me is unlocking, the chains are falling away, the gates are opening," he muttered softly. "What do you mean?" Toy Chica inquired curiously.

"I'm freeing myself of the guilt, all of it is going away, I feel happy again…more than I have done in a lifetime."

He smiled.

"There's more to me than the past."

"Well," Toy Chica muttered playfully, mischief ringing in her eyes.

"You are more than…'just gold' after all."

They both laughed. "I'm back and I'm staying," Goldie stated, gripping her tightly. His eyes slowly narrowed in fierce determination.

"Nothing is making me go back to that…constant never ending cycle of self-grief."

"You won't not while I live," Toy Chica added with equal fierceness in her voice.

"I just wish…"

She caught the sudden change of emotion in his voice and knew where he was heading.

"That Springtrap was here to see this," she said, beating him to it.

Goldie slowly nodded, yet he now wore a blank expression. "Yes, but I know that he forgives me, his actions speak of that, I imagine him to be looking down at us…smiling and being very blunt on what he hears."

He smiled.

"Just get on and do it, he would be yelling, properly cupping his hands to his mouth as well," he joked humorously.

"He had a very sadistic nature from what I saw of him," Toy Chica remarked casually.

"So, now what?" she asked, her green eyes looking into his dark red.

Goldie returned to his determinated face with his eyes clearly expressing that he was thinking. "We kill Vincent, freeing the children, as well as killing the Nightmares too and send them screaming back into Limbo.

He continued.

"Then we restart the whole business, but we'll be running it instead...we'll own Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria."

"Why not call it Freddy's and Fredbear's Prizzia, as a fitting tribute to the history of the entire establishment?" Toy Chica asked, stating the obvious.

Goldie smiled, changing from his determined face to his happy one. "Well…that might revoke a few bad memories for some," he answered, thinking of how the infamous name might be interpreted

"It's been about forty years since Fredbear was even a thing, I think we can resurrect the logo without any major concern," Toy Chica replied, putting his worries to rest.

"However, there is one thing I want to do to truly bring the past to an end," Goldie muttered, going back to being Mr Determined.

"And that is?" Toy Chica asked curiously, tilting her head to one side.

"I want to free the child, I want to help him to move on, be at peace." He lowered his head, looking remorseful and sad. "I know it was an accident, but it would be right of me to free him from his demons." He then gave Toy Chica a small smile.

"I owe him that much."

"And you know that you aren't doing that on your own, I won't allow it," Toy Chica stated, gripping him tightly.

Her determination made Goldie laugh.

"Did I say I would stop you…knowing you I properly couldn't even try."

A pair of bright wide green eyes turned in his direction.

"And what does that 'mean'?" she asked, mocking immense anger.

"To put it simply your quite protective," Goldie answered, engaging in the mock sham of an argument.

"You're my boyfriend why wouldn't I be protective," Toy Chica replied smiling, clearly enjoying the playful banter.

She buried her head into his chest, listening to his heartbeat...it had a nice rhythm.

She softly whispered, just loud enough for Golde to hear.

"You know…it's in little moments like these, that I am reminded of there being some fun in our lives…beside the ugly mess that follows us."

"Well…" Goldie whispered, pulling her head up.

Their eyes locked more.

"We need to change that," he muttered with a desire for a _'particular'_ kind of mischief. They kissed once again, their hands grasping one another's with their fingers interlocking. A mild wind blew across the room through the open window, but that didn't bother them.

Unfortuablity for them the next thing did...

"GUYS, DINNER'S READY!" came Jeremy from downstairs, soon followed by the sound of muitple footsteps all rushing towards the kitchen.

Toy Chica and Goldie looked up in the sudden shock of being so rudely disturbed.

"Well, pity we have to cut things short," Goldie muttered, clearly feeling frustrated.

Toy Chica giggled as she traced his lips with her finger. "Don't worry honey, there's plenty of time later," she teased and Goldie could easily guess her meaning.

He stretched, feeling his muscles pull as if he was awaking up, in some sense he was waking up…spiritually.

"Your right, but we need to hurry, there may not be much of dinner left, not if Foxy's had his way with it," he muttered, launching himself off the bed. "Yeah, but let's go down together!" Toy Chica exclaimed, grabbing Goldie by the arm before he could get a word in and pulled him out of the room and down the stairs.

The others were already seated at the table when they reached the kitchen.

Toy Freddy was the first to turn in their direction, his eyes lighting up when he saw the pair.

"Hey guys, we've saved you some."

He then turned to Foxy who was seated opposite, narrowing his eyes at him. "And would have saved more if you didn't try to wolf it all down in your dam hunger."

"Listen laddie," Foxy began casually, pointing his hook directly at Toy Freddy.

"I got here first so by that right I got to choose the best bit...which just so happened to be the largest part of it."

"You were being greedy!" Toy Freddy snapped back.

"And don't '_laddie'_ me!"

Then Chica jumped in.

"Goldie are you ok?" she asked, wondering if Goldie was coping well with all that had happened to him recently.

"I'm fine Chica, in fact to tell you the truth I've never felt better," Goldie replied heartily as he leaned against the doorway and flashed her a smile.

Instantly Chica as well as the others picked up on his mood…something had changed.

"Goldie, are you ok?" Bonnie asked curiously, studying his behavior.

"Yeah, I'm good, I feel relieved, back to normal, how are you Bonnie?" Goldie asked joyfully, throwing the question back at her. That caught Bonnie by complete surprise, hell she seemed to be taken aback by it. Toy Chica meanwhile smiled to herself as she sat down, laughing interally at everyone's confused reaction.

"In fact," Goldie began, striding up to the others who were stunned beyond their wildest dreams.

"Before I eat, I just want you all to know something."

"And that is?" Jeremy asked sounding somewhat hesitant as he raised his head up to see over the others as he sat at the far end of the table.

Goldie reached up and straighten his top hat. "Whether you all call me Goldie or Fredbear." He smiled with a bright spark of mischief shone in his eyes.

"I'm back and you better be ready for Freddy!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Freddy shouted, standing up in protest.

Goldie smirked, clearly enjoying Freddy's frustration.

"I was technically the first to be called 'Fred' short for Freddy, so actually I own it boy."

"Boy?" Freddy remarked, looking rather surprised as the elder Fazbear walked towards him.

When had Goldie last called him boy?

Not since...the early 1980s when he was tutoring him.

The elder Fazbear leaned over his younger counterpart who bent backwards, somewhat unsure of what to make of this new and imposing Goldie.

"I'm still here and I'm ready to deliver some hard earned payback," he muttered, clearly giving off a show of strength to Freddy who just stared back, having lost the ability to speak.

Goldie slowly turned to face the others who were just all shell-shocked at what they were seeing...well all but Toy Chica that is, who was trying her absolute best to not burst out into laughter right there and then.

"So," Goldie stated, now standing up tall.

"Whose in to seriously kick some Nightmare ass?"

Everyone's' eyes widen as the realization of his words hit them...this is was not the same Goldie that had awoke several hours ago.

* * *

However, the one person to truly sense this change the most wasn't in the room, nor were they in this plane of existence.

Back within Limbo inside the house, Nightmare Fredbear, who had been lying peacefully on top of Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy suddenly jolted upright, looking very unnerved.

It was enough to make him glance around in a frantic manner, casting his scarlet red eyes in all directions.

"_What is it N-Fredbear, did you have a 'bad dream'?"_ Nightmare Bonnie fussed sarcastically. Her words made the Nightmare in question look down at her and judging by his stern expression he was not amused.

"_Did anyone else sense a major shift in the universe right now…or was that just me?" _he asked curiously. The other Nightmares just looked at each other in confusion before looking back to give him blank stares.

"_Why, what do you mean, was it a soulflare?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked curiously.

Nightmare Fredbear turned to face his front, his scarlet red eyes staring straight into the pitch blackness that lay before him.

"_No," _he responded slowly.

"_It wasn't a soulflare, but it was something."_

His eyes narrowed into thin slits as he frowned in annoyance of not knowing what it was that had jolted him so suddenly.

And more to the point why had it scared him so much when he was on friendly soil and particularly invincible?

He didn't like the sensation it left on his person, whatever it was.

"_It felt foreboding, something has changed, and I do not like it…"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Nightmare Fredbear is concerned then they should all be!  
In all honesty, I do see Toy Chica and Goldie as a couple, keeping each other on the straight and narrow, if this feels to be out of the blue for some of you, then it'll be explained later on down the line.  
Thanks for reading and please review. :-)


	28. A Light In The Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is chapter 28, wow, to think we're on the verge of another decade!
> 
> This chapter is a little bit bigger than the last one, but I'm proud of it. :-)
> 
> There is a song in this one, it's Purple by MandoPony and I think it fits quite well, although it is not a singing one.  
Do enjoy, the next chapter will be uploaded in the New Year, Happy 2020 everyone!
> 
> A huge thank you to those who have read so far.

** Chapter 28. **

  
** A Light In The Dark. **

  
_ **"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present."** _

  
**Francis Bacon.**

The constant humming of the electrics, the subtle whispers of the endoskeletons and the sound of the wind rippling against the rough surface of Lake Michigan outside could only temporarily break the silence that engulfed the cockpit.

Vincent sat slouched back in the pilot's chair with his eyes closed.

He wasn't asleep as his appearance might suggest, but rather was resting his eyes, as he mentally tossed and turned in deep thought.

What was on his mind disturbed him greatly, he needed the silence to truly focus and silence his thoughts.

"Would it matter if they knew why I did it?" he asked, voicing his thoughts out loud.

"Would they understand…would they even care?"

He sighed, slumping forward, thinking of what action could be taken next, he was good at planning, but it was hard at times to get everything right.

Without the Nightmares around, he could at least have some time to himself.

**xxx**

"_**Sometimes it feels like I'm in a dream…or…a nightmare."**_

"_**But I'm awake, and, I'm doing things but…I'm…not meaning to do them."**_

"_**And even though it's a nightmare…I feel…happy inside."**_

**xxx**

At times he had wondered how things had so easily spiraled into chaos, had things been simpler before 1983?

It hadn't been made any easier by the tragic event in 1977, which had brought about the ugly incident outside Fredbear's Family Diner a year later. The past held a romantic nostalgia to it, seeing it through rose tinted glass and Vincent liked it.

It meant he didn't need to look at recent events, like the ones which had carried him to this point in time.

**xxx**

"_**I've done some things in my life that you may think are crazy."**_

"_**A little different from the rest, I get my pleasure from the pain."**_

"_**I've got some ghosts who follow me, you may think I'm crazy, but in the night, I know I feel alright."**_

**xxx**

Before him on the cockpit desk lay several folders each one from the archives of the now dead Fazbear Entertainment company.

When the company collapsed in the early to mid-1990s, it was a frantic free for all as every employee took whatever they wanted from the company as it no longer held any assets. Thus, it was quite easy for Vincent who had been with the company since 1980, to just walk in, grab what he needed and leave.

It was part of his long-term plan, rebuild, scheme and wait…let the Fazbears fall into a false sense of security and then strike. He soon found out that a lot of the company's former assets which had been left behind held no financial value.

But value doesn't always have to be financial…

To his complete surprise with some help from the files which he took, he discovered an abandoned depot stocked with rows upon rows of idle endoskeletons. It was understandable if one were to ask what was the point of having endoskeletons around if the entertainers were all humans?

The reason for the endoskeletons existing in the first place was because back in 1981 when the company was booming with financial success, they had decided to set up several quote on quote 'Sister Locations' with the entertainers being robots designed to look like humans. The overall result they hoped was to be a massive increase in revenue and popularity, as using robots would be far more cheaper than hiring actual people.

And judging by the vast number of endoskeletons Vincent found stored inside the old depot, they clearly had big plans.

**xxx**

"_**I SEE SPIRITS ALL AROUND ME AS I TRY TO UNDERSTAND, WHAT MAKES ME DO THE THINGS I DO, TO EVERYONE AROUND ME!"**_

"_**AND I BET YOU NEVER KNEW I COULD HAVE REGRETS**_

_ **FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU SEE RED!"** _

"_**BUT ALL I SEE IS PURPLE INSTEAD!"**_

**xxx**

Unfortunately, fate thought otherwise with the Bite of 1983, quickly followed by the First Missing Children's Incident.

Those events derailed everything with the company's assets losing value so they couldn't sell them, but nor did they wish to destroy them in case an opportunity for establishing a sister location ever reappeared.

So they took the third option and proceeded to put all of the endoskeletons into storage, where they remained for a complete decade until Vincent found them and put them to good use. A little re-wiring, a little bit of essential reprograming and soon before you know it you have your own endoskeleton army, loyal to bitter end and capable of fulfilling all sorts of tasks.

Vincent smiled at the idea of robot entertainers, why not make them into animals with Freddy being a robotic bear, Bonnie being made into a robotic bunny, Chica was now a robotic chicken and Foxy turning into a robotic pirate fox.

It could work, children did like animals after all.

However, with the Fazbears being possessed by dead children, then every night, when the establishment closed up for the day and nightguard began their six-hour shift, the robots already possessed would roam the place, stalking the nightguard. Vincent could see it being played out in his mind's eye, the night guard would have to survive by carefully preserving their power supply, watching the cameras, checking the lights and closing the doors to stop them from getting into the office.

Finally, if the nightguard lived to see six am, then the robots would follow their basic programing and return to the stage.

If not…then the nightguard would have the most unfortunate experience of being stuffed alive inside a suit and crushed to death.

A lightbulb lit up inside his head.

"Now that…" he stated, laughing in the process.

"Would make a very good horror game."

He clicked his fingers.

"In fact, note to self, alternative career path…horror game developer."

However, he was in no position to create such a thing, but maybe if someone else had a creative talent for gaming, then perhaps such an idea would come to life.

His mind then shifted back to his original subject…. the purpose of what he had done, the reason behind everything.

**xxx**

"_**I smile in the face of what's to come, we can try but we can't run from the fate we bring upon ourselves."**_

"_**It's just a dream, it's just a dream, but that doesn't mean my waking life is not a nightmare."**_

**xxx**

He had resigned himself to whatever fate may befall him, he accepted it before the first Missing Children's Incident.

He would follow the Fazbears to the bitter end, to the ends of the earth, even if it meant his death.

Why…for what exact purpose?

**xxx**

"_**I SEE SPIRITS ALL AROUND ME AS I TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES ME DO THE THINGS I DO, TO EVERYONE AROUND ME!"**_

"_**AND I BET YOU NEVER KNEW I COULD HAVE REGRETS FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU SEE RED!"**_

"_**BUT ALL I SEE IS PURPLE INSTEAD!"**_

**xxx**

The truth is that he did have regrets for what he did...although he had never shown it to anyone.

When he was alone he could question himself, his actions and whether it was all worth it. Everyone else suspected he was having issues…but they never dared to ask, he was just the suit specialist, helping other staff members fit inside the SpringBonnie suit at Fredbear and Friends, a suit which turned out to be very useful later on_…for murder._

The same could be said of his time at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, he just fulfilled his role as the average daytime staff member.

Slowly he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out an object, the same object which he had previously held back at the factory.

**xxx**

**"_This is the end of me…they got the best of me."_**

**xxx**

He then reached into his other pocket and pulled out another object, holding it alongside the first.

**xxx**

**"_Now justice has been served." _**

**xxx**

Item wise they were the same thing, a slightly different design and different colour, but still the same.

**xxx**

**"_Oh well live and learn..."_**

**xxx**

He felt them in his hands, running his fingers softly against their texture, yet these items weren't meant for people his age.

**xxx**

**"_I SEE SPIRITS ALL AROUND ME AS I TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES ME DO THE THINGS I DO, TO EVERYONE AROUND ME!"_**

**xxx**

Old memories, happy days, somewhere inside him he could feel his older self…the part of him hiding behind the cold emotionless eyes as he conducted his killings.

Killing had given him power, power over life and death, something he desired, so everyone else could feel what he felt.

**xxx**

**"_AND I BET YOU NEVER KNEW I COULD HAVE REGRETS FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU SEE RED!"_**

**xxx**

The past was now a distinct memory, lost to the mists of time, yet he clung to it as a source of inspiration to see this feud through to its bitter end, whatever the outcome might be.

There was no room for mercy, pity, sadness or grief…just resentment, anger and hatred, the Fazbears hated him and he hated them in return.

**xxx**

**"_BUT ALL I SEE IS PURPLE INSTEAD!"_**

**xxx**

And his reason for doing so lay hidden within Goldie's memories…if he could just retrieve it that is.

There was a loud solid knock on the cockpit door, instantly in his shock, Vincent quickly shoved the objects back into his trouser pockets.

He stood up from his chair, turned round and opened the door, revealing an endoskeleton on the other side.

"Yes…your reason of disturbing me is?" he asked, putting on a blank yet stern face with a tone of annoyance.

"_The Nightmares are now back,"_ the lone endoskeleton replied plainly.

"Well, that's good, might as well as inform them of my recent discoveries," Vincent stated, maintaining a serious face as he walked pass the endoskeleton who watched him go.

Again…no one needed to see his pain…no one.

"_Well…that was a long and drawn out family meeting," _Nightmare Foxy stated, stretching his neck, testing his newly repaired body. "_At least we kno__w __what to do next, with all that's happened,"_ Nightmare Bonnie replied, standing up tall. "_Still it was great to see the others again, I do miss that place sometimes,"_ Nightmare Chica stated, feeling her recently healed legs which dangled off the edge of the table she sat on.

"_At least I'm not anywhere near Nightmare Mangle,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, dusting himself down.

"_She's very grabby."_

"_Pity__,__ you two make quite a __cute__ couple,"_ Nightmare Chica giggled, earning her a death's glare from Nightmare Freddy. "_In your opinion only,"_ he stated sternly, which only made her giggle some more.

"_I quite like the change of plan, in fact I think-" _

Nightmare Bonnie instantly closed her mouth as soon as Vincent entered the room, however, he didn't appear to notice Nightmare Bonnie cutting herself off in mid-sentence.

"Aaaa, I see your back and by the looks of things your visit to Nightmarionne went well," Vincent commented, seeing the Nightmares walk around without a single scratch on their bodies, it was like nothing had happened to them.

"_Yeah, she's crafty when it comes to magic, I'll like to see her take on the Puppet someday," _Nightmare Chica replied, looking extremely happy with her newly healed body as she tested her hands and legs.

Back to normal, it was like she had never been shot in the first place.

Nightmare Foxy walked passed Vincent with his head in the clouds, however he was sharply brought back to reality as Vincent whispered something in his ear which made him stop instantly. His eyes turning serious, Nightmare Foxy whispered something back to which Vincent nodded in confirmation. He then asked something else to which Nightmare Foxy sighed deeply, but he answered Vincent's question.

None of the other Nightmares could hear what was being discussed, but they could easily guess judging by the low voices and serious expressions.

Besides Nightmare Foxy would properly tell them later, so there was no need to interrupt.

For now he could enjoy the wonderful sensation of not being in constant pain for a change.

* * *

_Flash back_

Nightmare Fredbear was enjoying his new found position of power as the Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy remained trapped underneath him. He stretched some more, watching Nightmare Chica's cupcake hopped around on his stomach.

He could feel something wiggling away beneath him, looking down he saw a lone Freddy Head trying to make a break for it by slipping out from underneath his armpit. A quick smack with his fist pinned it in place and whilst it was stunned he grabbed it.

Lifting it up and bringing it in closer revealed its full body in detail to which Nightmare Fredbear examined in interest.

"_Didn't you have a body last time I saw you?"_ the Nightmare asked out loud, as he dangled the Freddy Head by the tip of its tail before him like a snake.

Once it had an actual body with legs and arms to match, often seen close by Nightmare Freddy, but now all he saw was a long spinal creature with a barred tail and a face very similar to Nightmare Freddy. It twisted and turned about in all angels snapping into thin air with its jaws, trying to attack Nightmare Fredbear who held it at arm's length, continuing to observe it before finally muttering.

"_The perfect snake, this change actually suits you, it is much better than your old form."_

He then dropped it to the floor, allowing it to slide around on the carpet like a serpent.

"_Faster and deadlier."_

He shifted about, trying to get comfy on top of what was basically a lumpy cushion.

"_Hey, get up fat boy, move it!"_ Nightmare Bonnie yelled, trying her best to elbow him in the back to promoted him to move.

The response was Nightmare Fredbear shoving her back hard in the chest with his elbow. "_What's the magic word?"_ He asked softly, although there was a clear undertone of sternness.

There was a pause before Nightmare Bonnie responded sheepishly. "_Please can you get off of us Nightmare Fredbear?"_

And the Nightmare compelled just like that, pushing himself off them before rising to his full height.

"_You need to work on your manners N-Bonnie,"_ he remarked smoothly with a sneering undertone, even though Nightmares had no conception of manners. Once he was off, the other four Nightmares crawled and rolled away as fast as they could, in case their escape turned out to be nothing but a ruse.

However, it was not as Nightmare Fredbear was far too busy stretching his back.

"_You four are not easy to lie on_," he mumbled clicking his spine back into place. "_Well what the hell were you expecting!"_ Nightmare Freddy yelled, poking him hard in the chest, evidently angry.

This made Nightmare Fredbear scowl.

"_Not much really, other than to see how long you would keep resisting for, it's my way of keeping your ego in check,"_ he remarked, pushing the younger Nightmare back as he continued.

"_You need to keep your mind on the mission, we're all counting on you four to deliver our end of the bargain to Vincent while he does his bit."_

"_Yeah, well we're wasting valuable time as it is with you sitting on us," _Nightmare Foxy retorted, throwing his arms up in the air to display his frustration.

"_No more gloating or getting distracted got it!"_ he hissed, now pointing his hook straight at Nightmare Fredbear who clasped his claws together.

"_I'm glad you got the message N-Foxy,"_ he replied smoothly before asking.

"_So, we have no more problems then?"_

To which Nightmare Foxy replied plainly, lowering his hook arm.

"_I suppose so." _

"_Well if everything has been sorted then we should be taking our leave?"_ Nightmare Chica muttered, dusting herself down.

"_True, however I will admit that we have one more matter that needs urgently attending to," _Nightmare Fredbear announced, turning away from the group and staring out into the darkness. "_We have an eavesdropper and it isn't Plushtrap,"_ he muttered, before calling out in a cheerful tone.

"_Come here Tommy."_

There was no reply to his demand.

Frowning slightly Nightmare Fredbear called out again.

"_Come out boy, I know you're there."_

Again, no response...only silence, making the Nightmare sign evermore in frustration.

"_Tommy,"_ he began with a subtle tone of anger.

His claws closed and tighten to become fists.

"_You wouldn't want to make me force you out would you, knowing all too well how that would go."_

Still nothing.

"_Thomas, I'll count to three and if not then I'll come and put the fear of God into you again, or I could just get the others to do it…like old times."_

Nothing, not a single sound came out of the darkness.

"_One."_

Still all silent.

"_Two…"_

Evidently the Nightmare was getting angrier with each passing second, readying himself to dash off into the shadows and find his prey.

"_Thre-"_

He stopped in midsentence the instant he heard a noise.

_A footstep…_

More followed as a figure slowly emerged out of the darkness before the Nightmares, it looked as if the person was literally walking out a liquid wall of immense blackness. The figure was that of a small boy, perhaps ten at best, hugging a worn out plushie of Fredbear with his purple top hat and bowtie.

Needless to say Nightmare Fredbear was hiding his frustration beneath a false smile of satisfaction with Tommy's decision to come out into the open.

"_Ahhh at last you come boy, why did you have to drag that out, there was no need to anger me?"_ he asked with a tone of curiosity as well as one of subtle anger.

The boy only lowered his head and hugged his Fredbear plushie closer to his chest as he approached the Nightmare in question.

"_Not talking then,"_ he remarked to which the boy only nodded in confirmation, his answer wasn't too surprising given that he rarely spoke, often hiding himself away from the others.

Clearly, he didn't want to look at the other Nightmares, keeping his baby blue eyes glued to the floor. He appeared to shiver slightly when their combined shadows fell over him like a dark sky. If he looked up now he knew that he'll face four pair of eyes staring back at him.

However, he had need not to, for those four pair of eyes came down to his level as the Nightmares got on their hands and knees.

Now he couldn't avoid looking at them, he was effectively cornered.

Rising to meet the challenge, Tommy quiten his nerves all the while he held the Fredbear Plushie close to his chest as a form of immediate comfort as he stared at his killers in the face. Of course, they weren't really his killers, but his mind's wrapped interpretation of them and boy had it done a good job of making them real.

"_Spying on us laddie?"_ Nightmare Foxy enquired.

He sighed as he slowly patted Tommy on the head.

"_It's a really bad habit." _

He leaned down further and whispered.

"_Do you know what happens to those who spy on others, especially if they're children?"_

After a long pause, Tommy slowly nodded.

"_Good, because when we find people spying on us…"_

Then suddenly Nightmare Chica popped up behind Tommy and screamed.

"_WE EAT THEM!"_

Tommy initially jumped like a cat on a hot tin roof, however it resulted in an unexpected reaction, one which the Nightmares were not expecting.

Upon recovering from his fright, he suddenly turned around and punched Nightmare Chica hard in the stomach without hesitation.

Nightmare Chica stumbled back momentarily in her shock, Tommy hit her, _he had hit her!_

_And she wasn't one to take things lying down. _

And Tommy by the looks of it was clearly regretting his actions by the startled look on his face as Nightmare Chica rose to tower above him. "_So, you want to play it that way then!"_ She growled, as her nightmare cupcake hopped onto her shoulder barring down at the boy with cold murderous eyes.

Suddenly she grabbed a fistful of his light brown hair and yanked him up off the ground.

Holding him afloat with his legs dangling about in mid-air, Nightmare Chica opened her mouth wide, revealing all three rows of her sharp teeth.

Her cupcake did likewise.

"_It's been a while since I last ripped a face off,"_ the Nightmare purred seductively, eyeing the fear in Tommy's eyes.

She brought him closer as his kicks grew more frantic, yet he didn't scream, although you could tell that he was on the verge of tears. The other Nightmares just stood nearby and watched the display, even Nightmare Fredbear was watching with his arms folded as he looked on in interest.

Nightmare Chica's mouth opened to its fullest extent, being more then bigger enough to fit a small child's head.

She lunged forward.

_Then stopped dead in her tracks…_

The others quickly caught on that she had stopped in the middle of her act. Her yellowy and orange eyes which had been so bright with vigor a few seconds previously were now widen and filled with concern. She slowly lowered Tommy back down to the floor, gently letting go once his feet touched the ground.

Once done, they could see why she had stopped.

Tommy immediately grabbed his head with both hands, dropping his Fredbear plushie to the floor as he fell forward onto his knees. He looked like he was in considerable agony and, yet no one had seriously harmed him.

His jaw was tightly clenched in agony, as he pulled on his hair in all directions.

"No…please."

"I don't want…to hurt anyone…I didn't mean…to hurt her."

Nightmare Chica could see his pupils flickering from blue to a dim red, as his eyes began to weil up with fresh tears.

"I don't want to hurt anyone, I don't want any more pain."

The switching back and forth between blue and red became ever more frequent with each passing second.

"Please…leave me alone, I don't know how to do it even if I wanted to."

He appeared to be struggling to hold in his inner rage as it was actually manifesting itself in a physical sense.

"Go away, I don't want to do it again…why won't you let me be," he whimpered, as his body rocked back and forth.

"I don't want to harm anyone."

Finally deciding to intervene, Nightmare Fredbear walked forward and lightly grabbed Tommy by the back of his neck. He momentarily stiffened only to then relax when the Nightmare clasped his claw over his mouth and nose, cutting off his airways. The boy was too busy locked up in his own internal struggle to resist and soon he fell unconscious, going out like a light.

Getting one claw under his back and the other underneath his legs, Nightmare Fredbear picked Tommy up bridal style.

"_Another one of his 'moments',"_ he muttered, turning to face the others who stared at the unconscious boy in wonder.

"_Mmm, so he still has those moments, that boy cannot leave himself alone,"_ Nightmare Foxy remarked, softly stroking Tommy's hair with his hook.

"_But can you blame him for how he sees himself at times, given how shit his life was_?" Nightmare Bonnie asked, running her claw through the boy's hair like fine sand through a sieve.

"_No, it wasn't his fault, although to be fair I would hate myself for not putting up a fight,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered, holding his claw above the boy's mouth to check his breathing.

"_Well…at least he knows not to overstep boundaries, most of the time,"_ Nightmare Chica chuckled lightly, picking up Tommy's Fredbear plushie and carefully putting it back into his hands so not to disturb him.

"_True, but still he shouldn't have been outside his bedroom without supervision,"_ Nightmare Fredbear replied, shifting his claws around so he could equally distribute the boy's weight.

"_I'll take him back and you four should get going,"_ he remarked, lifting Tommy's head up slightly.

"_Well we shouldn't keep Vincent waiting any longer,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered, straightening her hair. "_Indeed, it's time we took our leave,"_ Nightmare Freddy said, his eyes darting from one Nightmare to the next.

"_Are we good to go?"_ he asked.

"_Yes, I'm ready to spill some blood, I can feel myself getting edgy,"_ Nightmare Foxy mumbled, running his hook through his claws. "_Yeah, I'm ready to go back, it's nice to come back here but once you've got a taste of the good life its hard to resist it,"_ Nightmare Chica added, stretching back to relive some bodily tension.

Then the nearby front door unlocked itself and swung right open, presenting the dark, cold and unwelcoming world of Limbo.

"_Good luck and try not to get yourselves injured…or worse," _Nightmare Fredbear said, although he said the last bit in a stern authoritarian tone to get his point across.

"_As much as Nightmarionnie likes to play the role of nurse she doesn't want to have her 'talents' wasted…"_

"_Got it!" _Nightmare Freddy replied in a tone which betrayed his inner frustration at being told this for the third or fourth time.

And with that he transformed into a fiery ball of red and shot out of the open door, flying into the vast infinite darkness of Limbo.

"_N-Freddy can be moody when he feels that he's being dominated by others,"_ Nightmare Chica remarked, throwing her tangled mass of dirty yellow hair back.

"_Ha!"_ Nightmare Fredbear laughed sarcastically.

"_Tell me something that I don't know."_

Nightmare Chica only grinned in response before turning into a bright ball of yellowy orange and darting out of the doorway, following Nightmare Freddy's trail. "_Just try to keep Plushtrap from killing Nightmare Balloon Boy if you can," _Nightmare Bonnie muttered casually as she walked towards the doorway.

"_The former doesn't like being put down."_

To which Nightmare Fredbear replied with.

"_He can't help his size, still I have to admit, it is amusing to watch him verablly blow up." _

Nightmare Bonnie turned to face him and smiled sweetly.

"_True, very true…"_

Then she morphed into a ball of bright bluish purple and was gone out the door in a heartbeat.

Now it was just Nightmare Foxy.

"_Well, I don't have anything witty to say other than."_

He then saluted the elder Nightmare with a mark of respect.

"_See you on the flipside laddie."_

He then headed towards the door, but was suddenly stopped when an arm came out in front of his chest, blocking his way.

Nightmare Foxy turned to see Nightmare Fredbear holding Tommy who was still unconscious up with one hand and denying him the right of exit with the other.

"_You're may have got by this time N-Foxy, but I will warn you right now…"_

He leaned in close and spoke in a calm yet authoritative tone.

"_Come to us with such wounds again and you will be replaced."_

Nightmare Foxy's eyes narrowed as he backed away slightly.

"_You don't get to make that decision, 'Fredbear',"_ he said in a tone which sounded threatening when compared to the restrained tone of Nightmare Fredbear, who rolled his eyes and said.

"_True, but I'm delivering a message from the person who can."_

Nightmare Foxy's brown reddish eyes widen for brief second…was it in fear or realisation?

He sighed and lowered his head in acceptance and plainly replied.

"_Sure thing laddie, message received and understood."_

Nightmare Fredbear laughed joyfully and slapped the younger Nightmare on the shoulder.

"_Just try not to die you idiot, honestly, I don't want to see you four get replaced by the other lot, unlike them you have actual experience of the real world and that counts for something."_

Nightmare Foxy gave him a look of 'seriously, this is your way of building up confidence?'

Nightmare Fredbear grabbed his shoulder and turned him around on the spot, pushing him towards the open doorway.

"_Just pass that along to the other three for me N-Foxy if you please,"_ he asked, although Nightmare Foxy didn't get an actual choice in the matter.

"_Goodbye Nightmare Foxy and good luck, you'll need it." _

Nightmare Foxy turned to face him and waved his hook in his direction as a form of salute.

"_Same to you," _he said in a causal, yet somewhat confused tone.

"_And keep the boy safe from harm."_

His words made the elder Nightmare smile smugly.

"_Trust me, it's in all our interests that Tommy is kept safe from harm, above all else."_

And then Nightmare Foxy went, transforming into a bright ball of reddish brown and rushing out the door like the grim reaper himself was after him. With his departure Nightmare Fredbear was left all alone with an unconscious boy in his arms.

Well...that changed quickly as Tommy began to stir himself awake, shifting back and forth in the Nightmare's arms.

Slowly his eyes opened, revealing two baby blue pupils as his vision cleared from hazy to normal. He sighed in a relaxed tone, only to then be greeted with the grinning face of Nightmare Fredbear staring down at him, swiftly followed by the realisation that he was in his arms.

The Nightmare felt the boy's body immediately tense up when it dawned on him where he was.

"_Did you have a nice sleep?"_ he asked softly with an undertone of mischief and sarcasm.

He leaned in close.

"_What did you dream of?"_

Tommy started to wiggle, clearly looking uncomfortable to be in the Nightmare's presence. His frighten reaction made the Nightmare laugh, throwing his head back.

"_Well you don't need to tell me boy, whatever it was it's gone now."_

Tommy was just so innocent in everything he did, surrounded by the worst kind of monsters in a sea of infinite blackness, he was the light in the dark.

A flame which refused to go out, no matter how hard the surrounding darkness tired to smother it.

Including the potential darkness which lay within the flame itself.

Nightmare Fredbear turned away from the doorway which was now closing itself shut with the other four Nightmares having since left.

"_Now let's get you back to your bedroom where you'll be nice and safe from any danger," _he said causally.

Then a thought entered his head.

"_Do you want to play with Nightmarionne?"_

Tommy immediately froze when her name left the Nightmare's mouth.

"_You don't like her do you?"_

Tommy shook his head in confirmation to which Nightmare Fredbear chuckled.

"_Well I can't blame you boy, she is rather creepy and has a madness about her."_

He was fine with Nightmares Bonnie and Chica, even Nightmare Mangle at times, but Nightmarionne…she was a different person all together and not one to be taken lightly.

_Speak of the devil… _

"_Oh Nightmare Fredbear, can you really be that cruel?"_ a soft feminine voice called out from all directions. Both Tommy and Nightmare Fredbear froze in their respective positions, their eyes darting about to find the source of the voice.

"_Nightmarionne…"_ Nightmare Fredbear began cautiously.

"_I didn't notice you and I am not one who usually drops his guard."_

"_The student can become the master, Nightmare Freddy follows that mentality very much so,"_ the voice replied, now coming from directly in front of the pair.

"_You were watching?" _he asked sternly, disapproving of her sneaky nature.

"_I like to watch, is that a crime_?" she asked with fake innocence in her tone.

It wasn't but the elder Nightmare did not like being spied on.

"_I am here on my own accord, no one else's," _she said, still from the same position as last time.

"_Show yourself then," _Nightmare Fredbear demanded and slowly a pair of white dots emerged out of the darkness, steadily getting brighter and brighter like two diamonds.

"_Better?" _she asked smoothly.

"_Yes, much better."_

"_Are you going to take him back to his room?"_

"_Yes, I was just about to."_

_"Give him_ _ to me, I can administer a 'mother's touch…"_

Instantly Nightmare Fredbear felt Tommy grip his arms tightly, he didn't want to go with her. He would rather stay with him, the Nightmare reincarnation of the person who took his life, supposedly his greatest fear among all things.

_How ironic…_

Yet he could sense Tommy's strong desire not to go with her.

"No Fredbear," was all he got out of the boy, his voice being a whisper, but it was enough to confirm what was already obvious.

Nightmare Fredbear tighten his hold.

"_I think Tommy wants to stay with me," _he stated, narrowing his eyes.

He could feel Tommy's body relax at the rapid decline of his fears.

"_However," _the elder Nightmare began with a tone of assument.

"_You are more than welcome to accompany us."_

And Tommy froze, his heart literally skipped a beat.

"_Don't think I've suddenly gone soft on you boy, this is your punishment for wandering out on your own."_

He walked forward with the boy in his arms, stepping into the darkness which appeared to embrace them both into its protective shroud.

"_Did you enjoy being the 'nurse' again?" _he asked causally, strolling forward as if nothing else had happened.

He felt her presence heavily, it was as thick as the darkness itself.

"_Mostly," _she teased with a tone of weariness.

_"Trying to keep the four of them still was hard, they wouldn't stop moving whenever their bones cracked back together." _

"_Sometimes I am torn between helping them after all it is my job and then tearing them apart to my heart's delight to shut them up."_

She laughed humorously with a devilish undertone.

"_How's a girl to choose?"_

To which Nightmare Fredbear replied with.

"_They're a handful to say the least, but they're getting the job done…slowly."_

Nightmarionne laughed again, this time it was dry and plain.

"_If you push them hard enough they will get the message I'm sure."_

Even with his night vision he couldn't spot her, she liked to blend in and watch from the shadows such was her nature. Although the fact that she wasn't a threat did ensure that both he and Tommy were in no danger. Beside she was too busy focused on getting Nightmare Freddy's job and being in the spotlight.

"_If Nightmare Freddy were to fail in his task, badly if I may add, then I can assume that the mantle of responsibility will fall to me yes?"_

She had a point and as much as Nightmare Fredbear didn't want the others to fail he felt that she deserved an answer.

"_Yes, if Nightmare Freddy and the other three were to fail, then you would get the opportunity which you have always desired."_

Nightmarionne laughed coldly before asking.

"_Your good at speculating, so how do you rate their chances of success?"_

"_Well,"_ the elder Nightmare began, cocking his head to one side.

"_If the Fazbears with their renewed intent to find justice are anything to go by, then the Nightmares should have their work cut out for them."_

"_Yet when shit hits the fan, they are an unstoppable group, trust me, they are not to be taken lightly."_

He could feel her presence all around him, like a serpent encircling him, propping his personal space.

"_So Nightmarionne I wouldn't be so eager to shove Nightmare Freddy off his high perch anytime soon." _

He paused, stopping in his stride to think before continuing with.

"_Unless they were all to die the moment they return to Earth."_

Suddenly he felt her presence being close to him, so close that made a whooshing sound, sending a ripple through the surrounding darkness. Tommy had sensed it to, burrowing himself evermore into the elder Nightmare's arms as a form of protection.

"_Oh Nightmare Fredbear…"_

Both the Nightmare and Tommy turned immediately to their left, only to be met by a pair of bright white dots for eyes, which barely illuminated Nightmarionne's face.

Even through they couldn't quiet see her, you could tell that she was smiling.

_"I wouldn't wish for anything less..."_

* * *

_Back to the Present Day_

"So, your back and in good health, I'm glad," Vincent announced, stepping pass Nightmare Foxy and returning to his usual joyful nature.

"Because there's no way in hell that I would be able to stand against the Fazbears single handed."

"_You did fine in 1979, 1983 and 1987,"_ Nightmare Bonnie remarked warmly, her words making Vincent smile at her, somewhat delighted by the point she had made.

"Correct N-Bonnie, but that was before they knew who did it and they weren't as united as they are now."

"Anyway," he continued, turning to face Nightmare Freddy. "What news to do you have to share with me from the rest of your family?"

The Nightmare in question cocked his head ton one side as he thought up the right words to speak with.

"_We've decided to change our plans in the light of recent events with the return of Goldie and what the Fazbears could learn from him." _

He stepped forward.

"_We've all agreed that we need to put them on the backfoot, or better yet push them into a situation of our choosing."_

Over the next five minutes Nightmare Freddy relayed the plan to Vincent, who would only express a look of curiousness, soaking up the Nightmare's words like a sponge.

To Vincent, the Nightmare's plan sounded like an alternative which he felt could be compared with one he himself had been thinking of.

In fact, why not integrate them into one…

"Interesting," he muttered slowly, folding his arms. "I like the premise…very sneaky…at the same time, I've been thinking of my own alternative, care to hear?" he asked, meeting each Nightmare in the eye. "_We're all ears matey,"_ Nightmare Foxy casually replied, basically speaking for everyone.

Vincent smiled as he turned round and headed off towards the cockpit, gesturing for them to follow him.

"Come, I have something to show you all."

The Nightmares followed, eager to find out what it was Vincent had in store for them.

Upon entering the cockpit, they all noted the folders which lay out on the desk.

"_What are these?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, picking one up. She opened it, seeing different sheets of papers containing financial charts, numerous Pizzeria building layouts, endoskeleton numbers and various other schemes that Fazbear Entertainment had planned.

"Company folders from the now dead Fazbear Entertainment that once ran the Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria chain," Vincent answered, watching as the other three Nightmares picked up separate files and started to flick through them.

"However, the most important information…."

He picked up the final folder that had been left untouched.

"Lies right in here."

The Nightmares' eyes widen when they read the folder's title.

_Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy Fazbear: Personal Details and Future Designs._

Vincent smiled at their expressions which spoke of complete curiosity.

He set it down on the desk and opened it up, drawing the Nightmares in closer. Their eyes scanned personal information on their counterparts, their profile pictures, their likes and dislikes, company refences on their personalities and even medical history.

"_Anti-depressions?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked curiously, reading the profiles of Bonnie and Chica which contained several references to anti-depressions in their medical history.

"They took them after the Missing Children's Incident, their pizzeria had closed shortly afterwards so they felt a 'little down'...the Toys weren't given any as they were meant to be 'put down', but the others got them out and hid them away in their new pizzeria," Vincent replied, shifting through various papers as none of them were the one which he wanted.

"There's something which caught my attention in this particular folder, something rather interesting and yet for some unknown reason I now can't find it."

Nightmare Foxy stepped in and rummaged through the papers until he came across something odd.

"_Is…this what you're looking for?"_ he asked, holding up a picture.

"Cheers," Vincent grinned, taking it off him.

His eyes gleamed with inner joy when he saw the picture in full.

When the Nightmares saw why he looked so happy they understood.

The picture was one of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all standing in a line…except it wasn't how they normally looked.

The figures maybe called Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, but they weren't_…human._

The people in the picture were robotic animals of the original Fazbears, Freddy was a big brown bear with Bonnie being a purple rabbit with a guitar, then there was Chica, who was a yellow chicken with a cupcake in one hand and Foxy being a fox dressed up to look like a pirate with a hook and eyepatch to match.

"_What are those…things, robotic versions of the Originals?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, taking the picture out of Vincent's hands for a closer look. _"Why would Fazbear Entertainment need robots?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, leaning over Nightmare Freddy's shoulder to get a better view.

"Well, apparently Fazbear Entertainment had big plans for the whole enterprise, creating robotic versions of the Originals in case you four have been wondering why there are so many endoskeletons walking around." Vincent answered causally.

"_Wait, hang on, just let me get this straight in my messed up head,"_ Nightmare Freddy stated, holding his hands up, trying to piece things together.

_"Fazbear Entertainment was planning to create robotic versions of the Originals in other Pizzerias as an expansion plan, yet that never happened."_

"_I guess when you murdered the children and caused the Pizzeria to close they dropped the whole scheme because they lacked the money?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked to which Vincent nodded, confirming her suspicions. "It was part of a massive expansion plan, they literally bought in hundreds of endoskeletons, but so far I've been unable to find the suits designed for the endoskeletons, apart from the SpringBonnie suit which I used to commit the murders."

He then filtered through the folder's contents and picked up a singular sheet of paper, he smiled knowing it was the one he wanted. "Until now, this information which I have only recently discovered in the last two hours while you four were away contains the location of the only suits ever created for the scheme and they are located…"

He flicked a switch on the desk which brought up the airship's main computer and upon unlocking it, Vincent went straight to Google Maps and typed in the suit's location on the computer's search bar.

"I have also thought up an alternative career path whilst on the side...game developer, I could create a horror game series based on the infamous history of the Fazbear Establishment, I'm currently calling it Five Nights at Freddy's or just FNAF for short, seeing how you generally have a five day working week."

The four Nightmares just stared at him dumbstruck.

"_Five Nights…at Freddy's?"_ Nightmare Chica muttered, feeling the words roll off her tongue.

"_What's a Five Nights at Freddy's?"_

"It's just an idea of using the events as the foundation for a horror game based on the infamous reputation of the Fazbear industry," Vincent replied modestly, sounding proud of his idea.

He continued, giving his vision more life.

"And giving that it has a long and complicated history, I could split it up into four games, the first being about the Originals, the second on the Toys, the third focusing solely on Springtrap and the fourth one about you guys."

"_I don't think it'll sell well, unless you put something original and creative into it, like giving the game a genuine sense of horror and fear,"_ Nightmare Bonnie suggested.

"_Including that you don't make the story over complicated."_

"Well if I feel that it might have too many loose ends then I'll just make a fifth game to expand the story's universe, and then maybe add a sixth one if I feel that the game requires a proper decent ending."

"_Sounds ambitious and somewhat out of your league, plus no offense but who would want to buy a game series off a child murderer,"_ Nightmare Foxy remarked.

"_I'm just saying with you wanting to keep a low profile and all."_

"Well…like I said, it was just an idea," Vincent replied plainly, then the onboard computer went ping as it had found the desired location. At first it showed them the Earth and all the separate independent countries before zooming in on the North American Continent.

"_Where is the USSR by the way, oh and on that matter why is there only one Germany and what is South Sudan?" _Nightmare Freddy asked, looking at virtual map with great interest.

It was odd for them to see so many new countries as the Nightmares had been asleep since 1987 when the Cold War was ongoing and since that year a lot had happened in the world. Not that they held much interest in world politics, it was a thing that they had been aware of, hearing bits of information about the real world whilst being in Limbo.

"It's a long story and I really don't want to get into it, unless I want to kill time," Vincent muttered, watching as the computer closed in its the target.

"I don't have much interest in world politics."

If he didn't bother the world, then it didn't bother him back.

The end result however stunned them all, including Vincent himself.

"_Wow…that's not far from where we are is it?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, looking at the red dot which showed the suits' location and the blue pinging dot which highlight their position. "Yes…which makes retrieving the suits much easier," Vincent stated with delight, clasping his hands together in a form of satisfaction.

He turned to see Nightmare Freddy approach him with his dark red eyes showing a look of curiosity.

"_May I suggest something for the sake of curriosity?"_ he asked, as his eyes burned into Vincent's.

"Go on," Vincent enquired with interest.

Nightmare Freddy leaned in and whispered something into Vincent's ear.

He then pulled away.

At first Vincent gave him no reaction, however after several seconds of thinking it over, his eyes went wide as he smiled mischievously.

"So, you want them…for future use?"

Nightmare Freddy nodded and replied plainly.

"_I have a special idea in mind for the Fazbears...if we could possibly turn the suits into springlock ones."_

"Mmm…I was actually going to give them to the endoskeletons to act as armor and the idea of the Fazbears facing off their animal counterparts did seem amusing to me."

He then waved his hand up singling a change in direction.

"However N-Freddy your demand seems reasonable, although I've never transported something over to the other side before…only souls…nothing quote on quote physical," Vincent replied, turning to see the suits' location on Google Maps.

"_We can try, there is always a first time for everything," _Nightmare Chica argued to which the other Nightmares all nodded in agreement.

Even Vincent commended her on it.

"Well said N-Chica, for those who have never made a mistake have never tried anything new," he said casually, setting a route to the suits' location with the cockpit controls and soon the airship started to turn round with its four propellers building up speed.

With everything now set in motion, Vincent leaned back and sighed.

"While we are heading there, I have been thinking over what you said about pushing the Fazbears into a situation of our choosing."

"_And?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked, eager to know more.

Vincent turned to her and flashed an insane grin that matched the creative spark in his eyes.

"I believe we could do that and even if they know that it's a trap they won't step away from it, because they value it to much and trust me I know what they hold close to their hearts."

"_And how would we do that matey, how can we force them to walk the plank if they know that it risks certain death?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, waving his hook in the air.

Vincent still smiling, reached out and picked up another folder, it's title being: _The Financial Records of Fazbear Entertainment and its Establishments._

"In here lies the answer and an end to their hopes and dreams," he announced, opening it up and revealing its contents.

Soon the airship was flying at full speed over Lake Michigan and away from Chicago with its city skyscrapers fading away into the distance. Nightmare Freddy smiled with grim satisfaction as he gazed longingly at the picture of the robot animals, each one representing one of the original Fazbears. As he listened to Vincent going into great detail of how the folder's content interlinked with their plan, his mind turned to the imaginary pleasure of one day getting to witness a springlock failure firsthand.

The cruel immediate snapping of the springlocks with the crushing and slashing penetration of the inbuilt endoskeleton against the user as it sprung back into its original position.

In the process it stabbed its victim everywhere at once.

And it was not an instant death either, but a slow and painful one, dragged out for hours with no hope of being saved, but just waiting for the end.

He ran his claw like finger over the picture, across their faces with his twisted mind building up a very gory image.

"_We have a place for you four…but it'll be a rather tight squeeze." _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am looking forward to writing Nightmarionne in alongside the other Nightmares, but I want to hold off from doing that due to there being a lot of characters already and I don't wish to hit character overload.
> 
> I want to give focus to everyone, but not all at once.  
Tommy is more or less the Nightmares' punching bag, he's just lost in it all with no sense of direction.  
Happy New Year to everyone, lets hope that 2020 is great year for FNAF! :-)
> 
> Please Review.


	29. Time Is A Friend To No One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, here is the first chapter of 2020, let's hope that this is great decade! :-)
> 
> Sometimes I think that Archive accidently deletes some of the words in each chapter causing grammar errors, so apologies for any errors that turn up when reading.
> 
> Also, regarding the word count, I'll try to keep chapters below 10,000 words, unless I feel that it's worth going the extra mile.  
Do enjoy.
> 
> Time is no one's friend and the Fazbears know it all too well...

**Chapter 29.**

  
**Time Is A Friend To No One.**

  
_ **"Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind."** _

  
**Nathaniel Hawthrone.**

Tap, tap, tap…tap, tap, tap.

Tap, tap, tap…tap, tap, tap.

Jeremy's fingers repeatedly pressed several keys on his computer's key pad as he brought up several documents which he had stored on the machine, documents all relating to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. Since his retirement from the company in 1988, he had been gathering as much information as possible on the company's history, trying to piece things together and help the Fazbears unlock the mystery which constantly hung over them like a dark cloud.

So far, he had collected documents detailing the two Missing Children's Incidents, the Bite of 1987 and some information on Fredbear's Family Diner, however he had found nothing on the 'Bite of 1983' or the establishment which Goldie had referred to as Fredbear and Friends.

Like the former children entertainer said, it was a closed and isolated incident.

Unable to find anything new, Jeremy slumped back onto his chair and sighed, covering his eyes and giving them a rest from the bright computer screen.

"Why must everything be hidden or locked away," he muttered out loud, trying to work out key dates in his head.

Around his office which was a fairly small room were pictures pinned to the surrounding walls with sheets of information stapled next to them…all relating to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. Photos, company complaints, some financial records not that they yielded much other than the steady collapse of the company.

And last of all newspaper articles, dating the timeline of events from Fredbear's Family Diner in the late 70s, to the opening of the two pizzerias in the early to late 80s with their respective 'incidents' and finally the reopening of the first Pizzeria in the 1990s, with its permanent closure in 1994.

The last article read as:

"FAZBEAR'S CLOSES ITS DOORS FOREVER, COMPANY COLLAPSES UNDER THE SHADOW OF TRAGIC EVENTS AND FINANICAL PRESSURE!"

After that announcement, the eyes of society moved away from Fazbear's, remembering it only as a place of innocent deaths and terrible mistakes.

The Fazbears were left behind within a rotting and worn out building, a relic to a golden era in show business.

When Jeremy found out about the closure of the place in 1994, he headed over to catch up on events and for the first time meet Mike Schmidt face to face after exchanging various emails for over a year. Putting his hand to his head to ward off an impending headache, Jeremy's thoughts wandered onto recent events.

Why was Vincent using the Nightmares of a random child to hunt them down and what was their personal motive for attacking the Fazbears?

Up until a few days ago no one had known about the existence of the Nightmares.

Jeremy had a strange feeling that those two questions might hold the answer, yet equally they produced more questions than answers. However, his mind wouldn't give up trying to think of a possible explanation for why things had turned out the way they did.

At first and for a long time Jeremy saw Vincent as nothing more than an insane psychopathic child killer, yet that was before recent events.

Now Jeremy felt there was more to the man than there first appeared…something distinctly human…which initially Jeremy outrightly rejected…but still it was something which he couldn't deny completely. Besides, thinking back over past events was building up a theory which had been massing in the back of his mind as he added more vital documents on Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria to his ever-growing collection.

And it was based on one particular question…if Vincent was just a child killer who went round to various Fazbear Pizzerias and murdered children then why did he come back when Fazbear's Pizzeria had long since closed…why return?

And that question actually produced an answer, it wasn't confirmed to be real, but either way real or not Jeremy did not want to admit it.

Why would a child killer pursue them…unless…he held some sort of grudge against them?

Within an instant of that thought entering his head, the mental floodgates opened up and suddenly a whole wave of new interpretations of events came rushing forth, so many that Jeremy couldn't process them all.

What if everything Vincent had done was part of a well thought out strategy to bring down Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, after all it would explain why he was still chasing them after all these years.

Yet, if his theory was to be true then what was his motive exactly?

As Jeremy mentally searched for more answers, he was interrupted by the sound of someone moving nearby.

He opened his eyes and saw a cup of fresh coffee being placed on the desk before him, his eyes flicked upwards to see Mike towering over him.

"You ok?" he asked, tilting his head for a better angle. "You look as if you could do with something strong to pick you up?"

Jeremy merely chuckled at Mike's concern.

"Yes," he replied cheerfully.

"This is exactly what I need, it'll keep any potential headaches at bay."

Mike's eyes however found the computer screen.

"So…you're still looking up info on Fazbear's?" he asked, scanning the Word documents currently on display.

"Any luck?"

"I've reached a dead end, so far I've found nothing new on the web, although my mind is compensating for that by creating new theories," Jeremy replied sluggishly, switching from one Word document to the next. "It's just the same information now, closures, statements of the company apologizing for the incidents and how they'll take any criticism to heart for future lessons, you know…the normal trash."

Then the question he had been pondering on recently resurfaced in his mind. "Tell me Mike, what do you think of Vincent?" he asked abruptly throwing the question out into the open.

Mike was initially stunned by the question, but he gave Jeremy his opinion.

"I think he is a nutcase, a twisted man and a child murderer, case close shut."

There was a slight pause.

"Yet…I think there's more to him, looking back…not everyone is born a physco, some are, but not all."

"Go on," Jeremy remarked, interested to know if Mike's words would match his little theory.

Mike pulled up a nearby chair and sat down, preparing for a long discussion.

"If Vincent was just a child killer then he would have left Fazbear's Pizzeria long ago, but he didn't and if anything he's been targeting the Fazbears themselves even though the business is long gone…why?" He turned round to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation through the open doorway, before turning back to meet Jeremy in the eye.

"To me that's speaks of something much bigger, what if Vincent had a reason for going after the Fazbears, we've all wondered why he killed the kids, why he targeted this particular fast food chain…and I think with what Goldie has said we may have the answer…I don't know if it is true, but I am edging my bets that's it's a strong possibility."

He sighed, trying to put everything together so his inner thoughts could be translated into words.

"You do know what I'm hinting at right?"

"Yeah…I've got an idea of what you mean," Jeremy replied, fearing the Fazbears' reaction to their little theory being true.

From outside in the kitchen they could hear the Fazbears talking and joking with one another.

"You know at times I'm still surprised how close they stick together," Mike muttered, turning briefly in the direction of the doorway from which the sounds came. "That family bond of theirs has not been on the strongest of foundations at times."

"Well when you look at it, family is all they've got left, I'm not surprised that they are a close knit unit," Jeremy added, hearing the sounds of Freddy's classical deep laugh.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

"Hang on let me try," Toy Freddy announced.

"I mastered vocal class."

And then he let rip.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

"Toy Freddy you're too loud," Toy Chica moaned, covering her ears.

"You'll send someone deaf, let alone scare them!"

"It's get your attention, there's no doubt about that," Puppet remarked causally.

There came the sound of a chair sliding, properly Bonnie moving next to her given what she asked.

"Hey Puppet, do the Pop Goes The Wessel song?"

"Give me a second."

Slowly came the haunting sound of the Puppet's musical, the classic tune of approaching dread.

"Hey quit jump scaring me!" Balloon Boy shouted, followed by sounds of chairs moving with the kitchen table shaking.

"YAAAAA!" went Toy Bonnie, jumping Balloon Boy right out of his skin with a shriek.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" which was Goldie's jumpscare.

"JESUS THAT'S LOUD!" Mangle yelled.

"GUYS, GUYS, GUYS, WHO WANTS TO BE NOMINATED AS THE BEST FREDDY!" Freddy shouted over the others.

"Well I hate to brag, but I am officially the new and improved Freddy Fazbear," Toy Freddy exclaimed, followed by the sound of a chair being pushed backwards, as if he was standing up to make a speech.

"Only in your dreams, besides you six don't exist anymore as according to Fazbear Entertainment, you laddies were….'put down' supposedly," Foxy argued, one could imagine him waving his hook victoriously at Toy Freddy to cement his point.

"You owe us one."

Jeremy laughed, finding the whole argument humorous, because it was quite pointless.

"They're still arguing over who is best despite everything, although suppose it's natural healthy competition."

"Once I got to know them a little better in nearly every conversation one of them would bring it up and that would just unleash a whole powder keg of verbal fights," Mike muttered, recalling his former days as a nightguard.

"I think I can play the guitar better, I've been around longer and thus can claim to be a professional," Bonnie stated, deliberating aiming to get Toy Bonnie to react.

She didn't need to try so hard.

"You saying my guitar playing is crap!" Toy Bonnie shot back, visibly looking offended.

Bonnie folded her arms and smirked, this could not be any easier.

"Well…I could be right, you only preformed for a few months and then you got shut down."

That was followed by everyone else going.

"OOOOOOO, BURN BONBON JUST GOT BURNT!"

"Fine then!" Toy Bonnie yelled, slamming her fists down onto the table, accepting the challenge.

"I'll go and get my guitar then we'll see whose better!" she fumed, turning to run off down the hall and up the stairs to fetch her guitar.

Bonnie responded in kind.

"I'll go and get mine also," she stated proudly, before heading off towards the room she shared with Freddy.

And then Foxy decided to introduce a competition of his own.

"Ok, ok, ok, whose act is better mine or Mangle's?" he asked, obviously excepting one answer and one answer only.

"Well Mangle never really got a chance to shine due to the kids bullying her, although you didn't act much in the third pizzeria, so I guess you two can call it even," Goldie suggested with a shrug of his shoulders.

Foxy's expression of pride fell to one of confusion.

"Even…but I was Foxy the Pirate."

Goldie amusingly raised his hand to make a point.

"And a great one at that, but Mangle had untapped potential which was capped by bullies."

"But, but, but that doesn't count-"

"Foxy just accept me as your equal and be done with it," Mangle ordered folding her arms in a dominating posture.

"But your-"

"Accept it," Mangle ordered with a stern tone and with that Foxy folded, lowering his head in submission.

And then Toy Chica added herself into the fray.

"My cupcake is cuter than yours," she argued, pointing at Chica, ok now it was beyond doubt that they were just arguing for the sake of it.

"My cupcake is still pretty, just because I don't look like blooming Goldielocks doesn't mean me or my cupcake is not cute," Chica replied courtesy, although it wasn't hard for anyone to detect the annoyance in her voice.

"But I didn't mention you," Toy Chica remarked, looking somewhat stunned.

Then her confused expression dropped, replaced with by a playful smile.

"Then again, I was far more beautiful than you were back then, very innocent looking."

Chica hated to admit it but she was right, back when they first met in 1987 Toy Chica was very pretty. When she walked into a room you would stop and stare and then be further taken away by her warm smile.

One wouldn't be surprised if young boys had eyed her as their first crush.

"Yeah, you were meant to be better…in every way," Chica muttered, brushing her hair back behind her ears.

"You were quite the looker Goldielocks."

And that Goldielocks comment had often been accompanied by a very degrading one liner when they were both at war with each other back in the second Pizzeria.

"Awww, come on Chica, I think you look pretty, plus you're a fine actor," Toy Chica squealed, wrapping her arms around the woman before she could react.

"How about sometime later I give you a makeover, bring out your inner beauty."

That brought a smile to Chica's face.

"I like that," she said, feeling all fuzzy in her young counterpart's arms.

Then the two Bonnies returned with their respective guitars, playfully shoving each other aside as they walked in through the doorway.

"Ok, best of three," Bonnie announced.

"You're on," Toy Bonnie replied, grinning.

"Oh God I fear for my ear drums," Freddy moaned, covering his ears as did the others.

"One…"

Both Bonnies readied themselves.

"Two..."

Eyes locked.

"THREE!"

And then all hell broke loose.

Loud, ear screeching sounds filled the house, powerful enough to make objects move, Mike and Jeremy could feel their chairs vibrate as the sound traveled through the floor.

"YOU TWO STILL WOULDN'T MAKE IT INTO QUEEN!" Mangle yelled admist the sound of everything shaking.

"SPEAKING OF QUEEN, DO YOU GUYS REMEMBER WHEN WE FIRST PREFORMED TO THE STAFF IN OUR PIZZERIA, WHEN WE ALL TURNED UP!" Toy Freddy yelled, trying to be heard over the thunderstorm of noise.

"IT WAS KIND OF MAGIC WASN'T IT!" Toy Chica shouted.

"WHAT!" Toy Freddy shouted back, even though he was sitting next to her.

"I SAID, IT WAS KIND OF MAGIC!" Toy Chica screamed at the top of her lungs.

"YEAH, IT WAS BRLIANT!" the Toy replied joyfully, although you would have to be sitting next to him to get even a chance of hearing his words.

He then turned to Freddy seated nearby.

"AND YOU GUYS TIRED TO KILL US BECAUSE WE TOOK YOUR PLACE, EXTREME, BUT SOMEWHAT UNDERSTANDABLE!"

His words confused the elder Fazbear, largely because of what he and the other three attempted to do to get rid of the Toys.

"UNDERSTANDABLE!" He yelled, standing up and pointing at himself.

"WE TIRED TO WRECK THE BUSSINESS JUST TO GET RID OF YOU LOT!"

Toy Freddy chuckled and responded with.

"YEAH, BUT YOU MADE UP THAT BY RESCUING US!"

To which Freddy held his hands up, accepting defeat.

"TRUE!"

Puppet meanwhile just sat there on the other side of the table with her hands over her ears, watching the speed at which the Bonnies' hands moved.

"_I'm just waiting for the sound of a wrist snapping," _she thought as they got faster and faster as the frenzy climbed to record heights.

And that frenzy was making Jeremy worry.

"I should go and stop them before they break something."

He turned and closed all of his opened documents and proceeded to shut the machine down, watching the green light which represented the power button died down.

"This stuff can wait for now."

"You coming Mike?" he asked turning to his longtime friend.

Mike however was in a posture of deep thought resting his head on his hand with his eyes staring off into the distance.

"Are you going to tell them…about what could possibly be Vincent's motive?" he asked, his eyes remaining in their dreamy position.

"It's just a theory, but it'll send out shockwaves for us all if it turns out to be true."

Jeremy sighed.

"I'll tell them tomorrow, they're having fun and I wouldn't want to burden them with more scary ideas, they all looked quite shaken after Goldie recalled his experience," he replied.

Mike slowly nodded, before adding.

"Well they do need some time to get to grips with the past, I don't know how they would cope with…something like this…especially Goldie…I don't want him to undergo another breakdown."

He stood up.

"Therefore, it's for the best that we keep this between us until tomorrow, it's been a long day with the Nightmares kidnapping Goldie, us going to get him back, losing Springtrap and now Goldie's experience of being in the Nightmare World and having accidently bit a child."

"GUYS, YOUR GONNA BREAK JEREMY'S STUFF IF YOU DON'T STOP!" Chica yelled from the kitchen out of which all manner of chaos erupted.

Jeremy took his cup of coffee and drank it in one go with it having cool down enough to be drinkable.

Mike did the same, thus removing the risk of them dropping the cups and spilling the coffee as the two Bonnies' music was enough to make people lose control of their nerves.

They then exited the room, following the rather loud music which emitted from the two Bonnies' guitars. When they both entered the kitchen, they found not too surprisingly, all other Fazbears hiding under the table, covering their ears whilst the two Bonnies were creating absolute chaos with the music they were making.

"So, I see your all hiding in the bunker," Jeremy commented, chuckling at the Fazbears' situation.

"JUST MAKE THEM STOP!" Balloon Boy shouted, burying his face into the floor to escape the loud music.

Mike sought the easiest solution by simply taking the guitars out of the Bonnies' hands, needless to say that caught their attention.

"Awww come on, I was winning," Toy Bonnie moaned, looking annoyed that her most prized possession had be taken off her. "You were too loud," Mike replied calmly, keeping a firm grip on both guitars. "Sorry…I got carried away," said Bonnie sheepishly, lowering her head in embarrassment.

Jeremy laughed, kneeling down besides Freddy and Toy Freddy who like the others hadn't got out from under the table.

"I find this all to be very ironic, largely because when I was nightguard at the 'new and improved' pizzeria, things were very loud, in fact you lot were the ones making the noises with the child like laughter, odd singing and of course the unforgettable always in your face jumpscares."

"That was before I grew to hate loud noises," Toy Freddy replied, looking up.

"Well now you know how I feel," Jeremy stated.

He then stood up and pulled the chairs back so they could get out.

"And to think it took you thirty something years to reach my understanding of what it was like to be a nightguard."

"Hey, our professions are two very different things, I can only imagine your situation," Toy Freddy shot back, although not out of anger, but rather playful banter.

"Mike, please can I have my guitar back?" Toy Bonnie asked, gazing at him sweetly.

"Just play softly ok or not at all," he said, handing it back to her.

He then turned to Bonnie, who still had her head down in embarrassment "The same goes to you, too much noise may break something and you don't have that much money."

Or rather it was no money at all in her case.

Mike gave her back her guitar to which she replied with a small smile.

"Ok," Jeremy announced, catching everyone's attention.

"After that….'crisis', I hate to take us onto a topic that is sad, but..."

He turned to Goldie, who was patting Balloon Boy on the head, much to the latter's annoyance, but that's why Goldie was doing it anyway.

"Do you have any idea of what you want to do with regards to Springtrap's funeral?"

That made everything tense as well as making the whole room go cold.

"It's just that we can't keep the body."

Goldie's expression went blank, unreadable, he stopped ruffing Balloon Boy's hair.

For a several seconds, he said nothing, however he eventually turned in Jeremy's direction.

Everyone held their breath, wondering what he would say.

"I think he would preferred to have be buried, we can't actually cremate him," he said softly, although everyone could sense the pain in his voice.

"We could try," Balloon Boy remarked, only for Puppet to smack him lightly in the back of the head.

Toy Chica slowly reached over and squeezed Goldie's hand for support, as did Bonnie with his other hand.

"He can be buried tomorrow in the back garden if you like…or do you need more time?" Foxy asked, eyeing Goldie with concern.

"No…he can be buried tomorrow out in the back, I won't forget him, but we can't keep his corpse forever," Goldie replied, although he didn't turn to meet Foxy in the eye, but rather stared down at the floor.

"Ok…we'll do that…" Jeremy muttered, bringing the whole conversation to an end, he didn't want to linger on the issue…no one did.

"So now what?" Mangle asked, looking around whilst raising an obvious question.

"Well, it's early evening…so…any ideas?" Freddy asked.

"A game perhaps."

"Cards?" Chica suggested.

"Boring?" Balloon Boy moaned, rolling his eyes in dismay.

"How about twister?" Bonnie proposed, throwing the idea into the ring.

"Errr…I think that'll end in fights," Toy Chica muttered.

"_The last time we played did."_

Then Balloon Boy shot his hand up.

"Oh, I know we can play a video game."

"That's in the lounge…where Springtrap is," Mike stated, instantly shooting down the idea.

"Oh…yeah," Balloon Boy replied, lowering his head in embarrassment.

"We could just play rock paper scissors?" Foxy muttered.

"Now how would that work with thirteen of us?" Toy Freddy asked, pointing out the impossible.

Then Puppet got an idea…an insane idea that made her smile like a creeper. "I know…" she said, straightening her jet black hair.

"You said we don't know what it's like to be a nightguard, I am curious Jeremy, really I am."

"What's your idea?" Jeremy asked, he could grasp where she was going.

"I'm interested Puppet."

So Puppet explained her idea in full.

"It'll take some effort and teamwork, but how about we recreate your shift, fit a few cameras around the house, connect them to a laptop or monitor of sorts, have a flashlight."

"What about the Freddy mask?" Mike asked, folding his arms.

"It's an important part, crucial if I may say."

"Dam right it is, saved my life on a couple of occasions," Jeremy remarked highlighting Mike's point.

"Easy, we'll just use a cardboard box and cut out some eye holes," Puppet replied playfully.

"After all, considering what we've been through in the present day, wouldn't it be nice to reembrace the past?"

Jeremy smiled, although it was a sarcastic smile.

"Yes, reembrace the past, the same past where I was sitting on the edge on my seat, scared shitless, hiding inside a mask, barely making it through the night and then going home, too scared to sleep, and having nightmares of being chased by you lot and unable to find the God dam exit!"

"You know with your ramblings Jeremy, I'm surprised you're not in therapy by now," Goldie muttered.

"Well that was the only downside to being employed at Freddy Fazbear's, once I got to know you guys…things quieten down quite quickly."

"Until the Second Missing Children's' Incident and the Bite of 1987," Chica whispered, although everyone heard her.

Mangle instantly went very quiet, lowering her head upon mention of the Bite of 1987.

"Yeah, the past has its ugly moments, more than we would like, but…"

Then Balloon Boy raised his head and spoke.

"It wasn't all bad…we had our good moments…if not then…why are we all together?"

He looked around at everyone.

"One big family that loves each other very much."

He was right, the past wasn't always a horrible experience, there were happy moments, touching ones even.

"We don't need to always think of the bad times when we think of the past, tonight let's just focus on the good ones."

Once again, Balloon Boy was proving that he was more mature than he looked.

He turned to face Goldie, who was now had his back against the wall.

"Springtrap would, he would find a way to relive happier days."

Goldie's dark red eyes meet BB's light blue.

The former smiled.

"Yeah…that's just like Spring…you're right BB…the past wasn't all bad."

He pushed himself off the wall and walked forward.

"I'm in, I mean I'm game."

"I'm in," Freddy added.

"Count me in as well," Toy Bonnie said with a playful smile.

Soon everyone was announcing their support for the idea.

"Well…" Jeremy muttered, looking at his watch.

"The time is six pm, now six hours would take us to midnight, but we could cut it down to thirty minutes each or an hour if we want to take turns."

"So, it's on, Five Nights at Freddy's is back on!" Chica exclaimed, punching her fist in the air.

"Well Mike and I can set up the cameras, BB you can make the mask, Toy Freddy you go and find a flashlight and everyone else can decide who takes the role of being the nightguard," Jeremy ordered, dividing everyone up in separate roles.

"Ideally, we should decide with choosing straws, whoever gets the shortest must be the nightguard," Mike suggested as he left to get several cameras.

"That's how I'll do it."

* * *

Within ten to twenty minutes everything was set up and running, the cameras were placed in various rooms around the house, the Toys and the Originals had chosen their starting positions, trying to portray the shift as accurate as possible.

And the nightguard…the one having picked the shortest straw…was Toy Bonnie.

Soon she was sitting in a chair at the kitchen table with a monitor which could access the cameras as well as remotely wind up the music box and a flashlight at her side. Jeremy had even given her his old nightguard cap to add more realism to the whole scene.

Because she wasn't with Toy Freddy or Toy Chica, Mangle had taken up her role as well as her own, doing a balancing act of sorts. From where she was positioned there was one door off to her left, another door some way ahead of her to the right and then the hallway right in front.

Mike and Jeremy were staying out of the whole game, they were watching by means of another computer from inside the office. They could see Toy Bonnie in the kitchen through a special camera as well as having access to the other cameras, so they could see where the others were.

And finally, to top it all off, both men agreed that the whole thing would be nothing without Phone Guy, so they gave Toy Bonnie, all five to six of his recordings which would play automatically.

Toy Bonnie checked the time…they had all waited an extra ten minutes for the clock to hit to six thirty.

The game had begun, announced by the dong of Jeremy's grandfather clock which stood in the hallway.

Toy Bonnie steadied herself.

She could do this…survive for just one hour.

Then without a moment too soon, Phone Guy's recordings started…night one, the easiest of the five slash six nights.

"Uh, hello? Hello, hello?"

Those classic first words of uneasiness.

"Uh, hello and welcome to your new summer job at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza."

"Boy, you don't sound nervous in the slightest," Toy Bonnie sarcastically remarked.

Phone Guy continued.

"Uh, I'm here to talk you through some of the things you can expect to see during your first week here and to help you get started down this new and exciting career path."

Toy Bonnie looked around, she was sure she heard something.

"Yeah…" she muttered, eyeing her surroundings.

"Tell me, does this career path involve a rather messy and violent end?"

* * *

Meanwhile back in the office, Mike and Jeremy watched with satisfied grins as Phone Guy lectured to Toy Bonnie about the protocols of the Fazbear Pizzeria establishment.

"You know…it is oddly satisfying when it's not you that's in the chair," Mike stated, clearly amused by the spectacle.

He turned to Jeremy.

"Tell me…did you agreed to this idea out of revenge?"

Jeremy smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"Well…I thought it was time for them to experience what I did…after all it'll be something which we can all relate to after this."

"However, I won't deny that revenge had some part to play in my thinking."

He then reached down and pulled up a bag of popcorn which he had been saving much to Mike's surprise.

"Oh, Jeremy you really shouldn't have," he said, taking a handful.

"No really I insist," Jeremy offered.

"Besides when are we ever gonna get another opportunity like this," he muttered, turning to look at the computer screen.

"I bet you Toy Freddy has moved, if we are keeping to the original timeframe, then the Originals shouldn't move until much later on."

* * *

Meanwhile back in the kitchen, Toy Bonnie had grown bored of Phone Guy's ramblings.

"But most importantly, we trained them to remember vast range of known criminals, photographic memory and all that, they should notice one the moment they step foot inside this building, heck, we should be paying them to guard you."

Toy Bonnie sighed, she remembered the company conducting mind experiments on them, putting a whole load of criminal identities within her head as well as the other Toys.

Hence when they were in their pizzeria, they could ideally protect the children from any criminals that walked in through its doors, they could recognise anyone on the criminal list that was prone to commit child murder.

She could still recall certain people, but since their escape from the pizzeria in 1987 with the Originals they had been able to remove such information from their heads.

It was all part of the company's attempts avoid a repeat of what had occurred in the previous Pizzeria.

In all honesty who could blame them for trying to improve the safety of their customers when five kids had been killed on their watch.

Except as they all knew it didn't stop Vincent, he wasn't on the list…so he could just walk on right past them and conduct his killings.

He was on even terms with the company at that point, often helping the Toys get suited to their new roles.

A part of Toy Bonnie blamed herself for not stopping him, but Vincent as always was one step ahead and how could she stop him, she didn't suspect him of anything…none of the Toys did.

Back then the Originals described that they had an uneasy feeling when Vincent was around, but they could never figure out why.

Largely that was because the childrens' spirits were still trying to come to grips with the new reality of them being dead as well as using five random people as vessels in order to cling to the physical realm.

No one suspected Vincent…no one but Puppet.

Whenever he was around, she would always narrow her eyes and become very withdrawn…more than she normally was.

Even when he had interacted with her on several occasions, she always looked like she was trying restrain herself…properly for lashing out at him which wasn't too surprising seeing how it would involve her anger as well as that of the child's that dwelt within her.

She knew what Vincent had done and what was he properly going to do, yet she was always tied in her strings entertaining children and back then who would believe her? The staff wouldn't, nor would the Fazbears themselves, largely because she had no hard evidence to back up her claim.

So, much to her own disgust, she kept herself quiet and she properly regretted it.

Then of course came that fatal day in November 1987. . .

Stomp!

The sound of something moving off to her left instantly derailed Toy Bonnie's chain of thought.

She shone the flashlight in the general direction of the noise, revealing it to be Toy Chica standing in the left doorway frozen in position, her olive green eyes staring into hers.

Toy Bonnie had never thought of Toy Chica being scary…until now, especially with her sinister smile.

And as usual Phone Guy was still talking

"Uh, now that being said, no new system's without its... kinks. Uh... you're only the second guard to work at that location."

"Go away," Toy Bonnie mouthed, her eyes remained locked with Toy Chica's who refused to move.

There was red line marked out around the table and if anyone got inside that line then they could jumpscare her and end the whole game.

"Uh, the first guy finished his week, but complained about... conditions, uh, we switched him over to the day shift, so hey, lucky you, right?" Phone Guy remarked, talking as if nothing serious was going on.

Suddenly she remembered the Freddy Head…which in reality was just a cardboard box with two eye holes cut out.

Although Balloon Boy had gone the extra mile to attach cardboard ears and colour it brown to make it look like Freddy Fazbear himself.

"Uh mainly he expressed concern that certain characters seemed to move around at night, and even attempted to get into his office."

She pulled the cardboard box over her head and stared Toy Chica down…although her expression didn't change, she properly got the message that she couldn't attack so she left, heading back to square one.

Relieved Toy Bonnie took the cardboard box off and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God that's over."

Phone Guy of course was still talking as if nothing had happened.

"So, no one at the moment has an explanation for this, but the working theory is that... as a side effect of their training and the repetitive nature their job causes the entertainers to wander around at night. Basically, it's like they're sleepwalking, so they'll just walk into your office sometimes, acting out their performance."

Actually, they weren't sleep walking, at least not until after the second Missing Children's Incident. During the first few months, they did like to roam around at night and in all honesty, they were just interested in finding out who the night guard was.

It was the only time in which the whole pizzeria was empty and they could relax and be themselves, let their hair down.

"We just wanted to make friends, why be so difficult?" Toy Bonnie asked, grumbling under her breath.

Although the first guy was grumpy and didn't like them that much…hence why he 'complained of issues'.

"Why take up the job if you didn't like the staff," Toy Bonnie muttered sarcastically, turning to the computer so she could check the cameras.

Phone Guy was still talking however.

"So, our temporary solution is this: there's a music box over by the Prize Counter, and it's rigged to be wound up remotely. So just, every once in a while, switch over to the Prize Counter video feed and wind it up for a few seconds. It doesn't seem to affect all of the entertainers, but it does affect... one of them."

He was of course referring to Puppet…she liked the music box…it helped her cope with the misery of their situation by means of isolation.

Switching to the first camera brought up the hallway outside and guess who was there, staring at the camera…Toy Freddy with his blue eyes glowing in the pitch blackness.

She swore he wiggled his eyebrows at her, giving Toy Bonnie his mischevious grin.

"Very funny," she chuckled, briefly ignoring the fact that he was her 'enemy' in this game.

She shone the flashlight down the hallway to see Toy Freddy as expected staring back at her.

Flashing the flashlight repeatedly in his eyes was the trick apparently it got them to turn away from the office.

With the bright light stinging his eyes, Toy Freddy backed away into the darkness.

So far this was quite easy however it had only been five minutes, plus Toy Bonnie hadn't encountered the others…no doubt Balloon Boy would soon become a problem.

And then of course there was Puppet...hiding inside her music box…Crap…THE MUSIC BOX!

Quickly Toy Bonnie switched over to the camera which shown the music box inside one of the bedrooms.

"Rewind, rewind, rewind!" she pleaded, watching as the timer pushed itself back to the start.

And of course throughout all of it, Phone Guy hadn't stop talking.

"Uh, and as for the rest of them, we have an even easier solution, you see, there may be something underlying all of their behaviour at night and sometimes they can get aggressive, the Original lot in the back room especially get odd at night, but more on them later. As for the Toys, well they sometimes like to play this cat and mouse game where if they'll try to get you and stuff you inside a prop suit, so hey, we've given you an empty Freddy Fazbear head to fool them into thinking that you are one of them, problem solved!" Phone Guy exclaimed, happy that he was able to provide a solution.

"Again, the mind does weird stuff when it is sleep walking, so just be careful ok."

Ok, first things first, only the Originals hunted down the night guards in I987 and even then they weren't good at it..hence why they never got Jeremy, although at one point they got very close.

The Toys on the other hand did partake, but they were doing it as a joke, never intending to harm the security guard. It was only after them becoming possessed by the spirits of the children killed at their establishment that they actually tired to kill someone.

And yes, they did stuff them inside suits like props which…sadly ended up killing them and it wasn't quick.

"You can put it on anytime, and leave it on for as long as you want, eventually anything that wandered in will wander back out," Phone Guy muttered plainly.

And the mask did just that…although it to be fair it was a little…odd, for someone to think that someone else putting a mask over their face equaled them to being a robot, when clearly their hands, legs and torso were visible.

Anyway, Toy Bonnie gave a sigh of relief for having remotely rewind the music box.

"Hope you like sleeping Puppet, because that's what you'll be doing for this shift," she muttered softly, letting her heart relax.

* * *

Inside the music box, Puppet was merely waiting for the chance to strike.

She smiled…the whole game reminded her of her glory days, this sort of thing got her blood pumping.

However, she was also under the control of the child spirit within her, determined to get revenage for the fate which befell it outside Fredbear's Family Dinner back in the late 1970s.

The child which Springtrap had tired to save, yet the whole orderal ended up putting him in a coma for more than a good quarter of a century.

Normally when the music box had stopped playing she would rush out and attack the nightguard, regardless of who it was or what they had done.

The child's anger and her own rage was a force to be reckoned with.

She knew that Toy Bonnie would be regularly checking the camera to make sure she didn't get out, so she had plenty of time to think.

She laid her head against the box's inner walls and recalled past moments. Her first memory was waking up inside the old prizzia, when Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were still preforming, but just before the First Missing Childrens' Incident.

She had no idea of what she was supposed to do, so she just sat down on the floor and started to think…until she heard a voice…a child's voice…coming from inside her head.

Initally and quite understandablely she was scared shitless that there was another voice insider her mind.

Until the voice started to tell her its' name, its' family, its' life…its' former waking life.

As time slowly passed and day became night, she grew closer to the ghost child who was in fact a boy.

He told her everything and that he was sorry that he was using her as a means of staying within the physical realm, but she said it was ok and that she would help him catch his killer.

In fact, she made a promise to help him find enteral rest.

At that point in time, she thought it would a balanced partnership, him and her working together, yet with their own separate minds.

Yet that was before he fully possessed her back in the second Prizzia and nearly made her attack Vincent outright.

Boy that took a lot of willpower to contain the child's anger, especially when Vincent actually patted her on the head…if he had done it again she wouldn't have been able to prevent the ghost child from regaining control…she felt drained afterwards and was unable to do anything else for a long while.

It was then she learnt that she was a prisoner to the child's anger as well as her own…and it scared her.

Anger was an emotion…a strong emotion, it didn't use logic to separate the innocent from the guilty.

And it was same situation for the others who later became possessed by the spirits of the other dead children…it was why so many nightguards had died….innocent nightguards.

They felt bad afterwards, the children did also…yet being trapped, all alone in the darkness of the afterlife for so many decades…alive or dead that length of isolation does stuff to the mind. Out of all the Fazbears, the Puppet seem to contect with the ghost children the most, largely because she had given them life…a second chance, inhabiting the bodies of their favouritive characters.

She had promised to help them find peace, she hoped that when it was all over things would return back to normal, the nightmare that had lasted for thrity years would end.

Yet it was still ongoing with Vincent still hunting them and now with living Nightmares at his side.

She physically shuddered as her memories of encountering Nightmare Freddy came racing back. He was evil made real in both body and mind, the complete mirror opposite of Freddy and Toy Freddy, as were the other three Nightmares.

Although she had never actually seen them in the flesh, she bet they were the same as Nightmare Freddy.

She cringed at the very thought of coming face to face with her nightmare counterpart, Nightmarionne, the darker version of her…what was she truly capable of?

Because if she the Puppet could give life…then could her mirror opposite just as easily take it away. She hoped she would never have to meet her, yet if she had learnt one thing it's that life is a strange experience filled with all sorts of outcomes, both good and bad.

Mostly bad though in her case...

* * *

Chica slowly peeked her head out of a doorway, her eyes looking down towards the kitchen where Toy Bonnie was sited.

The hallway was dark and gloomy, much like the ones in the second pizzeria when the night rolled in.

Being back in the role of a hunter playing cat and mouse filled her with a rush which she hasn't felt in years.

The thrill of the hunt only further served to excite her, after this was only a game, not like. . .all those other times, which ended in blood.

The image of an upright prop suit covered in blood splatters with other bodily fluids leaking out and visible sections of torn skin and gore filled her mind.,

Amy, David, Laura, Richard, Henry and Jessica, old time companions, well known by her and the others, they were the first to die and then when the old guard was gone, the new lot were up.

They sure did put up a fight, one hell of a struggle as they were grabbed and pulled towards their deaths.

She remembered smacking one of them, maybe Richard or Laura in the head as they were pushed into the prop suit, screaming out her name and for her to stop before the suit was slammed shut and locked.

And then the endoskeleton would spring back into its original position, stabbing them from all angles and puncturing their lungs, stomach, intestines, liver and heart.

Soon it was an iron maiden with blood splining out of every hole.

And then she along with the others still possessed mind you would taunt them as their victim cried out in pure agony as the pain was next to insufferable.

And once they got bored, they would leave and retire to bed, with the victim still screaming as each little movement only further pushed the metal compartments into their body.

Left to die in the dark. . .surrounded by monsters.

If they were luckily then they might survive until morning where the Fazbears would find them and put them out of their misery humanely, before burying them out back.

And the memory haunted her like it with the others, each one had killed one of those thirty nightguards over the course of a few years.

She could feel her guilt pooling in the back of her mind threatening to burst out and emotionally overwhelm her.

Then suddenly something grabbed her from behind and pulled her in close.

"Hey laddise, why the sad face?" a male voice asked curiously.

It was Foxy.

Being back in his arms quiten Chica's guilt to the point that it was almost invisible.

"It's just, I had a flashback…to a darker time," she muttered.

Foxy immediately knew what she meant and cuddled her, his presence further breaking down her fears.

"Chica, that was then, this is now, is it the game that's done this?"

"Partly, it just came to me, maybe it is the atmosphere of it all, the setting you know," she answered slowly, keeping her tone plain so not to get all emotional.

"I hate it so much, but even now twenty years on I can still feel it, gnawing away at the back of my mind."

"The imagery, it seems so real, almost as if it was yesterday."

She could feel her emotions begin to bubble, rising and threatening to break the mental barriers she had placed on them.

"And when I remember, I cannot stop the wave of imagery that bursts forth –"

Foxy pulled her in close, preventing what could be an emotional outburst, letting her rest her head against his chest.

"I know honey, I know how you feel, you're not alone in that."

He could see those images for himself, he had been present alongside her as it happened.

It made him feel awful, trying to act in front of children who were awed by his performance when he knew that somewhere out back were the buried decomposing bodies of murdered innocents who would never see their families again.

"I hate it too, but we promised to make amends," he whispered, stroking her golden hair, it wasn't as bright as it was when she was in her prime, but it was still beautiful.

"We can fix this."

He could feel Chica do a huge intake of air before speaking

"It's just that even if we do win, Vincent is killed and we get our lives back in order, become popular again. However it draws some unwanted attention, people reopen the investigations into the missing night guards. They find the bodies or something, then we are all arrested, put on a public trial, found guilty, the business closes and we get to face a lifetime in jail or. . ."

She did another intake of air, but Foxy could hear her voice breaking as she did.

"Or. . .or. . ."

An image rose up in her mind, a small white room with a metal chair in the middle attached to various wires and all sorts with a head brace attached.

"The electric chair," Foxy said plainly, voicing what she could not say.

Instantly Chica broke into a sob, clutching his clothes tightly as she lowered her head in fear.

"Yes," she croaked.

Out of the corner of her tear streaked eyes, she saw Foxy's hook hand shaking, she reached out and grabbed hold of it, making it stop.

He may have put on a stoic expression for her benefit, but on the inside, he was quaking with fear like she was.

He couldn't deny that he had thought about such things, being jailed for a crime which he didn't actually commit.

But there was no way in hell that the police would ever believe their story that they were possessed by dead children and murdered people because they mistook them for their killer, the elusive _'Purple Guy'_.

The supernatural doesn't count as evidence in the mindset of the law, just deluded fantasies of an insane mind.

Amidst Chica's quiet sobbing he could hear Toy Bonnie from the kitchen screaming at Toy Chica to go away.

Everyone else was having fun and enjoying themselves for once, while he and Chica were being mentally pulled back into the past.

The others might see and that'll bring the collective mood down.

Not here. . .not now, they could mourn and cry elsewhere, away from the others.

Straightening his back, Foxy pushed Chica away slightly so he could see her face.

In the dim light he could see her bright green eyes filled with both fear and dread.

Because they had always existed in an insecure position. First they were unsure of what was really going on at night, when they _'sleep walked'_ as the staff put it and then when they did find out the truth from Puppet, they were scared as hell about the possibility of somebody finding out. Even when Fazbear Entertainment had closed its doors and they were left behind in the pizzeria, there always existed the faint possibility of someone reopening the case. There was even the fear of the Purple Guy coming back or some other unseen force at work.

And because of that constant sense of paranoia they never got the chance to settle down and start over, to find a permanent sense of closure.

From the moment they become possessed their lives were never their own. Always under someone else's control, be it Fazbear Entertainment, directing them on what to do or through the manipulative schemes of Vincent Afton.

The specter of death or imprisonment hung over them like a black cloud, for the police or even the CIA could just burst in through front door right now and arrest them all for murder and that would be that.

No. . .that would be too easy, too simplistic and way too scary for Foxy to even contemplate.

He would rather die than let that happen.

The quiet sound of Chica crying brought him back to reality and out of his moment of mental speculation.

"Chica, don't cry," he hissed, cradling her face in his hand as his other gently ran down the side of her face.

"Don't cry no more. . .chicken."

Despite having a tear streaked face Chica giggled humorously at the word.

"When did you last call me that. . .a week before we left."

Foxy gave her a small smile and replied sarcastically.

"Believe it or not I've been distracted as of late."

"Really you don't say," Chica remarked coolly, playfully stroking his chin.

She wiped her tears away, although her feeling of sadness remained.

"Do you think that we'll ever be free of the past, even if Vincent is removed from the picture and the children find peace?"

Foxy stared at her longingly before answering.

"I can only hope that we'll find peace at the end of this, otherwise what's the point in fighting to change it?"

Chica sighed, allowing herself to fall once into his chest, savoring the warmth.

"True, it's just a fear which I can't shake off and I hate being upset at times about it, but. . .it's just gets me at times you know."

Foxy wrapped his arms around her again.

"I feel the same way as you already know, as do the others."

He looked away to see light stemming from the kitchen along with the frantic shouts of Toy Bonnie for Mangle to get lost.

"Go away, I've flashed you four times now, you know the rules!"

Although knowing Mangle, she wouldn't go away that easily.

Foxy then turned back to face the matter at hand.

"It's ok to cry Chica," he whispered.

"I know, but I didn't want to do it here and not when everyone else is having fun."

"Although at the end of it all, even if the worst does happen…"

She reached up and held his face in her hands.

"I'll always have you, Freddy, Bonnie, Goldie and the others, to the bitter end."

"You'll never be alone Chica," Foxy replied warmly, lightly pushing his head against hers.

"I'm still here. . ."

Chica didn't say anything in her response, instead she kissed him on the lips, it was brief, but it was no less affectionate.

They had always a relationship of sorts, at first it was friendly interactions with sarcastic humor, then being in each other's company for days on end.

And finally, subtle love which grew to be more obvious to them and everyone else as the years went by.

Although it hadn't exactly reached the boyfriend/girlfriend phrase.

Chica breathed out, finding herself to be releasing a gasp of breath she wasn't even aware that she had been holding onto.

"I love you," she whispered, letting her heart fly free, but she knew how Foxy felt.

"And I you," was his answer.

Which lead him to ponder onto something.

"When I went into your dream two nights ago along with Goldie, it was a church, you were dreaming about a church?"

Chica blushed, feeling her face go warm.

"Errr…yeah, I was…dreaming…"

She bit her fingers as she thought her next words over.

"I was dreaming about us getting married…and then _'he'_ turned up."

The _'he'_ being of course Nightmare Freddy.

"And we don't have to get married if that's what you want, I can wait until we're both ready, there's no sudden demand for you to get down on your knees and propos-"

She was swiftly silenced by Foxy putting his finger to her lips, cutting her off abruptly.

"Shhh," he whispered calmly, which only served to make Chica feel all wobblily and weak in the knees.

"You can dream whatever you like Chica, true I don't want to get married, I haven't really thought about it given what's going on around us."

"I want to focus on us, you and me, if time will allow it," he said, wrapping his arms around her once, which only made her turn red even more.

"Yeah…me too," Chica mumbled feeling evermore embarrassed, she knew that Foxy loved her and he knew about her feelings in return, it was just that they hadn't got enough time to be together.

Events had put a halt to that, for time is a friend to no one…

However here, in the dim darkness of Jeremy's home they might be allowed a few moments of privacy while everyone else as distracted.

Chica lightly pressed her head against Foxy's and closed her eyes.

"I want to get to know you more, it's just about finding the time in all this chaos," she whispered.

"Do you want to see a movie then?" he asked plainly, his response was that unexpected it made Chica laugh.

"That's your hook up line!" she teased.

"What did you expect, besides you said that you wanted to get to know me more and people do bond while watching films together."

_In more ways than one Foxy…in more ways than one._

"Sure…" was Chica's quick response.

"Why not, what's the harm."

There came another sound of Toy Bonnie screaming for Freddy to depart from the kitchen.

"GO AWAY, GO AWAY, GO AWAY, GO AWAY!"

"STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!"

"Sounds like she's enjoying herself," Foxy muttered sarcastically.

"Oh yes, she is in heaven right now," Chica remarked humorously.

A grin crept across Foxy's smile, one of mischievous delight.

"Wanna double jump scare her?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"Of course," was Chica's response with her own look of mischief to match.

"It'll be fun."

Then out of the corner of her eye she saw something.

Turning to face the thing also catch Foxy's attention making him follow her direction.

It was Bonnie, standing a fair distance away in a posture which suggested that she was sneaking, properly moving between the cameras before Toy Bonnie could get a chance to check them.

And she was looking right at the pair.

For a good long while both sides just stared back at each other with the silence only being broken by the shouts of Toy Bonnie for the other Fazbears to leave her alone.

"GET LOST!"

Then Bonnie slowly raised both her hands and backed away slowly, clearly not wanting to disturb them, disappearing into the surrounding darkness.

For a while both Foxy and Chica continued to maintain their gaze, when Foxy finally asked.

"You're still there aren't you?"

"Yes," was a slightly embarrassed reply.

"Why?" Chica asked in a long and drawn out expression of annoyance.

"Look I was sneaking by to move closer to Toy Bonnie and I happen to come across you guys, so I took an interest."

Then her tone changed to one of teasing, something which Bonnie didn't do that often.

"You know you two look cute when you're hugging each other, not to mention the adorable words of affection."

Chica could easily sense that Bonnie was pulling her leg so responded in kind.

"What about the unspoken words of affection between you and Freddy, at least we're out in the open about us."

Bonnie fell silence for a moment before replying determinedly.

"We'll see about that Chica, I have him in my sights so to speak."

She then sighed, but it sounded. . .pained.

"Like you guys. . .I need time to do it."

"I just need time."

"Hey Bonbon, what if we were to find a way to give you the two space you need?" Foxy suggested, throwing the question out there.

Although they couldn't see her expression, her tone matched the face of one who was surprised, but in a good way.

"You'll. . .you'll do that for me?"

"Listen Bonbon, I've watched you eye our lead singer since the day we all turned up and after what's happened in the last few days I've decided if we do end up being sent to the electric chair then at the very least we should die knowing how we really feel for each other."

She flickered her hair behind her ears.

"Call it sloppy if you wish, but it is what we deserve, and you deserve your slice of happiness, or pizza pie to put it in 'Fazbear' terms."

"That's sounds. . .somewhat comforting," Bonnie replied sounding very unsure, the electric chair part had thrown her off.

However, her confidence kicked in.

"But yes, it's what I want, more than anything else."

"Then it's settled," Chica announcing, punching the air with her fist.

"Bonbon will get some 'loving' soon."

"It's 'Bonnie'," the Fazbear replied plainly, she didn't like that nickname the others had given her, never had.

"What if Freddy uses it?" Chica asked teasingly.

"That's. . .that's different."

"Sure it is Bonnie, there'll always be a different set of rules for Freddy."

Foxy meanwhile had turned around in the direction of the kitchen which sat at the far end of the hallway, lit by an aura of bright light.

"Hey Bonnie."

"What?" she replied.

"Do you want to help us jumpscare the hell out of Toy Bonnie?" Foxy asked, keeping his gaze forward, not bothering to look back.

There was the soft sound of footsteps and soon Bonnie was beside him, flanked by Chica.

She surveyed the area far ahead of her, spying out the small figure of Toy Bonnie, sitting at the kitchen table…all alone.

She twisted her neck, making several cracking noises as she loosened her joints.

"Sure, why not."

Then she smiled mischievously.

"It'll be fun. . ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did enjoy writing in the actual gameplay for FNAF in this one and there's more of it to follow.  
And with them being human means that some things have to be taken with a grain of salt, but it mostly works within the lore of FNAF.
> 
> Please Review.


	30. Night Shift Rerun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry for the considerable delay, but my attention is being divided at the moment between multiple priorities, so I can only divert so much time to this.  
Mostly fluff in this one, but with some strong flashback undetones.  
Sorry for any grammar mistakes, that have been overlooked, although I suspect that Achieve sometimes produces errors if the chapters are too big.

**Chapter 30.**

  
**Night Shift Rerun.**

  
_ **"The Past is behind, learn from it."** _

  
_ **"The Future is ahead, prepare for it."** _

  
_ **"The Present is here…live it."** _

  
_ **Unknown** _

"OK, ten minutes in, I'm still alive, the Puppet is still in her box, I don't see Mangle anywhere, Toy Freddy and Toy Chica are back at their starting positions."

Toy Bonnie paused to do a massive air intake before switching between cameras.

"So far all good," she beamed, feeling proud of her new found skills.

Then her eyes narrowed as she searched through the fuzzy camera static…something was missing.

"So…where are the Originals?"

As things turned out she didn't need to look too far.

"HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH, HEH!"

Freddy…his classic deep laugh and it was close by which meant…

Toy Bonnie looked up and literally screamed at the mere sight of seeing Freddy before her with his hand outstretched. "SHIT!" she yelled, panicking as she quickly forced the 'Freddy mask' onto her head, knowing that there would only be a small window of opportunity to get this right. Freddy remained in his pose, reaching out towards her, his bright blue eyes staring in hers along with his mischievous smile which border lined sinister.

"Go away, go away, go away!" Toy Bonnie squeaked, cowering inside the cupboard box that was the mask. She could see he was literally on the trigger, ready to pounce should she take her eyes off him for a second.

"Freddy…please," she begged, making herself as small as possible.

"Don't do this."

On the computer, a flashing yellow symbol appeared to signal that the music box was starting to wind down…and once the Puppet was out…she couldn't be stopped. Freddy was still staring at her, he clearly wasn't going anywhere, which would ultimately be buying time for the others to make their moves.

"You can't get me Freddy," Toy Bonnie whispered, staring the greatest of the Fazbears down. Whilst it was true that he properly couldn't get her, it didn't reduce her sense of panic. She didn't know if he heard her, but he appeared to understand that he couldn't win this one, so he backed away.

He walked back into the shadows…returning to square one like the others had. Quickly Toy Bonnie pulled the 'Freddy mask' off and switched to the camera showing the music box which was now flashing orange.

She brought the timer back to full strength, preventing anymore chaos.

Then she heard something or rather three things.

She flashed the flashlight to the left and saw BB, only then to spy Bonnie peering out of the other doorway and finally she spotted Mangle, hanging from the ceiling with a delightful grin on her face. Quickly returning to the mask forced BB to leave, Bonnie gave her counterpart a playful smile before slowly backing away, but Mangle stayed.

Her yellow eyes glowed in the darkness as she eyed the Toy the same way a vulture does to a carcass. Now if she got in, there was a fifty to fifty chance that she would or would not attack, yet Toy Bonnie wasn't willing to take such chances.

Mangle however remained firmly in place.

Again, the computer flashed the yellow symbol to say that the music box was winding down, Toy Bonnie bit her lower lip and sighed. "You got to move sometime Mangle, I can wait."

However, she couldn't wait for long.

The danger that she faced was something which Jeremy himself had to deal with when he was the night guard. If the Fazbears could keep the nightguard fixed on them and not on the music box, then the Puppet could get out and attack. And they would attempt to achieve this by rotating, when one Fazbear left another would merely take its place, forcing the nightguard to remain in the mask and not attempt to wind up the music box.

Either way they were dammed, however they never killed anyone in the Second Pizzeria, well apart from the daytime staff member who Mangle unwilling 'killed'.

However, their rota strategy did pay off in the Original Pizzeria when they began to murder the night guards on a weekly basis. It was now ironic that Toy Bonnie had been a part of that rota system and now it was being used against her.

"Good God, I now know how Jeremy and Mike felt, this is a death trap," she whispered under her breath, watching Mangle to make sure she didn't move.

* * *

Back in the office, Mike and Jeremy high fived one another and let out a cheer in celebration.

"YES, ABOUT DAM TIME!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Mike noted the time.

"Twenty minutes in so far, she has forty left."

"You know this reminds me of those YouTube Lets Play," Jeremy commented, leaning back in his chair.

* * *

"Come on Mangle, just go away already," Toy Bonnie hissed, the flashing icon for the music box had now changed to orange…if it hit red…the night would be over.

Mangle was still there, watching her, she hadn't moved since being noticed. Then Toy Bonnie remembered the flashlight, grabbing it she turned it on at its highest setting and shone it right in Mangle's eyes. Boy that did hurt, the bright light forced Mangle to turn away and groan in distaste as her eyes were unable to cope with the sheer overload of light.

With her now distracted, Toy Bonnie switched over to the music box camera as she was now calling it and returned the music box timer back to full strength.

Good, the Puppet wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

"Ok…and now where are the others?" she muttered. Looking down the main hallway it was clear that Mangle was gone, having retreated unless she wished to lose her sight. As of now, there were thirty minutes left.

Toy Bonnie heard movement to her left, instantly she reacted, turning the flashlight towards sound's source.

"Chica," she exclaimed joyfully, see the Fazbear in the doorway. "I was wondering when you would show up," she chuckled, seeing Chica glare at her with her fingers gripping the doorway.

"Naughty girl, you can't sneak in here."

Her green eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at Toy Bonnie with look of irritation.

Something moved out of the corner of her eye, making her turned the flashlight to the right.

"Hey Bonnie, how are you doing?" she asked, spotting the Fazbear trying to flank her.

Bonnie herself was giving the younger Fazbear a look of amusement as she stood in the other doorway. Then Toy Bonnie noticed a pair of bright brown eyes in the hallway, bringing the flashlight towards it revealed Foxy with his hook raised, smiling at her.

Now she had three to deal with.

"Ok, I see how it is."

She darted from one to the other.

"You three are ganging up on me."

The problem being that Foxy didn't leave if you put the mask on, if he got within a certain range, he would leap at her. In fact, that did raise a good question as to why he would do that as well as the actions of the other Fazbears.

Again, it was simply because of the ghost children who possessed them at night were struggling to come to grips with their new reality:

_Where are we?_

_Who were we now?_

_Are we dead or alive?_

_Why do we feel trapped?_

_Where is our killer?_

_Who is friend and who is foe?_

_Is the nightguard the one who did this to us?_

_What was going on?_

They were curious and highly emotional, unsure of who to distrust and at first, they went exploring at night in the Pizzeria's earliest days. They would often stare at the nightguard in wonder and sometimes they looked primed to attack like a feral animal feeling threaten.

Later, they became more aggressive and were now focused on finding their murderer, hence why they started to give Jeremy a hard time shortly before everything went south. And it didn't take long for them to come up with a strategy to get at him with Foxy trying to do a leapt attack should he get in range of the desk.

Luckily for Jeremy's sake, he was always able to keep the Fazbear at bay.

With three threats facing her front, Toy Bonnie instantly leapt into action.

Quickly she grabbed the mask and forced it onto her head.

Instantly Bonnie and Chica backed away, returning to their original positions. Foxy however remained, the mask didn't have the same effect on him like it did with the others. Somehow the ghost child possessing him wasn't so easily fooled like the other dead children and some unknown reason it never shared its knowledge with the others. If it did then things would have gotten messy very quickly…and needless to say Jeremy wouldn't be here.

With the other two having left, Toy Bonnie took the mask off and flashed Foxy with the flashlight to ward him off, with him finally leaving after seeing that he couldn't advance any further.

Quickly checking the time, Toy Bonnie was staggered to learn that she had only twenty five minutes left.

Had the time really flowed by that fast?

"Well, I'm doing well so far, I might just make it," she muttered, smiling at the prospect of victory.

However, when she looked up. . .all hope of victory rapidly faded away.

For there was Mangle, smiling with her bright yellow eyes as she dangled above Toy Bonnie, with her endoskeleton arms gripping the ceiling.

"WHAT THE FUCK, HOW LONG HAVE YOU'VE BEEN THERE!" Toy Bonnie screamed, slumping down in her seat.

Mangle just fluttered her eyelashes at her, enjoying her position of supremacy, clearly she had sneaked in when the Toy had been distracted. Great . . .now she had to survive for roughly twenty minutes with Mangle hovering above her. "Please Mangle, don't end this for me?" she begged, gripping the chair like her life depended on it.

Mangle just shrugged, she could end the whole game in one move…if she wanted to. Then the computer flashed the orange symbol…the music box again.

Deciding to continue despite the odds, Toy Bonnie quickly switched over to the right camera and rewound the music box. However, she quickly had to return to the hallway as now she faced both Freddy and Toy Freddy, for in a rather odd fashion, they were leaning against the opposite walls, both smiling at her.

Yet as it soon turned out, they were merely making way for someone else. Goldie…now appearing as a giant floating head, his dark red eyes glowing as he grinned with the prospect of victory. How he was able to do it was a secret which the man kept to himself, although no doubt he had gained it when he was possessed.

Somehow, he had it and the others didn't.

Toy Bonnie was now in a quite difficult position.

Mangle was just above her, Freddy and Toy Freddy was just ahead of her and now Goldie had joined the action.

And where was Balloon Boy in all of this?

How could anyone live through this…Jesus she knew Mike and Jeremy would often recall their experiences, but she would never imagine it to be this bad and of course, it wasn't bad…when you weren't the one in the chair, trying to get through five nights by the skin of your teeth. She knew they had all apologised for their behaviour towards the two former night guards, but now Toy Bonnie felt that she should really say sorry for putting them through such a horrendous experience.

When she returned her focus to the game at hand, all three Freddies were now at her front with Goldie now floating before her in his full form.

He was on the verge of the red line, cross that and he would attack.

Quickly Toy Bonnie shoved the mask onto her head and thus prevented them from getting any closer. All three Freddies looked at eachother in dismay, while Mangle remained indifferent.

* * *

Mike checked the time inside the office as Jeremy wolfed down handful after handful of popcorn whilst watching Toy Bonnie's position grow steadily worse with each passing second.

"Well she has twenty minutes left," Mike muttered, his eyes flickering between the computer screen and the clock.

"She's dead if she doesn't get them away though," Jeremy added, announcing his prediction.

"And with Mangle, well it is anyone's guess how this all ends."

* * *

"Come on, go away, you know you can't attack me," Toy Bonnie smirked at the three hapless Freddies. Goldie nodded, accepting that he had been beaten, but then he smiled and pointed upwards…at Mangle.

She could attack if she wanted and Toy Bonnie wouldn't be able to stop her. One by one the three Freddies backed away until only their eyes were visible, shinning away in the darkness.

"Yeah, you three just keep on walking," Toy Bonnie called, relieved that she had gained more time to play.

Although she could hear Mangle's breathing just above her. "Mangle if you try to jumpscare me, I won't be able to prevent myself from hitting you…just a friendly warning," she announced, her voice being both one of sarcasm and annoyance which was all honey coated in sweetness.

Mangle appeared to move away, or at least move closer to the ceiling and away from Toy Bonnie. She would wait…she could bid her time. Toy Bonnie meanwhile switched back to the cameras, Chica was in one of the bedrooms, Bonnie was in another somewhere nearby and Foxy was back at his starting position. Toy Chica was in a nearby room and Toy Freddy was also back at his starting position.

Freddy was in the hallway and Goldie was nowhere to be seen.

Yet she still couldn't find Balloon Boy and that worried her.

If BB could take away her flashlight batteries, then Foxy would be able to get within range to jumpscare her and end the game.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

BB was near.

Toy Bonnie shone her flashlight over to the left doorway, certain that the sound had come from there.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Now it was coming from the right, making her change direction.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Now she turned to face the main hallway, but he wasn't there, Balloon Boy was trying to her throw off.

"Don't mess with me BB," Toy Bonnie muttered, keeping her eyes peeled for anything that moved.

"Don't you even try…"

Of course, Mangle was above her, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Toy Bonnie turned to the right.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Then to the left again.

"HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"

Now she returned her gaze to the centre like before.

"I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE BB!" she shouted, getting rather annoyed.

She knew BB was trying to confuse her by swapping rooms and by checking the cameras she could see that BB was only one room away, looking at her through the camera.

If she got distracted, then he could easily sneak in and steal her flashlight batteries.

She then saw Toy Freddy staring at the camera in one room with Chica in another, aiming to move out into the hallway.

"HE, HE, HE, HE, HE, HE, HE!"

That laughter wasn't Freddy's or Toy Freddy's.

Toy Bonnie looked up and to her horror she saw Goldie, sitting on the floor before her, he was slumped forward, his hands open and his head down.

Slowly he raised his head up, his dark red eyes glowing with a smirk on his face.

"HAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Quickly before he could do anything else, Toy Bonnie forced the Freddy mask on, making him stop in mid action.

His smirk vanished, replaced with a blank expression, he clicked his fingers and teleported away.

"Ok and now-"

There was a noise to her left, Toy Bonnie shone the flashlight in its direction and saw Chica, glaring at her.

"Jesus Christ Chica, go away!"

Then she saw something to move to her right, upon turning the flashlight towards it, she found Freddy standing in the doorway, ready to run out and grab her.

And then to top it all off, Bonnie appeared in the main hallway, her purple reddish eyes staring right into hers.

"Well, isn't this nice," Toy Bonnie moaned, not glad over the fact that she had to stay inside the Freddy mask for even longer.

The more she stayed like this, the more likely BB were to move rooms and of course there was the never ending issue with the Music Box.

* * *

Back in the office, Mike and Jeremy judged the situation.

"Personally, I think BB will get her if she puts all of her attention in the safety of the Freddy Mask," Mike muttered.

"They're doing the rota system again and its working."

"Well she better do something," Jeremy added, his eyes trained on Mangle who dangled above Toy Bonnie like a vulture.

He knew what sort of game the other Fazbears were playing and they were playing it well.

He was just glad it wasn't him in the seat anymore.

Mike checked the clock.

"She has roughly ten minutes left…"

He returned to the computer screen.

"This'll be tense."

* * *

"Oh, Jesus Christ, come on guys, this isn't fair," Toy Bonnie groaned, shoving the Freddy Mask back on her head again. She had just wound the music box back to full strength after seeing off Freddy, Bonnie and Chica and now Bonnie had returned with Foxy in an attempt to get her.

Worse still she knew Toy Chica was somewhere off to the right and that Toy Freddy was only one room away.

Balloon Boy was still laughing, his laughter bouncing off the walls, so it was hard to predict where he was exactly. Freddy and Goldie were somewhere, waiting no doubt for an opportunity to emerge again. The Puppet was still inside her makeshift music box, patiently bidding her time.

And to top it all off, Mangle was above her still, watching her internally, waiting to see how it would all play out.

With Toy Bonnie distracted this much she could with all reason just jumpscare her now and be done with it, but…perhaps that would be too mean, she was trying really hard to win.

Maybe she should let Toy Bonnie win…or then again?

"Why would anyone come back for another night, who in their right mind would want to go through this crap all over again!" Toy Bonnie yelled, staring Bonnie down. She also flashed the flashlight at Foxy to keep him at bay.

"Why did no one ever think to bring a gun to their shift…WHY!"

Although bringing guns into a Fazbear Establishment was strictly against the rules, plus if the nightguards had ever attempted to use any guns… then the Fazbears would have got their lives cut rather short.

After some time passed, Foxy left, unable to take the bright light anymore after it had been shone in his eyes for about seven times.

"Yeah that's right, crawl back to Chica Foxy," Toy Bonnie called, watching him go. Bonnie also left, sneaking back into the shadows, pondering over her counterpart's words. "_She better be careful with she says, no doubt Foxy will report __back __to Chica…" _She thought, retracing her steps.

Toy Bonnie meanwhile was focusing on finding BB, flicking through various camera screens to no avail. "I've never hated him until now," she muttered over his child like laughter which was neverending. Then came the sound of something to her left, she grabbed the flashlight and shone it in the sound's direction.

"Ha…caught you," she said, staring at Toy Chica who was in the doorway. "Go now, go away," she stated, flashing the lights in Toy Chica's eyes. She backed away after four flashes, covering her eyes as they become overloaded with the immense light.

"Ok and now-"

She turned only to see Toy Freddy right in front of her, with his foot raised over the red line. "HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!" Toy Bonnie screamed, forcing the Freddy mask onto her head again. Toy Freddy was so close, if his foot made contact with the ground, then it was all over.

Just one move and it was checkmate. "Toy Freddy…please don't...not now," Toy Bonnie pleaded, cowering inside the Freddy mask.

"Please…I'm so close."

Toy Freddy had frozen in place the moment she saw him, his foot hovered above the floor and his arms were outstretched to grab her. His eyes, a bright blue which once shone with determination, now rang with confusion.

He was debating on what to do next, attack Toy Bonnie and end the game…or let her win?

Those eyes...those pleading green eyes, begging for mercy.

If this was all taking place a few decades back and Toy Bonnie was just a regular nightguard, then there would be no mercy…only suffering and a fleeting moment of sweet satisfaction which only grew with each killing. He debated within himself what should be done, he could just wreck it and jumpscare her, like one normally would.

Then again, since that moment they shared in the factory, could he even bring himself to wreck her chances now?

That face…that soft warm face which would always greet him with a smile whenever she saw him. Again…another signal of flirtation which he had missed...he clearly wasn't good at reading people. Now here he was, in a position to beat her, but could he really do it, a part of him actually wanted her to win.

Returning to the matter at hand, he could see Mangle hanging off the ceiling just above Toy Bonnie, giving him the 'why aren't you attacking her look'?

* * *

Equally Mike and Jeremy were watching on the computer, confused by Toy Freddy's inaction.

"Why isn't he attacking her…he just needs to put his foot down and he's crossed the line?" Mike asked.

Jeremy however could probe deeper into Toy Freddy's reasoning to stop whilst in mid step.

"He wants her to win, he's debating on whether to let her go," he said, answering Mike's question.

"He's being generous."

* * *

At the same time, the other Fazbears were also watching from the darkness.

"What is he doing?" Chica asked, peeking out of the doorway to one of the rooms. "We could win right now," Freddy stated, keeping himself hidden in the shadows.

"He's thinking about if he should attack her," Goldie answered from an unknown location, reading Toy Freddy's inaction as a sign of internal struggle.

Meanwhile back in the kitchen Toy Freddy still hadn't moved. "Please Toy Freddy?" Toy Bonnie begged, gazing into his eyes.

"Don't end this now."

Mangle could easily see that she was trying to earn his pity, flutter her eyelashes and smile at him and any man would melt…hell she had seen Bonnie and the two Chicas pull it off with the guys. "If you don't get her, then I will," she muttered, watching the standoff.

Once Toy Freddy left, which Mangle guessed he would do, she'll go in for the 'kill'. She slowly rearranged herself so she could jumpscare Toy Bonnie with full force.

"_You leave, and I'll do my thing,"_ she thought.

Then she saw Toy Bonnie's monitor and immediately decided to not do anything.

"_Actually, I could just stay right here…"_

Toy Freddy suddenly reached forward with his hands, Toy Bonnie covered herself with her hands, expecting the long awaited jumpscare.

It never came…

Upon realising that there was no sound, Toy Bonnie slowly opened her eyes and lowered her hands away from her face. Toy Freddy was still in front of her with his arms now by his side.

He sighed, lowering his head.

Slowly he backed away, heading into the hallway and vanished from sight, leaving Toy Bonnie dumbfounded, he had decided to spare her.

"But…why, he had no reason to do so?" she questioned.

Sure, she had pleaded with him, but she was in no position to resist him had he taken the offensive.

Mangle was equally surprised that Toy Freddy had decided not to attack her, sure she had suspected he would take no action against Toy Bonnie, but it was still a surprise when it actually came. Toy Bonnie sighed taking off the Freddy mask, she rested her head in her hands, taking relief in the brief pause, the others would return soon and she needed to be ready.

Something was flashing…something red.

She raised her head and looked at the monitor.

At first it was bit burly, but once her eyes adjusted, her pupils widen with panic. The symbol for the music box on the moniter was flashing bright red…the music was about to stop. Within an instant, Toy Bonnie grabbed the monitor switched to the camera which showed the room containing the music box.

She reached for the button to wind it up…_it vanished._

She froze…she couldn't wind it up….that only meant…

Mangle smiled, watching her position quickly deteriorate, she lowered herself down to Toy Bonnie's level and cheerfully sang.

"Oh, dear Bonbon!"

Toy Bonnie's face went ghostly pale.

"I'm dead," she whispered, dropping the monitor on the table.

* * *

Jeremy and Mike were now on the edge of their seats, leaning in for a closer look.

"Well…it was a nice run," Jeremy commented.

"She played well," Mike muttered, watching Toy Bonnie sink into her seat in a vain attempt to save herself.

"But it is so easy to make a mistake."

* * *

"She's dropped the monitor and she looks pale in the face laddies," Foxy stating, eyeing Toy Bonnie from the shadows.

"That only means one thing," Goldie muttered.

"Oh yeah, she is so dead!" Balloon Boy yelled, punching his fist into the air in triumph.

Meanwhile in a particular room, the music box slowly opened up.

"Pop goes the weasel," a voice sang from within.

Then Puppet rose up, standing tall with her white eyes shinning bright.

She giggled.

"I've got no strings to hold me down."

Then within a flash she was gone, heading for the hallway, the other Fazbears only saw her floating off the ground and flying in the direction of the kitchen with a smug smile playing on her lips.

"Go get her Mari!" Balloon Boy yelled.

Of course, Toy Bonnie started to panic as Puppet approached.

"Oh God no!" she screamed, hugging her knees into her chest.

She put the Freddy mask on, but she knew it would be of no help at all, hell, she even repeatedly pressed the room which contained the music box in the ever fading hope that somehow she would be able to rewind the music box and stop Puppet in her tracks.

Not that it ever did….

"There are no strings on me!" Puppet sang out loud, as she drew even closer.

"Get away, I will hit you!" Toy Bonnie yelled, hammering the monitor with all her might.

Her actions spoke of blind panic…and who could blame her.

Puppet entered the kitchen, grinning from ear to ear with her eyes glowing bright and her black hair flowing freely in the air.

"I see someone isn't in their proper costume!" she sang, reaching forward her hands.

"FUCK NO!" Toy Bonnie screamed, covering herself with her hands for protection.

Then Puppet went on the offensive, opening her mouth and letting out a banshee like scream, all while rushing forward.

"SHIT!" Was Toy Bonnie's last words.

* * *

"Dong….dong….dong…dong…dong."

Nothing…there was nothing but that sound.

Slowly, Toy Bonnie lowered her arms and opened her eyes.

"Dong…dong…dong…dong…dong…dong."

The scene before her wasn't what she expected.

The Puppet was right in front of her with her hands being almost close enough to touch, she had frozen in mid action, still floating above the ground but still frozen nonetheless. She looked equally shocked as Toy Bonnie was, her white eyes searching for the cause of that donging sound.

Slowly they both turned and looked at the grandfather clock which stood in the hallway, it's bells chiming the completion of one leaned in, Mangle yellow eyes scanned the time on the grandfather clock, she then turned to look at Toy Bonnie and then at Puppet, trying to judge the game's outcome.

After several seconds of internal debating, she gave them both a answer.

"Well…congratulations Bonbon you won, you've survived the night…_just_."

Toy Bonnie turned to face Puppet and now realised just how close her hands were, almost reaching her chest.

She only needed a second longer to win.

"I won?" Toy Bonnie asked, slowly letting reality sink in.

"Yes, as disappointed as I am…victory belongs to you," Mangle replied, dropping down from the ceiling and stretching her body to relive it of any built up tension.

Toy Bonnie sighed a huge wave of relief as she collapsed back into the chair.

"Oh, thank God," she whispered, letting her whole body relax and the tension faded away.

"No bad feelings hey Puppet?"

Puppet was still in mid air, stuck in the position she adapted when attacking, her eyes shocked with the game's outcome.

Her hands were literally only a matter of centimetres from Toy Bonnie's chest.

"I…I…I…I was so close," she whispered as the reality of defeat sunk in.

No one had beaten her, no one except for Jeremy and Mike…now Toy Bonnie could add herself to that list. "GUYS, IT'S OVER!" Mangle shouted, signalling everyone to stop playing.

Freddy was the first to re-join them. "Well done Bonbon, you play good, we nearly got you a couple of times, but honestly I didn't except you win on your first go," he said, congratulating her.

He turned to see Puppet still in mid flight with her arms out stretched.

"Hey Puppet, you can stop playing now."

She was still too shocked to move a muscle.

"I…I…I was on course to win…" she mumbled, just as Balloon Boy arrived, bouncing in.

"Awww….I wanted Mari to get her," he moaned, seeing Puppet in a defeatist demeanour.

He then raised his hand to Toy Bonnie.

"However…well played," he said, shaking it firmly.

He then turned to Puppet.

"Mari…are you ok?" he asked, eyeing her odd position.

Still she wouldn't move.

Finally, the others turned up.

"Alright Bonbon, you did good lassie and on your first go!" Foxy exclaimed, heaping her with praise.

"I'm impressed you even survived," Chica added, stunned with Toy Bonnie's victory.

"You got lucky dear," Bonnie remarked, hugging her counterpart and drawing her in tight.

"That feels like an understatement," the Toy replied.

"Although, I got luckily thanks to Mangle," she added, smiling from ear to ear as she turned to face Mangle.

"Thank you for not attacking me."

Mangle grinned.

"Well the perfect opportunity never came."

"What do you mean the _'perfect opportunity'_ never came, you had a clear shot for twenty minutes," Goldie argued, locking eyes with Mangle.

"And you could have attacked her with your giant head, but you didn't," Mangle shot back in playful banter.

"She had the mask on, I couldn't do anything, but you could, nothing stopped you in the second pizzeria if I remember correctly," Goldie stated.

"He's right Mangle, you had the opportunity, but you didn't take it."

Everyone turned to see Mike and Jeremy enter in from the office.

"Congratulates Toy Bonnie, tell me did you ever feel safe during your one hour shift?" Jeremy asked, grinning as he approached her.

"Please tell me that it felt like hell," Mike added, looking at the Freddy mask.

That dam thing could have helped him out when he was in the chair.

"Every moment was as tense as hell Mike," Toy Bonnie replied, straightening her hair which had become messy due to the tight space in the Freddy mask. "My heart was racing for every single second, I think I was scared about the potential jumpscares then anything else."

"That's just how I remember it," Mike muttered, turning to face Puppet, who was still in mid air, frozen in her attack pose.

"Puppet…are you ok?" he asked cautiously, waving his hand in front of her face but to no effect.

"I think she's in shock, it is rare for her to be beaten, isn't that right Puppet?" Toy Chica asked, walking up.

She clicked her fingers next to the girl's ears, but nothing happened.

"Hello, hello in there."

She turned to face Toy Bonnie and enveloped her in a warm embrace

"I'm glad you won."

"Cheers Toy Chica…do you want to take the next turn?" Toy Bonnie asked, gesturing to the now empty chair, her question made the Toy's face turn a little pale.

"Errr….I think I'll pass, after seeing you do it, I wouldn't want to live the experience," Toy Chica replied, looking uneasy.

Finaly Toy Freddy stepped in.

"Well…that felt good, reliving the good old days," he muttered, stretching his neck.

He turned to Toy Bonnie who was giving him a mischievous smile.

"What?" he asked, feigning confusion.

"Thanks for not attacking me," Toy Bonnie answered, a playful glint danced in her eyes.

"Well..." Toy Freddy muttered, scratching his back to cover up his nerves.

"A part of me wanted you to win."

"You could have won you know," Freddy muttered, folding his arms, he gave his counterpart an amused smile, guessing about growing chemistry between them.

"_Yet a woman's eyes can make a man do many things."_ He thought.

Goldie rolled his eyes at Freddy's smug smile, before leaning in and whispering in Freddy's ear.

"Would you jumpscare Bonnie if it meant winning the game and she was in the chair?"

That brought Freddy to attention, catching him completely off guard.

"I...I...I...I."

His face went red as he stared at Goldie with widen pupils, making the elder Fazbear smirk.

"You're so transparent in your feelings Freddy," he muttered.

"Shut up," Freddy hissed, his face going even redder for he did not want the others to hear.

Goldie chuckled, this reminded him of the early days, when he was raising the Originals and he would occasionally watch them interact on the stage.

He could easily recognise the budding signs of romance which emitted from Freddy and Foxy to Bonnie and Chica and vic versa.

He could have told them that they clearly liked eachother, but no…he would let them find their own way.

Those were the days…

Although he still enjoyed tormenting them individually about their feelings for one another.

Even now the embarrassed expression Freddy was giving him was an exact resemble of the one he saw back the first pizzeria with Freddy going red whenever Bonnie got close or smiled at him in a particular way.

The interactions which the group shared between eachother was something for Goldie to enjoy.

It kept his mind off other things…._dark things….things which at the time were best left forgotten._

Luckily for Freddy, everyone else too busy trying to snap Puppet out of her trance like state for them to listen in on his conversation with Freddy.

"Puppet, you can stop now," Mike stated, snapping his fingers in front of Puppet's eyes, hopping that she'll suddenly awake.

"Hello, hello, Marionette."

She didn't respond at all, remaining in the same position as she was in when attempting to jumpscare Toy Bonnie.

"Has she done this before?" Mangle asked, clapping her hands before Puppet's eyes.

"It's like she is frozen in time."

"No…I haven't seen her do this before," Bonnie commented, studying the Puppet's strange pose.

"This is unusual even for her and that's saying a lot."

"I have an idea, but she won't like it," Balloon Boy muttered.

"What is it?" Jeremy asked, eyeing him curiously.

Balloon Boy reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out an unused balloon.

"I always keep one spare for good measure," he said, answering a question which no one asked, but what was properly on people's mind.

He put it to his mouth and proceeded to blow into it.

The balloon expanded, getting bigger with each breath and once done, he tied a knot in at its end to prevent the air from escaping.

"And now for the loud part," he said, reaching into his other pocket.

He then revealed a pin…everyone knew where this was going.

"Forgive me for the noise," Balloon Boy remarked, bringing the pin towards the balloon.

Everyone covered their ears.

He popped it…right next to Puppet's ear.

Boy, did she jump.

"AH, WHAT THE HELL!" she yelled, dropping to the floor with a thud.

Covering her ears to protect herself from any more harm, she looked around for the sound's source.

Her angered eyes fell upon the tattered remains of the balloon and then BB's pin, which he still held.

"YOU!" she shrieked.

"YOU'RE AWAKE!" Balloon Boy yelled, throwing his arms up in triumph.

She slapped him across the face in her frustration.

"OWWW!"

"THAT'S THE THANKS I GET FOR BRINGING YOU BACK TO REALITY!" he shouted, now it was his turn to get angery.

He raised his hand to strike back, but Mike stepped in to defuse the tension.

"Guys, guys, let's not do anything which we might regert," he said, pushing them away from each other.

"And we have done a lot of regretful things."

"Mike don't remind me," Puppet remarked sternly, although she was beginning to calm down.

Then she sighed, her anger evaporating.

"You're right…I'm sorry BB, you were trying to do the right thing and I overreacted."

"Well…I properly shouldn't have used a balloon on you, I'm sorry too Mari," Balloon Boy replied, lowering his head.

"There…doesn't it feel better to stand back and apologise rather than beat eachother senseless?" Mike asked, his eyes flickering between the two.

_"Not that it wouldn't be entertaining to watch,_" he thought, watching as the tension subsided.

"Yeah…" they both mumbled, heads down, staring at the floor.

"Ok…soooo….who wants to try, we could play for another three hours?" Jeremy asked, looking round.

"How about you?" Goldie asked, eyeing him with amusemnt.

"Care to relive the night shift?"

"Yeah that'll be fun…care to relieve the old days?" Toy Freddy asked, grinning at Jeremy.

"Errr…from someone who has played the game for real and nearly died…no thanks, I'll pass."

"Oh, come on Jeremy, you know they won't kill you this time," Mike joked.

"After all you're the one who told me to have some faith when I was about to walk out on them."

"Well…maybe later," Jeremy remarked.

"I'll take the next go," Freddy announced much to everyone's surprise.

"Now this should be interesting," Foxy smirked, liking the idea of jumpscaring Freddy.

"Do you want one hour or thirty minutes Freddy?" Jeremy asked.

"I'll go for the full hour," Freddy replied, he could take them all on.

* * *

Within a few minutes everyone was back in the game with Freddy now occupying the kitchen table with the Freddy mask, flashlight and monitor.

"Actually, this cap is quite nice," he muttered, finding it to be cozy and warm.

"It's a pity they don't sell them."

He quickly got use to the idea of how to fend his friends off and he did well….keeping everyone else at an arm's length, even Mangle who barely got close.

That was until he found himself having to deal with Bonnie in one hallway, Chica standing in the other and Foxy taking up the main hallway.

And of course, as always, the Music Box was nearing the end of its' music cycle.

"Hey, guys, I was wondering when you three would all attempt to gang up on me," Freddy said, smiling to which the other three smiled back.

Once again, he forced the Freddy mask over his head again.

"Do your worst," he muttered, watching them for the slightest movement.

Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all remained stationary, staring at him…waiting.

"You're free to leave at any time guys," Freddy whispered over the sound of his own breathing which echoed inside the mask.

"Anytime at all."

Still Bonnie, Chica and Foxy remained where they were, they had no desire to leave and it was then Freddy spotted an incoming problem…the red flashing symbol of the Music Box on the monitor.

The Puppet would be out soon, if he didn't rewind it in time.

Hence why his friends weren't leaving…it was all part of the game, you either lose to the Puppet or to them.

"Just great," Freddy moaned, cursing under his breath.

He looked up and saw that much to his surprise, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were gone, they had vanished into thin air.

His whole surroundings were completely empty.

Taking the opportunity, he took the Freddy mask off and switched to correct camera and rewound the music box to full.

And now for-

BANG!

There was a hand on the table before him, several hands in fact.

Slowly looking up, Freddy came face to face with Bonnie, then Chica and then lastly Foxy, the latter who held the Freddy mask up in the air with his hook so Freddy couldn't use it.

They were all smiling like Cheshire Cats as they were all over the red line.

"I don't think we've tried this particular tactic before?" Freddy muttered, slowly leaning backwards as he eyed his supposed 'friends'.

They all merely shrugged their shoulders.

And then of course they jump scared him, tackling him to the floor in a heap.

"WE GOT HIM, WE GOT HIM, GUYS WE GOT HIM!" Chica yelled, as she along with Bonnie and Foxy held Freddy down.

Jeremy smiled, resting against the doorframe and folding his arms as he watched the chaos unfold.

"I don't think I've seen you guys preform that move before, regardless they won Freddy," he stated, seeing Bonnie, Chica and Foxy wrestled Freddy on the floor as they tired to hold him down.

"GUYS, I GET IT, YOU WON FAIR ENOUGH, YOU DON'T HAVE TO CRUSH ME!" Freddy yelled, trying to push them off.

Then the Toys entered and seeing the Originals being all triumphant over Freddy, they decided to join in….by body slamming Freddy at once.

"OH, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" he screamed upon being crushed by seven people.

"QUICK, LET STUFF HIM INSIDE THE MUSIC BOX!" Chica suggested, acting all childish.

"YEAH, QUICK GET BB AND THE PUPPET TO HELP!" Toy Bonnie added gleefully.

"I'M ON IT," Toy Freddy shouted, edgerly running off to find the others.

Then Goldie appeared, or rather teleported out of midair before the group.

"So…I'll take a guess that you lost Freddy?" he asked with an amused smile on his face.

"GOLDIE, TELL THEM TO GET OFF ME!" Freddy screamed, trying to break of their grip, but to no avail.

"Do you all need help?" Goldie asked in a delightful tone, turning to the others, who were lifting him up.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Mangle chuckled, carrying one of Freddy's legs as they held him up in the air.

Goldie joined in and held Freddy's head.

Then not a moment too soon, Balloon Boy and the Puppet walked in, following Toy Freddy.

"OH BOY, WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA STUFF HIM INSIDE SOMETHING!" Balloon Boy yelled, jumping up and down.

"I'm actually interested in seeing whether we can get him inside my box," Puppet muttered, smiling at Freddy, who now only realised what horrors they had in store for him.

"Guys…I think your taking this game a little too far," he said, hoping to calm them down.

"COME ON, THE MUSIC BOX IS RIGHT THIS WAY!" Toy Bonnie yelled, leading them all forward.

"GUYS, GUYS, STOP IT!" Freddy protested, once again trying to break free.

Finally, Mike entered from the office only to see Freddy being carried off by the others down the hallway, their faces showing nothing but mischievous grins.

"Well, we'll file a missing compliant within thirty days if we don't see him again, that's what Fazbear Entertainment did," he joked, joining Jeremy who just watched the Fazbears proceed with their prank.

"You know…I haven't seen them act this childlish since...the late 1980s…"

Jeremy now in deep thought turned to face Mike.

"I do wonder at times though, if they are sharing a body with the soul of a dead child…how much of what we've seen and hear is really them…the real them."

"You are referring to the possibility that they may have become one person?" Mike asked, eyeing him with confusion.

"I've always seen them as the same since we established friendly relations."

"They've been with the ghost children for so long now, inhabiting the same body, seeing through same pair of eyes, speaking with the same mouth, I can't dismiss the possibility that it may have happened," Jeremy replied.

He then continued.

"In small ways, not to the point where it is clearly obvious, but I wouldn't treat it as a bad thing...unless they were to become enraged."

He was merely implying whether the personalities of the ghost children and the Fazbears had rubbed off against each other over the course of time. In fact, both men remembered when the Fazbears recalled their past experiences to them individually, each part was different. The story which Jeremy heard was one mostly of confusion and frustration over not knowing where their future lied; the story that Mike heard was a lot darker, filled with fear and anger over being stuck in an unwanted position and the danger it could bring.

There was an overriding theme in both retellings of the story, that the Fazbears constantly mentioned how they felt…'different' the day after the children had been killed. They recalled feeling a great wave of personal sadness wash over them, become very quick to anger and were child like in their thinking and interaction with others.

And how it suddenly turned..._into murder._

"Ok, now someone sit on the box so he can't get out!" Bonnie giggled.

"Allow me lassie!" Foxy yelled, followed by the sound of a sizable thud.

"YOU KNOW GUYS, I'M STARTING TO LOSE MY RESPECT FOR YOU LOT, ESPECIALLY YOU FOXY!" Freddy yelled, properly from inside the music box as he sounded muffled.

"We should properly get him out," Mike stated, fearing that a fight may start.

"Already on it," Jeremy answered, heading for the room from which laughter and screams of intense frustration erupted.

It took a while for Jeremy to free Freddy from the Music Box, it was a tight fit after all, perfect for the Puppet who was slim, but not for anyone else.

After everyone had calmed down, although it wasn't helped by Freddy proceeding to punch everyone in the shoulder, the tension subsided.

It could be worse though…he could jumpscare them.

Knowing Freddy, he would properly do that sometime in the future as revenge, still they decided to have two more games before ending the night, they were on a roll now.

* * *

Balloon Boy took the decision to have a go and he was pretty good.

Although he was constantly scared whenever the others approached him, but nevertheless he was able to keep most of them at bay.

This was largely thanks to the flashlight which he shone in everyone's eyes the moment they came into view.

Although he couldn't cope with Mangle, especially once she was above him.

He really, really, really didn't like the idea of her dangling over him, ready to drop down and jumpscare him at any moment.

"Good away!" he squeaked, hiding inside the Freddy mask.

Mangle of course, as it was in her nature didn't move at all, remaining stationary.

Balloon Boy turned to see if anyone else was trying to close in.

Then Mangle struck, jumpscaring BB right out of his skin and acting on pure instincts…BB punched her…right in the face.

The impact passed through Mangle like a shock wave, her endoskeleton arms let go of the ceiling and she fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Ooowwwww," she groaned, recovering from the fall.

Balloon Boy, now realising his actions, instantly fell to the floor and begged for forgiveness.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Mangle, I didn't mean to hit you, it just sort of came out in the heat of the moment, it was accidental."

Mangle slowly raised her head…she didn't appear to agree that BB's punch was 'accidental', if her narrowed eyes were anything to go by.

"I'll call it an accident when I return you to Puppet, all folded up like a spring!" she hissed.

She reached out for him, but BB was quick, jumping back and making a run for it.

Mangle leapt up, grabbing hold of the ceiling with her endoskeleton hands and proceeded to chase BB down the hallway, pursuing him like a predator would do in the wild.

"Mangle I'm sorry!" Balloon Boy yelled, trying to out run her as she moved across the ceiling, trying to get on top of him.

"RULE NUMBER TWO AT FAZBEAR'S, DON'T. HIT. THE. ENTERTAINERS!" Mangle shouted, her eyes burning with a murderous rage as she pushed her body to limits of its' stamina.

"PUPPET!" Balloon Boy screamed, pushing his legs to breaking point.

Then up ahead, Goldie appeared out of thin air, having just teleported, with his arms out stretched.

"Where do you think you're-"

Balloon Boy using the momentum of his speed, dived between Goldie's legs and remerged on the other side, picking himself up and continuing to run.

"Going…" Goldie muttered, finishing his sentence.

He then had to duck as Mangle raced over him, not stopping for anyone or anything.

"Boy she's mad," he remarked, turning and watching her go.

Puppet meanwhile was resting inside her box, wondering how BB was coping and whether or not the box would open up to signal that it was her time to act.

Often in most cases the box would rarely open, it didn't happen for Freddy's round although that's because the others got him before the music could even run out.

Needless to say, she wasn't prepared for what happened next.

"PUPPET!"

"Dear God, what now?" she muttered, pushing herself up straight.

Not a moment sooner, the box lid was forced open to reveal Balloon Boy, clearly in a panicked state.

"Hide me!" he begged, climbing in.

"WHAT THE, I'M MEANT TO JUMPSCARE YOU, YOU'RE NOT MEANT TO TAKE REFUGE INSIDE THE MUSIC BOX, NO ONE DOES THAT!" Puppet shouted, trying to force him out.

"LET ME IN!"

"NO!"

"I CAN FIT!"

"NO, YOU'LL CRUSH ME!"

"BALLOON BOY!" came a loud angry shriek from outside.

Mangle was nearby and clearly on the hunt.

"Please Mari, she'll get me," he pleaded, putting on his puppy like eyes.

Puppet folded, quicker than one might expect.

"Fine, try to stay still and don't make a sound," she ordered sternly, making herself as small as possible to make space.

He squeezed himself inside, putting himself behind her for protection as Puppet closed the box lid shut.

"Where are you Balloon Boy?" Mangle yelled, entering the room.

"Have you run to her, your girlfriend, she can't save you!"

"Mangle you're taking this too far, he didn't mean to hit you," Goldie argued, entering the room behind her.

"Just calm down."

"WHERE ARE YOU BB?!" Mangle hissed, ignoring Goldie's advice as her eyes fell at last upon the music box.

"Mangle, don't do something stupid," Goldie ordered as he heard the others approach, interested in what was taking place.

Yet Mangle just ignored him again, grabbing hold of the Music Box and started to shake it about.

"COME ON BB, COME ON OUT, I'LL BE FAIR," she shouted.

"Well you can start being fair by not shaking the box about!" Puppet yelled from inside.

Mangle stopped and opened it, or rather she pried it open.

"AHA, FOUND YOU!" she exclaimed, bearing down on the pair.

Instantly BB cowered as much as it was humanly possible behind Puppet to protect himself from Mangle's wrath.

Mangle started to grab Puppet with her endoskeleton hands, aiming to move her out of the way so she could get to BB with her actual hands.

"Come on, just work with me dam it, I want him not you!" she argued as the Puppet resisted rather fiercely.

"In my box he has diplomatic immunity Mangle!" Puppet shot back, guarding Balloon Boy like a female wolf would do when protecting her young.

"So, you can't get him unless he steps outside, if so then he's all yours."

Then Goldie stepped in, pushing Mangle aside with some force.

"Look BB," he began firmly.

"The truth is that you shouldn't have hit her, at the same time though…"

He then turned to glare at Mangle, giving her a strong look of disapproval.

"Threatening to hurt him, isn't the best solution if I'm honest."

He beckoned Puppet to move aside so he could lift Balloon Boy out to which she immediately compelled and upon setting the boy down on the floor, he held his hand out to Mangle, so to stop her from trying anything.

Goldie then turned Balloon Boy in Mangle's direction, pushing him forward, something Balloon Boy was reluctant to do for obvious reasons as he dug his feet in.

"Mangle," he called, getting her attention.

"How about BB apologies for hitting you, and then you say sorry for chasing him…it was all out of order."

He then looked down at Balloon Boy.

"And then we call it quits?"

By his own free will, Balloon Boy loosen himself out of Goldie's grasp and approached Mangle, raising his hand to her.

"Look Mangle, I'm sorry for hitting you, it was a sudden act in the moment, I didn't mean to deliberately cause you any harm."

Mangle looked at him…thinking…her hand remained by her side.

As a result of Balloon Boy's action there was a bright reddish mark down the left side of her face.

Still she said nothing as Balloon Boy slowly held his hand out to her.

Goldie stared at Mangle, giving her a blank expression, so he didn't influence her decision.

He wanted her to decide for herself, not to forgive BB because it was something which he strongly demanded of her.

Puppet just watched the scene with wide eyes, switching between Balloon Boy and Mangle, wondering what would happen next.

Then Mangle sighed and grasped BB's hand with her own.

"I'm sorry for chasing you BB, I was angry obviously….although as you say, you didn't intent to hit me."

She shook his hand.

"I accept your apology."

"And I accept yours," Balloon Boy replied, returning the favor.

This was followed by Goldie sighing with immense relief.

"Well…that went better then I feared," he muttered.

"Indeed, I for one agree," Puppet added, climbing out of the box and proceeding to stretch her limbs.

Then the four of them noticed everyone else standing in the doorway, watching with great interest.

"Nothing to see now, it has been successfuly resolved," said Goldie, dismissing any lingering concerns they may have. Freddy smiled, Goldie's demeanor recalled earlier memories of the man breaking up fights or disputes which Freddy himself and the other three had back in their Pizzeria. He would always act as their senior, guiding them in the show business, being soft, but equally firm when it was required.

He was the father figure then…and he was the father figure now.

Even during the second Pizzeria Goldie continued his role, despite the fact that the Originals had been reduced down to his status of not being allowed to act.

"Well at least we didn't see you two come to blows," Toy Freddy muttered, eyeing both Balloon Boy and Mangle with a look amusement.

"And apparently, your box now grants anyone inside diplomatic immunity," Toy Bonnie added, smiling at Puppet, who returned with a look of 'whatever, I don't care'.

"I think it's quite cute how she tries to protect him," Chica stated, eyeing Puppet with a mischievous grin.

"So what?" Puppet stated firmly, rolling her eyes as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

"My box…_my rules_."

"So guys, if you want another game…I could be the nightguard."

Cue everyone turning round to face Jeremy…even Mike was speechless.

He would have thought the man's previous experience would have put him off the whole thing….then again….this was Jeremy Fitzgerald.

He did act as their sole lifeline throughout the early 1990s when they were at their lowest before Mike arrive to take up the recently vacant position of night guard.

"You…be the nightguard again laddie?" Foxy asked, eyeing him with a sense of surprise, everyone else was shocked by Jeremy's declaration.

"Sure, why not, this time you guys are not trying to kill me so…it's safe or at least _'safer'_," Jeremy answered.

"I don't really have much to fear anymore from you guys."

"We won't take any prisoners," Chica said smirking, giving Jeremy a flashback to 1987 when she along with the others was hunting him like wolves.

However...things between them had changed, so he had no real reason to worry.

Well...the answer was a kind of a mixture.

One, he knew that they wouldn't kill him if they got him, but two at the same time, it didn't mean that they wouldn't try their best to scare the complete crap out of him.

And boy did they try…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of words I know, but I try to make sure that everything serves a purpose one way or another.  
I don't do coincidences...  
The next chapter should be...'interesting' ;-)  
Thank you for reading and please review, your feedback or opinion is greatly welcomed.


	31. Those Nights at Fazbear's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here's chapter 31. :-)  
Due to this chapter going over the 10,000 word limit, I had to split it in half, so expect another chapter upload very soon in the next few days, or if not then definitely next week.  
Hope you enjoy.  
Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I have missed.  
Also, a major thanks for those leaving Kudos.
> 
> There is a song in this one and its 'Go Back' by MandoPony.

**Chapter 31.**

  
**Those Nights at Fazbear's.**

  
_ **"Someday you will look back at the past and know exactly why it had to happen."** _

  
_ **Unknown.** _

"AH, WHAT THE HELL!"

Jeremy shoved the Freddy mask back on for the fifth time as Freddy stood before him again. His blue eyes were filled with anticipation and his hands were out stretched, almost reaching the desk. Not to mention that he was also grinning, clearly enjoying the experience at Jeremy's expense. However, after several seconds, Freddy had to abandon his attack and retire back into the shadows. With Freddy gone, Jeremy could now return to the cameras, switching between them regularly to see who would strike next. He knew that he needed to keep the Puppet under control, because once she was out, there was no stopping her.

Surveying the surrounding area, Jeremy could feel his senses grow, once a nightguard at Fazbear's. . ._always a nightguard at Fazbear's._

**xxxx**

"**I can't say goodbye, I can't say goodnight…"**

"**I can't say goodbye, I can't say goodnight…"**

**"Can't say goodbye, can't say goodnight…"**

**"Can't say goodnight, can't say goodnight…"**

**xxxx**

The experience would never leave him, which was a great advantage in this game because he knew precisely what to do.

Hence why the Fazbears were trying so hard.

Goldie appeared before him, only for Jeremy to put the mask back on and rob him of the opportunity to attack. The Fazbear smirked, he was properly just testing the former nightguard's reflexes, seeing how quick he could react. He then vanished into thin air, disappearing from the scene just as Toy Bonnie appeared in the left door, only to be blinded by the flashlight which Jeremy delivered in several quick bursts.

"Bright light always works," he chuckled, watching Toy Bonnie stagger backwards whilst covering her eyes. He turned the flashlight down the hallway to reveal Toy Freddy and Foxy, eyeing him with deadly intent as they froze the moment the light hit them.

A few quick flashes of the light kept them away, although he knew that they would just come back.

"_Flash the light down the hallway and the side doors, use the Freddy mask if they get to close and you should be fine."_

That's roughly what Phone Guy told him to do and those techniques quickly proved themselves to be a life saver. He did wonder whatever happened to Phone Guy after 1987, maybe he left and got a job elsewhere. Did he have a family to support, was he looking for better horizons in the workplace?

The whereabouts of Phone Guy eluded him, until the late 1990s, when he found out from Mike that Phone Guy had gone to work in the first Pizzeria when it had reopened in 1990. It was the same place where the Originals were performing, as well as where the Toys were hiding, since at the time they were still wanted by Fazbear Entertainment. Mike told him that the phone recordings which he had been listening to since he had taken up the job revealed a cold hard truth. Phone Guy was dead, he had died at the hands of the Fazbears, when they were in one of their possessed rage filled states.

Hence why Mike saw an ad in the local papers about the Fazbear's Pizzeria wanting a night guard. . ._the position was empty for a reason._

They had killed Phone Guy, stuffing him inside one of those prop suits, hid him away from the staff and then buried him out back. At that time the ghost children filled with anger and rage, reenacted their demise hoping that somehow, they could find a solution to their problem through killing people. However, Phone Guy was their last kill, and there had been no more ever since, but Jeremy had never learnt the man's real name.

**xxxx**

"**I wanna go back to when the screams were real."**

**"And beautiful terror is what I wanna feel."**

**"Dripping over me like a long lost memory."**

**xxxx**

Dragging himself out of his inner thoughts, Jeremy found himself suddenly all alone with a tense silence and surrounded by darkness.

_Something was wrong. . ._

Taking the chance, his eyes slowly wandered down to the monitor which sat on the desk. The camera currently selected was the one set on the room containing the Puppet's music box. He rewound it, watching the bar go back up, but the silence did not leave, where were the others?

**xxxx**

"**I wanna go back to when the nights were red."**

**"Mechanized agony and trouble in my head!"**

**"It wasn't good, and I don't feel bad."**

**"Those five nights were the best I've ever had."  
**

**xxxx**

Those nights were the best. . .kind of. . .there were some bad moments, mostly at the start.

Phone Guy's death was recorded on the fourth night, so he wisely decided to skip listening to the tapes. He could put on the recordings from the Toy Pizzeria, but he needed to focus and couldn't afford the distractions. Besides, not all of PG's recordings from the Toy Pizzeria were referring to the Toy Pizzeria itself, but rather the first pizzeria back in the early 1980s.

All of these events, murdered children, missing night guards, living nightmares and the supernatural led Jeremy to ponder on a particular moral question.

Is there truly such a thing as good and evil?

The Fazbears had been victimised by Vincent's actions as had the eleven ghost children, there was no doubting that.

However, they had equally gone out and killed even more people either in anger or desperation. It was understandable to see why they did it, they wanted vengeance for the wrongs that had befallen them, yet at the same time how much blood can a victim spill in the name of revenge before they lose sympathy?

As he rewound the music box again, Jeremy wondered if the Fazbears would be able to rest peacefully knowing what they had done?

He knew they didn't deny their actions, in fact they had often spoke about the guilt and regret they felt afterwards. To take an innocent life, to take the life of someone who had nothing to do with their sorrows was worthless and morally wrong in all cases. Shortly after Mike had made friendly relations with them; which took a lot of effort on his part, they promised to give all the dead night guards a proper funeral, and to see that their families were repaid for their services.

They wanted to say sorry for the harm they had caused to everyone else around them. That thought made him smile inside, while they had done horrible things, they showed a clear desire to redeem themselves.

If anything, the Fazbear were tragic figures. . .all caught up in events in which they had very little control.

Speaking of which where were they?

**xxxx**

"**Where did you go, all my friendly nightmares?"**

**"My skin is crawling and nobody cares."**

**"Shadows are falling and I will catch them."**

"**In my dreams tonight."**

**xxxx**

Being back in the past was making him reflect on how far things had changed. They had left the Pizzeria, a promising start, there were no more deaths, also good, and the ghost children had mostly settled down. Although that incident back in his van when they became possessed had destroyed that reality. Yet things had clearly changed since the early 1990s when Mike was the night guard. Back then it was all about trying to survive the night whilst attempting to uncover what was really going on. The Fazbears themselves made for uncomfortable company between their depressed, sullen and irritated selves and their angry, hate filled, murderous counter opposites.

**xxxx**

"**I can smell the oil and I can taste the past."**

**"I shiver and recoil at the demons that I've amassed."**

**"They keep me company so I will never be alone."**

**"I'm trapped in my mind, but my mind is not my own."**

**xxxx**

Now they had the child murderer himself on their tail, along with a band of living nightmares who had come out of nowhere as far as Jeremy was concerned. Those _things_ had the ability to strike at will, even in his dreams. His mind which had fallen prey to some hallucinations in the past was not a safe haven. They could manipulate, possess and even possibly kill someone while they were merely sleeping.

His mind was not his own. . ._not anymore. _

As he understood it, the Nightmares were simply evil versions of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, Goldie and now apparently Mangle, Puppet, Balloon Boy and Springtrap too. Although his evil counterpart was something more matching a plushie than an actual human.

Psychopaths. . .that was all he needed to describe them, besides being mad, chaotic, savage, yet also very intelligent and displaying superficial charm.

So far, he hadn't met them face to face, something which he would rather prefer not to do, if it could be helped. Hearing Goldie's description of them, along with Chica's, Puppet's and Freddy's individual experiences was more than enough for him. Although Jeremy knew that there was a strong possibility that he would meet them at some point in the near future.

They would kill him if they were given the chance, being killed violently in his sleep wasn't the way he would like to go out.

"Nice try Chica, how about trying something much more complex next time," he called out, flashing the flashlight repeatedly at her as she attempted to move down the main hallway. It was then he realised that she was merely a distraction as Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie appeared from the two side corridors, thus making him retreat to the Freddy mask. "Guess I was just being naive, she was trying to pull something complex off," he whispered, as the two Toys froze in their respective positions.

Luckily Chica had gone, although she would be back, there was no doubting that.

Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie remained fixed where they were, it was a good thing that they weren't attacking him, yet he couldn't risk accessing the cameras to see where the others were. His scope of vision was now greatly limited, he couldn't tell if Chica or even Balloon Boy were just one room away, waiting for the others to go.

However, with that being said, at the very worst if they got him, he would only be stuffed into the Puppet's music box, not a Fazbear prop suit with all the cross beams, thick wiring and lack of sufficient space to breathe.

**xxxx**

"**Why does the pain remain inside?"**

**"I will never, never be sure."**

**"But if it disappeared, I wouldn't know who I was anymore."  
**

**xxxx**

Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie soon left, retreating into the darkness and allowing Jeremy to access the cameras by means of the monitor. Good thing too, for the music box was on the verge of running out.

Now where was he. . .oh yes, the Nightmares.

Nine. . .nine Nightmares and to think five weren't bad enough and given their capabilities they were a force to be reckoned with. However, in technical terms they could be killed, everything had a weakness, an Achilles heel. Although the only problem was that killing the Nightmares as they were now would only destroy the body, their spirits would be free to return to Limbo.

Vincent would only need to find fresh hosts for them and repeat the procedure which had brought them here in the first place.

The other five were still back in Limbo thankfully, although that could change. . .a worrying thought.

For now, as things stood the Nightmares themselves were immortal, they would never truly disappear unless the child was able to move on . . .which clearly, he couldn't.

And if the Toys' injuries were anything to go by, then the Nightmares were anything but weak. Speaking of which how were the Toys coping with their injuries?

Toy Freddy had largely recovered from his shoulder wound, but obviously it would take time for it to heal properly. Undoubtedly, Jeremy's successful attempt at taking the bullet out had helped a great deal to reduce the amount of pain which the Fazbear now felt. So far, he hadn't complained about it and was still able to move his arm freely without much restraint. As for the Puppet, she hadn't said much about her shoulder wound, although in fairness she had been a quiet talker for as long as Jeremy had known her. Only recently had she started to open up a little more with BB's intervention. So far, she hadn't shown much concern about her injury and her mobility didn't really seem to be affected by it.

Then again, she could be pushing through the pain to get things done, like she always does.

When the game was over he would ask her about it.

And then there was Foxy, who had received a bullet straight to his abdomen, so much that it had sent him into a coma. Much like the other two, he appeared to be ok and hadn't complained about it, but obviously it was still healing. However Foxy had proven himself to be a badass on many occasions. He wouldn't let a bullet stop him, if it could be helped.

**xxxx**

"**I wanna go back to when the screams were real."**

**"And beautiful terror is what I wanna feel."**

**"Dripping over me like a long lost memory."**

**xxxx**

What had Jeremy puzzled the most and still gnawed away at the back of his mind, was the whole concept of Vincent's alliance with the Nightmares. How did he bring the Nightmares of a random child into the world, and most importantly why?

There had to be a reason, or at least a connection.

Had the Nightmares offered Vincent their support or had he reached out to them?

If it was the former, then what did the Nightmares want out of all this, freedom perhaps?

And if it was the latter, then what did Vincent want in return for their support?

Or did bad people just naturally gravitate towards each other?

**xxxx**

"**I wanna go back to when the nights were red."**

**"Mechanized agony and trouble in my head!"**

**"It wasn't good, and I don't feel bad."**

**"Those five nights were the best I've ever had."  
**

**xxxx**

Then he remembered something; if Goldie was able to free himself and send Nightmare Fredbear reeling back into the afterlife, then why couldn't those trapped inside the possessed bodies of the other Nightmares do the same?

_Unless…_

"It's a permanent takeover," Jeremy whispered to himself, remotely winding up the Puppet's music box once more. What if there was nothing left of those souls, what if the Nightmares had destroyed them, thus making the bodies they possessed entirely their own?

In many ways, it made sense for the Nightmares to maintain a physical form to interact with the real world and possessing a living human body was key to that.

But how?

How did Vincent pull it off, just what procedure did he use in bringing those monsters here?

Clearly it is possible, otherwise the Nightmares wouldn't be here and the fact he couldn't figure it out frustrated him. In some ways it was similar to how the eleven ghost children possessed the Fazbears, except they shared the body. One side, that being the ghost children would take complete control, but it would only be for short periods of time and then they would relinquish full control back to the Fazbears.

With the Nightmares, their control was unquestionable, that body was theirs until they died.

He checked his time, only five minutes left, man had the time slipped by.

**xxxx**

"**Oh, now the night is over and I can feel the sun."**

**"It's been forever since I've had a little fun."**

**"My blood is pumping but I've never felt less alive."**

**"I wish that I could go back to night number five."**

**xxxx**

Then somewhere off to his right, Jeremy spotted Toy Bonnie trying to sneak in. Several bright flashes of the flashlight quickly forced her back into the shadows.

"Mmm, why do things feel so easy right now?" he wondered out loud, seeing that the Fazbears had mostly disappeared. Whilst he had been thinking along with occasionally checking the cameras, they had all kept their distance from him, apart from Toy Bonnie. Strange, normally by this time they would be trying their best to get in on top of him.

He looked around, no one was here. . .but worse still there was no noise.

Instantly he strengthened his grip on the flashlight, he knew what they were doing.

They were playing the waiting game, just waiting for him to lower his guard and then rush in on mass. Jeremy's eyes flickered over to the monitor, the Puppet's music box was still playing, he quickly rewound it back to full. "Where are you lot?" he muttered, his eyes rapidly switching from left to right.

Still no sign. . .

Wait, what was that!

Suddenly Foxy raced in from the hallway with his hook raised and his other arm outstretched.

Jeremy shone the flashlight in his eyes, the intensity of the bright light forced Foxy to stop dead in his tracks. Then the two Chicas emerged from both the side doorways, Jeremy quickly had to turn the light on them, whilst trying to keep Foxy at bay.

At the same time, Bonnie and Toy Bonnie appeared in the main hallway, skirting around the currently frozen Foxy And of course, Mangle arrived, crawling in from across the ceiling and this time she would go in for the kill. Balloon Boy sneaked in from one of the two side doorways, he would attempt to grab the batteries while Jeremy was distracted.

Although as he found out that was not to be the case as Jeremy quickly spotted him and flashed the flashlight at him, stunning the boy. So far Jeremy was barely coping, in fact he was surprised that he was keeping them away from the red line. Then, just as he thought the room couldn't get any more crowded, Freddy and Toy Freddy walked in, coming in at the very edge of the group. And then to top it all off, Goldie materialised into being, appearing next to the still frozen Foxy.

Jeremy was now in a very tricky situation, nearly all the Fazbears were advancing on him and he couldn't shine the flashlight on all of them.

He could use the Freddy mask, but it wouldn't work on all of them, especially Foxy and Mangle.

He spotted the latter, slowly working her way forward towards him over the heads of the others with a glint of confidence in her eyes.

Mike meanwhile was sitting in a chair inside the office, watching the cameras, he could see Jeremy's dire situation and gave his verdict.

"Well…" he muttered, folding his arms and leaning back.

"He's a dead man."

**xxxx**

"**It may be crazy, but I've always been a little strange, and if you wanna join me, that can be arranged!"  
**

"**So let's go back and let's relive the time we thought we'd die."**

**"And if we make it out we'll have ourselves a pizza pie."**

**xxxx**

"Now guys, do remind me which one of you jump scares the quietest?" Jeremy asked, as the Fazbears slowly inched their way towards the red line. He leaned back in the chair and held up his hands as a form of surrender.

"Any takers?"

Once they were across it, the game would be over for him.

They all just stared at him, not breaking character.

Every time one of them moved a little bit forward, Jeremy would shine the flashlight on them, only for another one to attempt the same thing once the light had left them. Luckily the kitchen wasn't a large room, so they couldn't attempt to flank him if they wished. Hopefully he could just hold them off until the clock rang, but Jeremy soon realised something as did the others.

Their eyes turned to one another as it dawned on all of them.

_Puppet's music box had stopped playing. _

Even Mangle had paused, turning back to look down the unlit hallway.

The faint sound of Pop goes the Wessel could be heard playing before it abruptly stopped.

Slowly, a small thin figure emerged out of the darkness, floating just above the ground, dressed almost completely in black with two white shining dots for eyes.

_Puppet was here. . ._

**xxxx**

"**Why does the pain remain inside?"**

**"I will never, never be sure."**

**"But if it disappeared I wouldn't know who I was anymore."**

**xxxx**

Slowly, she made her way forward, filtering through the crowd towards the front. Jeremy, knowing full well that it would do him no good, had put the Freddy mask on, just to add more realism to the scene. The other Fazbears all watched her glide forward, they even stepped out of the way to make space.

None of them were moving forward towards Jeremy, this was Puppet's moment of triumph and they wouldn't take it away from her.

"_I wonder if I have enough time to write my will?"_ Jeremy thought humorously as Puppet approached, now rising even further off the ground. She stretched her arms out wide, her eyes upon closer inspection were now like two bright white sapphires.

"Judgement as come for you at last _'Purple Man'_, any last words?" she asked sternly, now bearing down on him.

**xxxx**

"**I wanna go back to when the screams were real."**

**"And beautiful terror is what I wanna feel."**

**"Dripping over me like a long lost memory."**

**xxxx**

Jeremy slowly sank down into his seat. "Well I have always wondered, when I die inside a suit do I get magical powers?" he asked causally.

It was a question which he had always pondered on.

"Only the power to remain stuck, to never move on or to be trapped on an endless loop like us," Puppet replied, her voice was both cold and stern. "Well, I guess morality wouldn't be so bad," Jeremy remarked.

Puppet smiled menacingly.

"Kill them when they're laughing," she whispered.

Then she dived in, Jeremy instinctually covered his face for protection and closed his eyes.

_This was it. . . _

**xxxx**

"**I wanna go back to when the nights were red."**

**"Mechanized agony and trouble in my head!"**

**"It wasn't good, and I don't feel bad."**

**"Those five nights were the best I've ever had. . ." **

**xxxx**

"_Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, ding dong!"_

Jeremy slowly opened his eyes, the only thing he could see was Puppet. She was right in front of him, so close that they could kiss.

Her eyes were like two white dwarfs burned into his and her hands were very close to grabbing him, her whole stance was of one on the offensive. The ding dong sound was coming from the grandfather clock out in the hallway.

Slowly, Mangle lowered herself down, leaning in close to examine the scene, trying to make a judgement on the game's outcome.

Her eyes flickered over to Jeremy and then to Puppet, trying to work out some verdict.

"Mmmm. . .Mmmm. . .this is rather difficult."

Toy Freddy then walked over, with the game having finished there was no longer the need to maintain character. He looked at the pair, instantly seeing Mangle's dilemma.

"Right, judging by the way things look, in order to win, Puppet needs to physically grab hold of Jeremy or get him onto the floor and because she hasn't done that. . ."

He sighed.

"Jeremy therefore by default is the winner."

"WHAT!" Puppet yelled, turning to face Toy Freddy, she looked very frustrated and angry.

"You haven't won because he's still on the chair and you haven't got hold of him," Toy Freddy answered plainly, pointing out his judgement.

"I. Was. On. The. Verge. Of. Getting. Him!" Puppet slowly stated, although her icy tone betrayed her rage.

"Sooooo. . .did I win?" Jeremy asked, looking from Toy Freddy to Mangle.

Mangle sighed, accepting defeat.

"Yes," she answered bitterly.

"You've won like you did all those other nights ago, you still have it."

"Don't beat yourself up, you did great, as did the rest of you and at times I really felt like I was back in the past," Jeremy replied, turning to face the other Fazbears who looked disappointed that they had lost.

"I have never felt more alive."

Mike then walked in, looking surprised, but glad that Jeremy had won. "Well congratulations Jeremy, I see you haven't lost it, you guys did good, although you hesitated too much, especially Puppet." That remark earned him a death's glare from the latter, her head twitched, clearly, she wasn't in the mood for pleasantries.

"I was so close!" she hissed, scolding herself for delaying the opportunity to score an open goal. Hell, why didn't all the others do something before she got here, it would have saved her the energy.

"So, in all that's three people who has beaten Puppet, Jeremy, Mike and now Toy Bonnie," Foxy stated, counting up the tally. "Who is up for another round?" Jeremy asked eagerly, glancing from face to face.

Goldie however turned to look at the nearby grandfather clock, its smaller inner hand was edging ever closer to ten and it was already dark outside.

"I think it would be best if we all go to bed, it is night already and by the looks of things, some of us are tired."

"I'm not tired," Bonnie protested, folding her arms in defiance. Then Chica yawned, as did Freddy, then Mangle and finally Balloon Boy.

"The others on the other hand clearly are," Goldie stated firmly, he had the upper hand in this dispute. "Well, this game has helped put my mind off today's unfortunate events," Freddy said, his eyes flickering over to the door to the lounge. "Agreed, I've enjoyed this renactment, maybe we should do it again some other time," Toy Bonnie added, smiling.

"So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Mike asked, looking at all three Freddies because technically, they were the leaders of the group.

"We start to track them down, judging by the conditions of the Nightmares, they aren't in any fit state to try to harass us, and Vincent wouldn't dare show his face here if he knew there was a chance he could lose badly," Chica answered, her tone held a deep desire for some long overdue payback.

"Tomorrow we start to fight back, no more being on the defensive, and I think I may have an idea on how to defeat the Nightmares at their own game," Freddy stated, folding his arms with confidence.

He smiled smugly, feeling proud of himself.

"Although I will explain it in greater detail tomorrow, I think we shouldn't worry about being attacked tonight."

"He's right, the Nightmares aren't so powerful now," Foxy said, messing about with his hook, fixing it on straight.

"And we could all do with a good night's sleep, given what's happened today."

There were several nods of confirmation.

"Ok, so sleep tonight and plan tomorrow, is everyone ok with that?" Goldie asked. One by one, everyone nodded in firm agreement.

"Fine, but just remember to sleep in your assigned groups," he stated, not that he believed that they would forget something so important, but still he might as well remind them.

"Before that though, how about you guys put everything back first?" Jeremy asked, gesturing to the cameras and the idle Freddy mask which sat on the kitchen table. "We should keep the cameras actually, if we turn half to face outside and have the remainder facing in, then we have a security system, and given what we are up against we could use the extra pairs of eyes," Toy Chica argued. "Mmmm. . .you know I didn't think of that, nice one Toy Chica," Jeremy smiled, making the Fazbear's eyes sparkle with praise.

"Although we'll have to wait until tomorrow to set it all up."

"We'll sort out everything else," Mangle muttered.

"Hey Puppet, here."

Puppet, still feeling annoyed over failing twice in one evening turned to face Mangle, only for the Freddy mask to be thrown in her direction. She only just caught it in her hands, feeling its weight as she frowned. She could accept that Jeremy had beaten her, after all, he had experience firsthand of being a night guard, but Toy Bonnie. . .she was struggling to accept it.

"Can you and BB put that somewhere in the under stairs cupboard please, we'll deal with everything else," Mangle finished, not waiting for any sign of protest.

Puppet sighed, rolling her eyes, she had no need to protest, it wasn't challenging.

Her stance did earn her a weary groan from Balloon Boy though.

"Oh come on Mari, it's just a game," he said, trying to get to her wind down after her unexpected defeat. Slowly he took hold of her hand, and led her out of the room, with Jeremy giving out fresh orders.

"Ok, first things first, rearrange the chairs and the table back to normal, then we'll deal with the various cameras."

As they headed towards the stairs, Balloon Boy pulled Puppet closer to him and whispered. "It's just a game, there's no shame in losing."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who has to strike the killing blow, I just took too long."

Then she abruptly stopped, pulling her lips into a pout, before turning them into a thin unreadable straight line. "Tell me . . .have I gotten lazy, I mean have I lost my ability to jump scare people?"

Balloon Boy thought for a moment, running his hand through his light brown hair.

"Well, you did hold yourself back doing several speeches, plus you got bad timing, so yeah, you're not as good as you used to be."

Puppet lowered her head and sighed sorrowfully. "Maybe it was because back then I had an actual agenda, a burning desire to get the night guard, whoever they might be."

She felt BB's hand wrap its fingers around hers.

"I guess I've lost my spark, the ghost child inside me has gone quiet, I need to be more alert."

She turned to face Balloon Boy, her facial expression looked bitter sweet as she smiled.

"After all it is just a game, and what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?"

Balloon Boy briefly hugged her.

"Yeah, I suppose so."

And then a certain question popped into being in Puppet's head.

"How did you actually get the batteries out of the flashlight, when the night guard was constantly using it?" she asked curiously.

Balloon Boy chuckled.

"Easy, whenever they put it down on the desk to look at the monitor, I would sneak in and swiftly take the batteries out before they'd even notice."

He smiled, leading her forward. "I am very fast when the opportunity presents itself."

They reached the cupboard door under the stairs, Balloon Boy gripped the handle and pulled it wide open. It was reasonably sized, but it was filled with tons of stuff and most of it looked old. In fact, some of it was from Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, there were two plushies, a Bonnie and Foxy, and some colored plates with the Fazbear logo still on them.

At the far back, there was some rolled up Fazbear posters, and there was finally an empty Freddy head. Wait. . .that was the old Freddy mask, the one which Jeremy had used back when he was the nightguard. So, he had kept it for all these years, it must be at least thirty years old and yet it appeared to have been kept in good condition. Puppet placed the makeshift Freddy mask next to it, being extra careful not to touch the old Freddy mask. Jeremy had most likely got it when Fazbear Entertainment had sold off its assets upon the company's collapse in the mid-1990s.

"Remind me again, why is there a Freddy mask, where did it come from exactly?" Balloon Boy asked, as Puppet tilted the makeshift Freddy mask slightly, so it fitted into place among the cupboard's items.

"It was an idea the staff at the time had, the idea being that we could be fooled easily, and when we were under the children's possession we were quite naive," Puppet replied plainly, trying to make sure that the Freddy mask wouldn't get crushed by everything else.

"But children are themselves naturally naive, and for eleven poor children, it turned out to be fatal."

She then closed the cupboard door shut, locking the relics of the past inside. . ._where they belonged. _

When the pair returned to the others in the kitchen, they had already finished tidying the place up and were starting to head for their rooms. Although this time they would only be using two rooms to sleep in, as the others would be empty.

Safety in numbers, for now it was the only defense they could think of against the Nightmares.

As they were retiring to bed, Toy Chica proceeded to give Goldie a kiss on the cheek and hugged him, right in front of everyone else. Giggling as always, she left for her room, the other Toys just rolled their eyes and followed her, they were not surprised. Jeremy raised his eyebrows at Goldie in a 'suggestive' manner, before leaving to join the others. The Originals however just stared at the elder Fazbear, they were completely dumbstruck. Mike couldn't help himself and burst out laughing, the Originals didn't even react they were that shocked.

"How and when. . .when did you two get together?" Freddy asked sternly, pointing directly at Goldie.

Mike just laughed even harder, seeing Freddy acting like a father questioning his daughter on her boyfriend was quite unexpected for him.

"Does it matter, I've never asked you four about your love lives," Goldie replied, chuckling in amusement at their disbelief. Chica then clasped her hands together and let out something of a squeal.

"Ohhh, I think you two make a sweet little couple!"

Needless to say, her green emerald eyes were sparkling with joy.

"I never saw that coming, but looking back at Toy Chica's past behavior it does kind of makes sense," Bonnie muttered, casting her mind back to earlier days. "Love is strange, but at least today has ended on a good note," Mike muttered, appearing to recover from his laughing fit.

He briefly glanced back in the direction of the lounge. "Especially when considering what we've just been through."

"Well today has been very bipolar to say the least," Goldie replied, giving him a small smile of reassurance.

"Well done laddie, you've scored!" Foxy exclaimed, making everyone else turn round to face him with looks of non-amusement. "Could you be any more dramatic?" Bonnie enquired sarcastically. "What. . .hey, don't look at me like that, I didn't mean he's scored sexually," Foxy protested, narrowing his eyes at the others, but mainly at Bonnie.

"Well. . ." Freddy began, bringing the attention of the others to him.

"Not yet at least."

Goldie chuckled.

"I had no idea my love life was so interesting, maybe it's because you four have none."

"HEY!" was their swift response, and their angered expressions made Mike start laughing again. "Mike, don't make me destroy you!" Freddy growled sternly, trying to shut Mike up, but it only succeeded in making the man laugh even harder. "Oh, you act like the big tough man Freddy, but underneath it your just desperate to find someone special like Goldie has," the man replied heartily.

Internally, Bonnie felt her heartstrings being pulled.

Before Freddy could get any angrier, Goldie spoke. "So, you four actually do have love lives?" Freddy pointed to himself and then the others.

"That's for us to find out for ourselves," he answered.

Goldie casually held up his hands. "Sure, no problem, everyone has their right to privacy, I never got involved in anything romantic in the past, I just left you guys to figure things out." Letting the matter slide, Freddy walked past, with Bonnie and Chica in tow. Foxy stayed behind to see if Mike was ok, as the man leaned back against the nearby wall for support. "You know, nearly twenty years ago I wouldn't be able to stand in the same space as you, and laugh at your expense, without the lingering threat of being strangled," he said, to which Foxy nodded.

It looked as if he was going to say something, but he couldn't as Goldie spoke first.

"You know, if I was asked who I thought would get to first base first, I assumed it would be Foxy."

In quick response to his words, Chica turned round on the spot and pointed at herself. Her green eyes were narrowed, and her facial expression was one of annoyance.

"Are you trying to say that I am easy?" she asked smoothly, although her tone carried a level of coldness to it. Goldie merely put his hands behind his back and shook his head.

"Oh no, I didn't mean that Chica, you've just reached that conclusion yourself." He then smiled playfully at her. "Unless, you're actually admitting to something."

Those words set her off like a volcano.

"GOLDIE!"

* * *

Inside his room, Toy Freddy smiled to himself, listening to the conversation outside which had now turned into something of a rabid fighting match, as Chica was trying her best to get back at Goldie.

Although she probably wouldn't actually hurt him.

"You're just full of surprises aren't you Goldie," he muttered under his breath. "You're still treating them like teenagers."

He turned to the others who were getting into bed, Jeremy however had his own bed based on the other side of the room. That way there was enough space for people to move about in case of an emergency.

"So, what do you think is better, the past or the present?" Toy Freddy asked, he was genuinely interested. He got a response from the former night guard.

"Well the past has its good parts, although I would like to view the present more positively."

"Yeah, but enough with philosophical debates on morality and karma, I want to sleep," Mangle groaned, laying her head back on the pillow with her hair quickly becoming a mess. "God, am I tired," she yawned, curling up like a cat.

"Wait, what if the Nightmares try to attack us in our sleep?" Balloon Boy asked, looking nervous.

"Did you not hear what the others said, the Nightmares are badly wounded," Toy Bonnie replied, reaching over and softly patting his head. "Besides with Goldie back, we should be able to defend ourselves should they even dare try," Toy Chica added, lying down.

"Trust me BB," Jeremy called from his bed.

"If you've ever seen Nightmare on Elm Street, then that's what to expect should they come, but I doubt it for tonight at least, can't say the same about tomorrow though."

Toy Chica then sighed sarcastically in response to Jeremy's horror film reference, granted she had never seen it, but she knew the parallels given how the Nightmares seemed to operate. "If you're trying to make him feel better, I doubt referring to Nightmare on Elm Street is going to work."

"I think it has strong links to our current situation, for a start they attack you in your sleep," Jeremy replied, lying back comfortably. Then Puppet held her hands out to silence everyone. "I think given what has happened today, we all need to take a step back and just concentrate on something else, like getting a good night's sleep for once."

"Yeah, I agree with you on that Puppet," Toy Freddy remarked, finally getting into bed and pulling the bedcovers over himself and the others. "Let's just concentrate on dreaming about nice things instead."

"Like what?" Mangle asked, yawning as she felt exhaustion overcome her.

"I don't know, use your imagination," Toy Freddy replied, reaching over for the bedside lamp's power switch.

"I don't have an imagination," Mangle sourly muttered, turning over onto her front.

"That explains a lot," Jeremy stated humorously, but Mangle was too tired to even react with a simple glare.

"Does anyone wiggle when they sleep?" Toy Freddy asked, pausing for an answer before he turned the last source of light off. "I do," came a sheepish reply from Toy Chica at the other end of the bed. "Just don't kick me in your sleep please," Mangle groaned.

Toy Freddy pressed the button, there was a sharp click and the light instantly went out, allowing pitch darkness to descend with ease.

* * *

"So tomorrow I'll explain how we can beat the Nightmares at their own game," Freddy stated, pulling the bed covers over himself and the other three.

"Good, I hate the fact that they can come and go at will," Chica replied, voicing her well known hatred of the Nightmares.

It was a shared hatred.

In the end she hadn't hurt Goldie, she didn't actually want to, and besides he just kept teleporting around her. "Still feeling sore chicken?" Foxy cooed softly in her ear. Chica groaned at his use of her nickname, maintaining her gaze at the curtain covered window. "No, not anymore, I clearly overreacted, which is what he wanted in the first place."

"And it is precisely what I got," Goldie remarked triumphantly.

"Goldie, are you ok sleeping at the end of the bed?" Bonnie asked, leaning over to check. "Yeah, I'm good, this is actually quite comfortable," Goldie replied, lying on his back with only the ceiling to look at.

"Really, aren't you cold matey?" Foxy enquired curiously. Goldie turned his head slightly to look at him.

"No, it is summer anyway, and I think it would be too warm to be under the covers."

"Ok, suit yourself," Freddy stated, turning over onto his side. "Hey guys," Mike called from his own bed, which was situated at the other end of the room.

"Don't let the Nightmares _'bite'_."

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" was Bonnie's sarcastic reply.

"You know, if it wasn't for the circumstances we find ourselves in that joke would be funny," Chica added, her tone sounded like she was irritated, no surprise there.

"I can see the funny side," Foxy muttered, chuckling somewhat, even though Nightmares were now a living thing.

"Don't worry guys, I'll be here all night long, all five nights long," Mike remarked humorously.

"Yeah, you're killing us Mike," Bonnie groaned, lying down and trying to get comfortable.

"Let's just enjoy the opportunity we have to get some real and 'undisturbed' sleep, ok guys," Freddy ordered, to which there were several grunts of agreement from the others.

"Well goodnight guys, sleep well," Mike whispered, rolling over to face the wall.

"Night Mike, night guys," Freddy yawned, reaching over for the bedside lamp.

"Night Freddy," was the collective response, and the light went out with the mere flick of a switch.

Complete darkness now descended onto the house, being followed swiftly by the sky being covered in a thick shroud of blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please Review, your feedback is more than welcome.  
Hopefully, I will be able to do another chapter upload soon.


	32. Secrets and Blueprints

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here is the next chapter, even though this was actually the second half of the previous one, but I didn't want to bore you with a ton of writing.
> 
> This one was a lot of fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it. :-)  
No song in this one I'm afraid, I don't want to repeat it for every chapter, unless I feel that it is warranted.  
Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I've missed.  
The image of Vincent Afton and the Human Nightmares at the bottom of the chapter was kindly drawn by my friend: (maskedhatterdoodles on Tumblr or masked_hatter on Instagram), they're a brilliant artist. :-)  
It took me awhile to figure out how to insert an image correctly, but it finally paid off.

**Chapter 32.**

**Secrets and Blueprints.**

_ **"The devil is in the detail."** _

**Paulo Coelho**

Bounce. . .bounce. . .bounce. . .bounce. . .bounce.

Vincent Afton wasn't someone who was easily annoyed, unless it was an important matter.

However, listening to Nightmare Foxy constantly throwing a ball against the airship's interior wall was starting to push his patience to its limits.

Bounce. . .bounce. . .bounce. . .bounce. . .bounce.

The same endless noise echoed whenever the ball impacted with the wall, only to bounce back into Nightmare Foxy's hand.

Bounce. . .bounce. . .bounce. . .bounce. . .bounce.

Vincent sighed, he turned around in the swirl chair towards the open door to the cockpit from which he could see Nightmare Foxy, sitting on the floor out in the hallway, lazily repeatedly throwing a ball against the wall.

"Do you have to keep doing that?" Vincent asked, narrowing his eyes, there was a clear sense of annoyance in his voice.

_"I'm bored laddie, what else do you expect a sadistic, psychopathic, nightmarish lookalike to a children's entertainer to do,"_ Nightmare Foxy replied rather plainly. His choice of words threw Vincent off momentarily, but he replied nonetheless.

"Well, can you stop throwing the ball around, it's quite annoying."

The ball impacted the wall and bounced right back into Nightmare Foxy's hand, his claw like fingers gripped it tightly as he turned to face Vincent. _"Can you really blame me for being bored, it has been several hours since I've last seen action, all I've done since then is get my body repaired, and then go on a shopping spree for animatronics."_

"Well," Vincent began, leaning back in his chair. "You sort of have a point, why not go and speak to the others?"

Nightmare Foxy chuckled, clearly humoured. _"We are mostly doing our own thing for now, it's like we're in limbo waiting for zero hour." _He threw the ball against the wall, it merely bounced back into his hand as expected.

_"It's an experience which I really should be used to, given the first four years of my life, but still boredom kills."_

He was still dressed in the same ragged, tattered pirate suit, which he had worn when Vincent first saw him way back in the late eighties. It was like he was attached to the thing, he would rarely part with it, save for the time when he wore a hoodie to mask his appearance in public when he was out with the others, and no sooner had they caught Goldie, he discarded it. What puzzled Vincent then, and still did, was that the clothes of the poor subject lined up to be possessed, changed during the process. Just as the human body changed to match the characteristics of its new host, so did the clothes. It was a truly odd thing to witness, and he had never really been able to wrap his head around it.

He sighed internally, the Nightmare was right, this was rather boring, and the long wait felt like it was deliberately dragging itself out to annoy him. Vincent looked back at the files which were scattered across his desk, his green eyes flickering from one to the next, searching for something which he hoped might entertain the Foxy lookalike.

And then. . .he saw it, his eyes lit up with excitement.

"Hey, come here, you may find this interesting," he called, beckoning the Nightmare over. Nightmare Foxy accepted his invitation, getting up to see what the man had to offer, hell it was not like he had anything else better to do.

_"What is it?"_ he asked, sounding very mundane, as he looked over Vincent's shoulder.

Vincent just rolled his eyes at the Nightmare's colourless tone, grabbing hold of the file he wanted and proceeding to open it up.

"Here, have a look and tell me what you think?"

Nightmare Foxy's brown reddish eyes rang with confusion, and remained that way, until they slowly transformed into an expression of recognition. "_Rock Star Animatronics?" _he muttered, reading the title out loud.

What he saw before him was a large blueprint sheet, which shown the inner and outer workings of four Fazbear animatronics. They looked an awful lot like the first four set he had seen earlier on in the day, but these animatronics were clearly not the same ones. These guys had a cuddlier appeal with the rosy cheeks, plus the Foxy Rock Star animatronic had a wooden leg, and a pet parrot perched on his shoulder. Yet what stood out the most were the large five pointed stars engraved into their chests.

_"What are the Rock Star Animatronics?" _he voiced out loud.

He then looked at Vincent, who was giving him an amused expression, making Nightmare Foxy state the obvious.

_"Let me guess, more of Fazbear Entertainment's expansion plans?" _Vincent leaned back and nodded, putting his arms behind his neck before giving the Nightmare his answer. "Like I said, they had big plans, but those are just the blueprints, they never made the real things as 'certain incidents' forced them to postpone the expansion, and then shelve it altogether after 1987."

He sighed as he stretched his arms, feeling the need to loosen his joints. Nightmare Foxy slowly placed the Rock Star Animatronics' blueprints down on the desk, turning to see if there was anything else of interest._ "Are there any more blueprints, any more animatronics which never saw the light of day?"_ he asked curiously. Vincent, without even looking, just reached out with his hand, grabbed hold of several blueprint sheets and passed them over to Nightmare Foxy.

The Nightmare took them, eager to examine their contents.

What he found were more animatronics, and these ones clearly had an animal theme, a frog called 'Happy Frog', a pig called 'Pig Patch', a hippo called 'Mr Hippo', an elephant called 'Orville Elephant' and lastly, a Freddy lookalike in a tie called 'Ned Bear'.

Each one had an inbuilt music database, mood reading software, and even some programming related to social interaction.

_"What the hell?" _he voiced out loud, looking surprised by the various animatronics. Vincent just smiled, and leaned further back in his chair, remarking with. "I know, I know, it seems strange, but animal animatronics were all the rage back then, kids would go nuts for them."

"They were aiming, if rumours were to be true to give them ice cream dispensers, and a helium tank for inflating balloons right at their fingertips."

"In fact, all the endoskeletons on board right now were made for these animatronics, and their numbers alone show how far Fazbear Entertainment wished to expand."

_"Did you design these animatronics, you clearly knew how to use the SpringBonnie suit for the murders?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, slowly turning to face the elusive 'Purple Man', whilst still holding the blueprints in his claws.

The Nightmare's question made Vincent rise back upright, it had pricked his memory.

"Actually," he began with a tone of amusement as well as delight.

"I didn't, they were all made by someone else, a guy, he was the company's head animatronic designer. . .now what was his name?"

He looked upwards at the ceiling, trying to recall a distant memory which had long been buried.

"I did meet him on several occasions."

Nightmare Foxy meanwhile turned back to look at the blueprints. _"I do wonder what they would have looked like in the flesh, so to speak?"_ he muttered, more to himself then anything.

Then Vincent spoke again, although he too was speaking to himself.

"Henry. . .Henry something. . .last name, I can't recall."

_"A guy called Henry made them?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, although he didn't turn to look at Vincent, for his eyes had found the man's signature at the bottom corner of one of the blueprints.

It read as Henry, and there was a surname after it, but it was too faded to read.

Then Vincent leaned forward in his chair, his memory fully in gear. "Yes, it was Henry, he came up with the blueprints, although supposedly if rumours were to be believed around the time, his son gave him some ideas."

_"His son gave him the ideas, well he clearly has a creative mind,"_ Nightmare Foxy remarked, sounding impressed, as he gazed over the animatronic blueprints once more.

"He _did_ have a creative mind," Vincent murmured softly, catching the Nightmare's attention. He now found the man with his back to him, staring out of the main cockpit window, listening to the surface of Lake Michigan toss and turn in the darkness.

"I killed him in 1987 in the Toys' Pizzeria," he muttered, his voice now being a soft whisper.

_"Do you remember his name?" _Nightmare Foxy enquired, his voice was a little louder, but it was also quiet.

For a while Vincent was completely silent, staring out into the surrounding darkness.

"Samuel or Sammy, I think that was his name."

_"Do you know which Fazbear he is possessing currently?"_

"Not exactly, although he is most certainly possessing one of the Toys." Nightmare Foxy stretched his neck from side to side, before asking in an amused tone with a hint of sadistic enjoyment.

_"Was it fun killing him?"_

_"You clearly enjoyed the aftermath of his death, how it drove another nail into the coffin of Fazbear Entertainment, and of course the dismay it brought upon the Fazbears. . .didn't you?"_

Vincent was silent again, continuing to stare out into the unknown, Nightmare Foxy asked again, this time his voice took on a more sneering tone which matched his brutal nature. _"Was it not fun to watch the light fade away from his eyes, to see his blood run like a stream and to feel like the master over life and death?"_

_"Considering what you've l-_

"Yes…"

Vincent turned back to face Nightmare Foxy, his facial expression being one of disapproval which confused the Nightmare. "It was fun, and I admit I gradually came to enjoy each killing, feeling a power which I had not felt before and it came to me with each stab of my knife, always more stronger than the last."

He slowly lifted up his right hand. . .it looked as though he was gripping a knife.

"I grew to love it, now I was the one who could decide who lived and who died."

And then he smiled, it wasn't a normal amused smile like he had often done before, but a psychotic one, full of madness, and a complete lack of any feeling other than sadistic joy and psychological torture. The Fazbears had seen this smile on several occasions, and it was enough to make their blood go cold. "It was a quick, but messy procedure," he muttered, tightening his hand even further, which Nightmare Foxy smiled even more in enjoyment, he liked seeing Vincent go psychotic. "They only realised what awaited them when I unveiled my knife." He slowly closed his eyes, and breathed in deeply, all signs of his psychotic side faded away in that moment. "I hid the bodies in a premade place where I knew no one would look, and then I walked out, having just completed my shift for the day."

"The Fazbears were still performing on stage to a crowd of people when I walked out, I remember a woman asking a member of staff, Laura I think, the woman was talking to her about her daughter, who had just gone missing."

"I think her daughter was one of the first to die, but I simply left the pizzeria, got into my car and drove away."

_"Did you feel any different about it afterwards, years later maybe?" _Nightmare Foxy asked curiously. Vincent lowered his head, not speaking for a moment, Nightmare Foxy just stared at him waiting for a response. His predator like eyes were locked on the man, trying to understand why he had stopped talking. Maybe this was the first time Vincent had pondered on his killing of the children, had he ever looked back on it?

Given his long memory, the Nightmare would genuinely be surprised if he hadn't.

Then Vincent spoke.

"It feels a little strange looking back, in the moment it was an intense passionate act, I felt like I was getting my own back. . .which is what I set out to achieve in the first place."

"My first murder was in 1978, and that led to Fredbear's Family Diner shutting down, but that wasn't my intent then, it wasn't premeditated."

"More just a rash act amidst a moment of pure rage, I was lashing out at the world, because. . ."

His voice trailed off for a bit, before returning to the subject.

"I killed the other children because I deeply desired an outcome, and I felt I had no moral reason to hold back."

"But looking back at it now. . .it feels hollow, devoid of anything but a lingering sense of. . ."

He looked away, his facial expression being one of confliction. "I can't see it in any negative terms, to do so would undermine everything that I have worked for."

His hand, which he had held up now fell to be at his side. "There's no point in regretting the past, besides I am a dead man walking, so why waste time having second doubts." He then slumped further back into his chair. "I know what I've done, society will hate me for it, but there's nothing left for me. . .other than bringing down the Fazbears." He then chuckled softly to himself. "I brought down Fazbear Entertainment single handed, yet the Fazbears are proving to be more difficult even with your help."

He tilted his head back into the chair. "Or perhaps, I am making it more difficult for myself, I think I did have this conversation back in 1987, when I brought you lot into the world, if I remember correctly."

Nightmare Foxy's attention however had turned back to the blueprints. _"If I may ask, changing the subject, how did you acquire these blueprints, did you get them when the company fell apart?"_

He gestured to the files which were laid out on the cockpit console.

_"That's how you got everything else right. . .or did Henry give them to you?"_

Vincent slowly turned to face the Nightmare yet again, holding an expression of confidence, a sudden change from his previous melancholy demeanour. "Actually no, when the company collapsed I took what I needed, and a few other things some years afterwards, but Henry didn't give them to me."

He then smiled with a look of all knowing.

Nightmare Foxy's eyes narrowed with immediate interest.

_"Who gave them to you?"_ he asked curiously, although there was an element of seriousness in his tone. Vincent just now looked confused by the Nightmare's questioning. "Wait, you weren't told, I thought you Nightmares shared everything with each other?"

Nightmare Foxy smiled briefly and softly tapped the side of his head with his hook hand._ "Memory Vincent, there are still gaps in it, even after being awake for twenty four hours following a thirty year nap."_

He was about to ask the question again when there was a heavy thud somewhere off down the aisle, catching the attention of both men. The source of the noise was Nightmare Bonnie, and judging by her appearance she had just landed after sliding all the way down the ladder leading up to the top deck. Her face held a cold expression to it, and although her eyes were unreadable, her body stance was one of boredom, well that's how Vincent read it as she started to approach them. "_N-Foxy," _she called in a voice which was clearly flat.

Nearby endoskeletons backed away as she passed them, with her ragged blue skirt swaying freely.

_"N-Chica would like to speak with you, she's up on the top deck."_

Nightmare Foxy was completely puzzled by her request. "_And why does she want to see me?"_ he asked, sounding curious, but serious at the same time as she finally reached him, looking somewhat stern. Nightmare Bonnie paused, her cold blue purple eyes flickered upwards, trying to remember.

Eventually, she gave him her answer.

_"She would like to discuss the final preparations, she has a few concerns which she would like to address before we begin." _Nightmare Foxy slowly nodded in agreement as Nightmare Bonnie turned her gaze towards Vincent, she smiled, the smile being genuine.

_"Last minute suggestions really, nothing to fear Vincent, but when N-Chica worries it stays with her." _She then noticed the blueprint sheets laid out on the cockpit desk, the images instantly caught her attention. "See something you like?" Vincent asked humorously, following her gaze. "_Blueprints for other animatronics?" _she asked curiously, reaching over and picking one up. Her eyes lit up as she took in the detail, her face expressing complete astonishment.

_"Truly fascinating," _she muttered, as her eyes zeroed in on the detail_. _Then an idea entered Nightmare Foxy's head.

_"Vincent, can we make use of these blueprints, I have an interesting idea?" _he asked, catching the man's attention. "I suppose so," Vincent replied plainly, appearing to accept the Nightmare's request. He then turned around in the chair and opened one of the files, pulling out another blueprint sheet. "Here, if you want to use them, you might as well have the star of the show_," _he said, enthusiastically, handing the sheet over to the Nightmare.

Once Nightmare Foxy got it, Nightmare Bonnie instantly took interest and leaned over to catch a glimpse.

_"He looks a little strange with some design choices, but he'll do for us," _Nightmare Foxy remarked, letting Nightmare Bonnie get a better view.

He smiled with a cunning look in his eyes.

_"We can make him look scary." _

Once Nightmare Bonnie was done looking, she handed it back to Vincent.

"Don't you want the others too?" he asked, gesturing to the other blueprints, but Nightmare Foxy waved him off. _"No, I can mentally inform the others before we go in, remember we can mentally communicate with each other, it's a lot easier than actually speaking."_

Vincent raised his eyebrows, he had completely forgot about that, although to be fair he had rarely seen them use that power. "_Actually, I want to see what you have to offer?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked eagerly, reaching out for the other blueprints which Vincent readily gave her. "Give them back to me once you're done, I have made copies, but still I don't want to lose them," he ordered, to which Nightmare Bonnie nodded respectively.

"Also, I'll want to know if there are any serious changes to the plan," Vincent stated, leaning forward in the chair to make his point known. Nightmare Bonnie bowed honourably before him, like a servant to an emperor.

_"Of course Vincent dear, for this scheme to work everyone has to be on the same page."_

Nightmare Foxy just nodded in confirmation, rolling his eyes in sarcasm at Nightmare Bonnie's outpouring of loyalty, and then turned to go. "_This is going to be a lot of fun isn't it?" _Nightmare Bonnie squealed in excitement. "Yes," Vincent replied, sounding calm, but clearly happy with what was in store.

"This will be spectacular."

To which Nightmare Bonnie's eyes gleamed with sadistic joy._ "See you later then,"_ she said joyfully, like a child impatiently waiting for Christmas, and then turned to go, following Nightmare Foxy. As Nightmare Foxy headed towards the ladder to the top deck, he picked up the ball which he had previously discarded and threw it to a random endoskeleton who easily caught it. The endoskeleton immediately looked confused as to why Nightmare Foxy had thrown the ball away in the first place._ "Keep it, it's yours," _the Nightmare stated plainly, walking past him without a glance.

_"Enjoy. . ."_

He then grabbed hold of the ladder and started to climb with Nightmare Bonnie following close behind. Vincent meanwhile turned around and returned to reading the files now without any distractions, and the lone endoskeleton just stared at the ball, admiring both its colour and shape. After reaching the top, Nightmare Foxy turned around and helped Nightmare Bonnie up. No sooner was that done, she grabbed the hatch handle and pulled it down, closing off the upper deck to the rest of the airship. The metallic clang of the hatch door being closed rang out before quickly subsiding. Vincent slumped back into his chair, with his hands now holding up a large blueprint sheet.

Details had been written everywhere, most were Henry's, but a fair few were that of his own making. Henry was very good at his job, but Vincent had spotted out a few areas for improvement. It was the same blueprint sheet for the animatronic which Nightmare Foxy thought he could make look scary, and if it was done right then he probably could.

"It's a pity that Henry didn't get to make you," Vincent whispered to himself, eyeing out the oddest feature of the animatronic in question.

"You would have been special. . ."

Oddly enough, this animatronic was the only one Henry had laid out to look human, while everything else was clearly a robotic animal. Yet what would catch anyone's attention was that the man only had one eye, his left, whereas his right was just a vacant black hole. He looked a lot like Toy Freddy, save for his black suit, red top hat, and the golden star which was meant to be engraved into his stomach.

Just above the outline for the animatronic was his name.

_LEFTY_

He was meant to be a symbol of Henry's love for his son Sammy, who was a massive fan of Freddy Fazbear, and shortly after the plans had been laid down Sammy was taken. He had vanished without a trace, and in his grief Henry couldn't bring himself to build Lefty. By one means or another, which would obviously be illegal, Vincent had acquired Lefty's blueprints as well as the others, although the experience had left Henry in a disturbed state.

He would probably never recover from it, for all Vincent knew Henry could be dead by now, with his unmade creations, his only legacy being in the hands of his son's killer.

"These poor animatronics would have been thrown aside by Fazbear Entertainment when everything went under, all that mattered to them was the revenue which they could rake in," Vincent muttered, as he folded up Lefty's blueprint sheet, before putting it back inside its designated folder. Having been a former employee of Fazbear's Entertainment, he knew how it operated, everything was mostly engineered to generate profit. When they could they made cutbacks to save on cost, and used any illegal loophole which existed. To be fair, all companies used loopholes, but in its later years, Fazbear Entertainment had become infamous in its use of loopholes and backhand schemes.

Although Vincent himself hadn't been placed in the company's financial department, or even held a seat on its board of directors, he knew from common sense alone what the company did. But most importantly of all, he knew how it was able to survive for so long, despite the _'tragic unexplained incidents' _which had occurred at its establishments.

In many ways, people would say that Fredbear's Family Diner had made a good choice to sell its stagnated business to the newly emerging Fazbear Entertainment Company, and therefore avoided the terrible series of events which soon befell the latter. Although it was not without its own tragedy, the 1978 murder of a young boy outside its doors had blackened its name and forced it to go under. The same incident which had sent Springtrap into a deep coma, because of the trauma he had received upon seeing a child being murdered, which he had only recently awakened from.

Now that he thought about it, Springtrap just so happened to wake up from his coma right when he was about to win.

It was too much of a coincidence for Vincent to simply put aside, maybe the ghost children had something to do with it?

Yes, it had to be them. . .

Speaking of which, how were the ghost children now?

Were they still vengeful, probably, although they couldn't hurt him in their ghost forms, and so far they couldn't travel beyond a short distance from their hosts. Hence why they needed the Fazbears, living instruments for their vengeance filled existence which haunted their every step.

It then occurred to him that Springtrap was the only Fazbear not to be possessed, he was the odd one out. Although you could view that as being a blessing, for he had not been forced to commit murder as the others had, his hands were clean. Surprisingly yesterday, when he first encountered Springtrap on his airship, for the first time in many years, he appeared to have an intact memory, recognising him as the murderer, and could remember his time at Fredbear's Family Diner. In fact it seems strange how Springtrap, who had been in a coma for the past thirty years and therefore had no value to the company was kept around while Fazbear Entertainment was throwing everything else under the bus to save its skin.

They had let go of staff, cancelled various future projects, and were even going to _'put down'_ the Toys following the immediate closure of their pizzeria, but for some unknown reason they kept Springtrap around.

Hell, they had even made a replacement SpringBonnie to do what the real SpringBonnie couldn't!

So literally, what was the point of keeping the original around, if all he was going to do was sit in a corner like a lifeless doll on life support?

And they literally carried him everywhere they went, first to the Originals' Pizzeria, then to the Toys' Pizzeria when it opened in 1987, and then all the way back to the Originals' Pizzeria in the exact same year. Given the company's behaviour it didn't make sense, and the Fazbears themselves didn't even know that he was there until only recently. . . well, one of them did.

_Goldie knew. . ._

He knew all along, Vincent knew as well, but back then it didn't fully occur to him that Goldie was the main reason as to why Springtrap was being kept around.

That was true friendship and admittedly he admired Goldie for that. However Springtrap certainly had an awful lot of catching up to do, no doubt his head would spin when he was told that Fredbear's Family Diner no longer existed, and everything else which had happened beyond its closure. Having sold off its rights and business, Fredbear's Family Diner simply faded away into nothing, with the Diner's owner Freddy Fredbear himself retiring and not looking back. With a few notable exceptions, Fazbear Entertainment held a near complete monopoly over the child entertainment business for a complete decade. It had grand plans on expanding outwards with the likes of Fredbear and Friends, and Chica's Party World, the latter which was never built.

There had even been talk among some of the staff that the company floating the idea of creating a third pizzeria called _'Candy and Friends'_. Supposedly it would feature two cat like animatronics called Candy and Cindy as their front line entertainers with a few other surprises. One of those surprises was going to be an animatronic with a special outer plastic layer on which children would be able to draw.

Apparently, this special animatronic was going to be called Blank, because he or it would be created by the children as they coloured him in.

Ok, the name clearly needed some work, but the rest of it sounded very creative.

However for a long time he thought that this pizzeria was just a plain rumour spread about by the staff, until he uncovered the blueprints for them a few years later. Again, they were the work of Henry, the animatronic designer mastermind of Fazbear Entertainment, and Vincent had kept them safe from any harm. In fact, he treasured them like an old family relic, probably because he liked holding onto the past and imagining what could have been. If the Nightmares showed any further interest in the various blueprints he had on board, then he would show them to satisfy their curiosity. Henry did have some strange ideas, the majority of which weren't implemented, but some of his designs did make their appearance in the Toy Pizzeria.

Vincent still didn't understand how that Egg Baby thing was meant to entertain children, no one did frankly.

Unlike the lemonade and fruity punch clown drink dispensers which made sense, that Egg Baby thing just sat there, looking like someone undergoing a freakish act of nature. Back then Fazbear Entertainment had all it needed to expand outwards and become big, but it never happened, the wind had been taken out of its sails. All they ever got out of their schemes was Fredbear and Friends, which was short lived, a ton of endoskeletons for suits which were never made, save only for four, and a whole load of prop suits.

Oh yes. . .the prop suits.

They were meant to be the prototypes for what would have become Henry's animatronics, but of course those were never made. They were simply stationary robots with little characteristics, other than looking humanoid. Some acted like ballerinas, spinning about on the spot and entertaining children through dance, others just simply preformed mine. An interesting feature about them was that their body could open up due to it being made out of moving plastic plates, which made repair and maintaince a lot easier for the engineers. Fazbear Entertainment was hoping to see how people reacted to the prop suits, and then use the feedback to improve the characteristics of the future animatronics that they were aiming to send out. Unfortunately, they only ever completed stage one, the Missing Children's' Incidents, and the two bite attacks brought the whole project to a grinding halt, as the company readjusted its priorities following the public backlash.

Just like the endoskeletons they had bought, the company didn't know what to do with the prop suits, so they just stored them away in one of the back rooms of the Originals' Pizzeria, and just left them there.

In the end, those suits were used. . ._just not the way they were supposed to be used._

If asked, most people would remember Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, and not Fredbear's Family Diner which had preceded it. After it's buyout in 1980, no one heard anything more about Fredbear's Family Diner. . ._until recently that is. _

By pure fortune on his part, while Vincent had been uncovering further information on Fazbear Entertainment, he had come across a suggested business deal from Freddy Fredbear which Fazbear Entertainment had rejected. To Vincent, its contents were pure gold, having been tucked away within one of many folders of the now deceased company for countless years. It had taken him a considerable amount of effort to find it again, but now he had it, his ace card, and the Fazbears wouldn't be able to resist its call. He knew them well, maybe even more than they knew themselves, although after watching them through observation both near and afar he had learnt a lot. Becoming a friend of theirs had immensely helped him in finding out more, all valuable for his schemes.

They were so innocent and naive back then, but Vincent knew from personal experience that the world doesn't do kindly to those who are innocent, so in return, he would kindly remind everyone of that fact.

Leaning forward he brought the computer screen down to face him, and entered his vast collection of digital folders. There were many, but the collection was roughly split between information regarding the Fazbears and Fazbear Entertainment with their various future projects. After going through several layers of folders upon folders, he found the digital copy of the business deal offered by Freddy Fredbear, and copied it over to his currently docked memory pen, ready for use. Sighing as he felt a wave of tiredness wash over him, Vincent slumped back into the chair, letting his whole body relax. It was already dark outside and close to midnight, he needed to sleep for tomorrow would be a very busy day.

Although he would go and run through the plan with the Nightmares again, before heading to bed.

And there was just one more thing which he needed to check on.

He spun round in the chair to face the open doorway behind him, beyond it the endoskeletons were busy doing their various chores, fixing and improving anything which caught their attention. Others were just standing idle until they received some form of command from their brethren. Upon spotting two, Vincent called them over and they responded like eager slaves. He turned back to face the cockpit desk and opened up another drawer, taking something out of it, before turning round once more to face the pair.

"Have the discs been integrated with their intended projectors?" he asked. Both endoskeletons were silent for a minute, properly sending the question out electronically to the others.

Finally, one did respond.

_"Yes, the four endoskeletons have been adapted for your request, the discs have been inbuilt into their power modules and they are ready to begin when ordered."_

To which Vincent replied with.

"Be sure to survey both the disc's ability to maintain its illusion, and the strength of the signal, it sounds like this."

The disc which he held up was very small to the naked eye, looking like a half dollar coin, a micro disc. Vincent pressed a tiny button inbuilt into its side, turning it on.

A small blinking red dot appeared in its centre, and soon a new sound made its way into the cockpit. It was barely audible to the human ear, being at best a high-pitched whining noise which flickered just above the ear's sound radar, basically invisible to the average listener.

Yet it had an effect as Vincent could already feel it taking hold, a feeling of nausea crept over him, his sense of concentration was beginning to falter. It was like his mind was clogging up with misinformation and mental blocks, shutting down his ability to think straight or decipher reality. He quickly turned it off, the red blinking light instantly died, as did the disc's effects. To the endoskeletons however they were immune to it, which made them very useful carriers. "Send that sound out to the others, understood?" Vincent asked clearly, putting his hand to his head to steady himself, as the nausea quickly subsided.

"These discs are merely prototypes at this stage, so I want to know where the faults are, if any do emerge, got it?"

_"Message received sir,"_ the second one replied plainly, nodding in confirmation as did the first.

Vincent then gestured at them to leave and return to whatever it was that they were doing previously, leaving him alone as they closed the cockpit door behind them. Now that everything had been settled and he was completely isolated from everyone else, Vincent slowly reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out an object. It was the same one which he had pulled out earlier at the abandoned factory, soft and fluffy.

Looking down at the object as he cradled it in his hands, his mind began to wander away from the chaos of the present, an embracing feeling of nostalgia filled him.

"Why not complete the collection. . .for good luck," he muttered, reaching over and pulling another drawer open. There were two objects inside which he took out, they were almost the same as the first one, soft and fluffy, but each in a different colour and design.

He regarded the three of them as a good luck token, and a reminder to what he once had. Maybe the parents of the children he had killed, and the families of the dead nightguards had something to remind them of their loved ones. All of whom had vanished without trace, other than gravestones and empty coffins of course.

Even Henry probably had something to remind himself of Sammy, whose love he poured into his creations, which now belonged to Vincent. However, he would respect Henry's work, although he did have several ideas in mind for his animatronics, especially for Lefty.

He had even attempted to make some of them in the past, which had produced mixed results.

Supposedly, if the Fazbears were to be taken out of the world, something which he had longed to achieve, then their legacy would be mixed. A joyful entertaining start which was immediately soured by a series of blood chilling tragedies. Although to be fair, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria was not the only place where children had vanished completely without any explanation. Fazbear's Pizzeria, the Toys' Pizzeria, and Fredbear's Family Diner were just three of hundreds of places where children had gone missing over the decades.

Greenfield in Indiana, Hurricane, and New Harmony in Utah were just names on a very long list, which had been burned into the collective memory of American society. Most were easy to solve with some effort, but there were others which left little to no clue behind, was it because of a governmental conspiracy, or through supernatural means?

If what the Nightmares had told him about their own encounters were true. . ._then there were truly stranger things in this world beyond vengeful ghost children._

The machine he had used to bring the Nightmares into this world had required several curical elements to function properly, and he only had enough of those parts to repeat the process one more time. He had used the last three in bringing the four Nightmares, then Nightmare Fredbear and finally transporting those empty animatronic suits to Limbo. He had enough material on board to rebuild the machine, but those key elements were in very short supply, and they probably didn't even exist anymore.

Besides the original machine which the current model was based on had a _particular_ function to it, the best way to describe it was like a massive ink printer. The current machine was hard to build, his first try on setting it all up took him a whole week, although it had gotten easier with each try. Tearing it down was easy, no trace of its construction could be left behind.

However, he could only repeat the process again, and then that was it.

So the Nightmares better be careful with themselves, because if three of them were to die, he would not waste his last try on just bringing three Nightmares back from the dead. Only through the machine, could the Nightmares successfully access the physical plane, and possess a body.

When the machine was first used for such a process, it was a smashing success, with the exception of Nightmare Freddy's Freddy Heads being turned into snake like creatures somehow.

But those bodies which the Nightmares now inhabited, _were not the first bodies they had attempted to possess._

That attempt had almost succeeded, but it failed due to mishaps and some unexpected outside intervention.

Hence why they needed the machine, why they needed Vincent's help, and he in return needed theirs.

He couldn't continue being a lone wolf forever, as it was getting harder to inflict damage on both the Fazbears and Fazbear Entertainment without falling under suspicion. Vincent smiled as he gently stroked one of the three objects, its soft surface lightly tickling his fingers. It was with moments like these in which he could break away from the chaos of the present before it sucked him back in again. Supposedly, if he were to die, then just like Henry and the Fazbears, he would have his own legacy. But unlike theirs, his would not be tainted with sorrow and death. His legacy was meant to be kept far away from the soul crushing destruction, which surrounded everyone involved at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.

His legacy was hidden, shrouded beyond any preying eyes and no one would know, but that wouldn't matter to him. What did matter was that _they_ would endure, a lasting reminder of what he treasured most of all. No one would find them, locked away, concealed deep below ground, a sleeping secret devoid of the restless anger which had long festered away inside of him.

Secrets don't keep. . ._but his would. _

_ _ **Vincent Afton and the Human Nightmares by maskedhatter.**

**** <strike></strike>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The picture of Vincent Afton and the Human Nightmares is how I personally see them.
> 
> I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter, I've got a good idea on what to focus on in the next one. I'll just say that it involves some gameplay from one of FNAF's many fan games. ;-)  
Please Review, your feedback is more than welcome.


	33. In The Night They Rise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, there's another chapter. :-)
> 
> Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I have missed, but the mixture of using sentence and short paragraphs should be making each chapter much less harder to read.  
Enjoy...

**Chapter 33.**

**In The Night They Rise.**

_ **"What defines us is how well we rise after falling…"** _

**Unknown**

There are some who say that the waking world is the real dream, and that the dreams we enter at night are in fact the real world, but these are just theories on something quite complex.

Yet after two millenniums, we are still no closer to understanding dreams, how they work, why they work and what they mean for humanity.

Still, there is a common accepted theory for what a dream is. . .

A dream is often thought to be the mind's way of interpreting and understanding the day's events before storing them into long term memory.

Sometimes you could be watching something, just watching, but never able to interact with the world around you, then you wake up, feeling none the wiser.

And then there are vivid dreams, dreams in which you can walk, talk and explore. The dream feels like a story with you hopping from one random scene to the next. Logically it doesn't make sense, but you never ask yourself that question until you wake up and scramble to make sense of those fading remnants of memory before they disappear for good from your mind.

It is where the conscious and unconscious parts of your mind meet, the barrier separating instinct and choice disappears and the two merge, sharing information like two massive databases, before splitting apart again just as you wake up from your deep slumber. There are always connected, constantly sharing information every hour of every day of every week, but only during sleep do they become one.

We often wonder whether what we see in dreams are real, or if one can enter a dream and change it making it dance to their personal tune.

While this level of mental power excites those who write psychological thrillers, it was never a real thing. . ._until recently_.

The night dragged itself across the earth as everyone under its thick black shroud slept in sweet slumber, even the Fazbears currently all curled up in their beds. Together they all slept peacefully, their dreams not being touched by the poison of their nightmarish counterparts for once. This uninterrupted sleep was bringing so much relief to their minds, for once they could rest without the fear of being attacked, seeing how the Nightmares were brought to their knees and then barely escaped with their lives.

No, they wouldn't be back anytime soon. . .

So, for now, they could all just sleep and dream of better days, those which had long since passed and those that they hoped were still yet to come.

It was a nice optimistic view to hold and there was plenty of good reason for it to be held.

So, in all the night was quiet and relaxing.

Well, it was all like that. . .until Balloon Boy woke up screaming his head off, thus swiftly rousing everyone else from their otherwise uninterrupted slumber. His frantic screams echoed throughout the house, no one could ignore it and given what it meant they couldn't afford too.

After the first few frantic seconds of falling out of bed and then stumbling to her feet with the others. Chica wasted no time in effectively breaking down their own bedroom door as well as that of the Toys'.

There was a massive slam as the brass knob impacted with the wall as the door was thrown wide open.

"WHAT IS IT?" she asked, stumbling in after being surprised by her own strength. Her whole face expressed a deep concern as the others quickly followed her inside.

"WHERE'S BB, WE HEARD HIM SCREAMING?" Bonnie shouted, looking from left to right, her eyes having to rapidly adjust to the pitch blackness.

"HE'S OVER HERE GUYS!" Toy Bonnie yelled, the outline of her thin figure could be seen in the darkness, as she spotted the small figure of Balloon Boy hiding in one of the room's four corners. From his body's outline, he appeared to have his knees tucked into his chest and his arms covering his head.

"Jesus that was loud," Toy Freddy groaned, rubbing his head as his ears now finally recovered from the high pitch screams which had filled the room only seconds earlier.

He turned and reached for the bedside lampshade and flipped the switch on, bringing some much-needed light into the room.

"God, I don't know if I'll sleep again after that," Jeremy muttered, resting his head in his hands as his brain caught up to speed with recent events. Puppet, after recovering from the intense shock, was the first to approach Balloon Boy. Now that the light was on she could fully see multiple reddish/blueish/purplish bruises decorating his fair skin, his brown hair looked messy and his overall appearance was ghastly.

Obviously, something rather vicious had attacked him.

"BB. . .who did this to you?" she asked, clearly worried for him, something had obviously scared BB and she held a good idea as to what that specific something might be. She carefully placed a tender hand on his shoulder, the sensation making Balloon Boy raise his head to meet her gaze. For a moment, blue pupils stared into two white dots which shone like diamonds.

But it was only for a moment. . .

"NO, I STILL SEE THEM, ALL OF THEM KNOW WHERE WE ARE!" he screamed, throwing her hand off with one hand and forcefully pushing her back with the other.

"THEY'RE ALL CROWDING AROUND ME, THEY WANT TO HURT ME!"

He buried his head in his hands again, almost like he was trying to form a protective cocoon around himself. That was a massive shock for Puppet, BB had never been one to lash out at her.

"PLEASE. . .I don't wish to be harmed," BB whispered in an emotional tone, he sounded tense, like he had just ridden through a huge storm and felt lucky to get out alive.

Puppet stepped back, shock was clearly written across her face, whatever had happened to him, it was big.

"They?" she asked out loud.

"Whose they?"

It took a minute or so for the others to come up with their own thoughts, however, everyone knew who it could be, there was only one group of people capable of doing such things and Goldie beat them all to it.

He spoke aloud.

"The Nightmares."

Everyone apart from Balloon Boy turned to face him, they were not surprised with his answer.

"Them, but how could they risk coming here again?" Toy Chica asked, sounding confused.

"Didn't you scare Nightmare Freddy off, the last time he came here?"

"Yes, but maybe with there now being four Nightmares, he felt that he could risk showing his face again," Goldie answered, his voice now plain and monotone, but his wide eyes spoke of his concern for the boy. Internally, he suspected that Balloon Boy had been attacked because he was the weakest out of all of them, easy prey for those looking to strike a quick blow.

It was shameful. . .

Although he didn't say it out loud to avoid offending the boy, although perhaps BB knew already, he was fairly smart despite his childish behavior at times.

He approached slowly and got down on his knees before Balloon Boy.

"BB. . .do you want to tell us what happened?" Goldie asked, he didn't try to reach out to him, seeing how the lad was still in shock.

"It'll make you feel better."

There were a few moments of silence from Balloon Boy before he gave his answer.

"Yes…I do…" he muttered softly under his breath.

"Come, we'll discuss this in the kitchen then," Goldie replied warmly, now confidently holding his hand out to which Balloon Boy instantly grasped.

Several minutes later. . .

They had all gathered round Jeremy's kitchen table, all seated with Balloon Boy uncomfortably finding himself to be the centre of attention.

"Here you go laddie, when I was a kid your age, hot chocolate always calmed me down after a night terror," Jeremy said warmly, placing a cup of hot chocolate down before BB. The boy gave him a small smile, although it was brief, Jeremy smiled back anyway, despite all that he had done in the past, Balloon Boy was still a child.

"So, Balloon Boy, what happened in your dream, how exactly did the Nightmares attack you?" Goldie enquired, returning them to the serious matter at hand.

"Did they try to read your mind?"

Balloon Boy instantly started to fiddle with his fingers, his bright blue eyes darting from one person to the next, he was clearly under a significant amount of stress and internal turmoil. All thirteen pairs of eyes were on him, waiting for his retelling of events, even Puppet who was seated opposite to him just stared longingly at the boy. Her white dots for eyes which still shone like diamonds if it were possible, only helped to put him even more on edge.

However, they all needed an answer and he had no reason to hold it back from them.

Regaining control of his nerves, Balloon Boy spoke, and his voice was of course shaky.

"No, but they teased me with the idea, everything was happening so fast and unpredictable it felt so real, they looked so real."

"The Nightmares are at their strongest in dreams, they can be as physical in there as they are in real life," Foxy muttered, before continuing with.

"You would question whether your eyes were playing tricks on you."

"I did question what I was seeing Foxy," BB remarked softly, slowly reaching out and gripping the mug of hot chocolate with both hands.

"I questioned a lot of things and the Nightmares were indeed there, but they were not alone."

That last bit caught everyone by surprise.

"Wait, who else was there?" Chica asked, leaning in closer from her end. She sounded surprised as one would expect, but she instantly had a likely suspect as to who it might be.

"There were only six of them, but still I'm starting to doubt if they were really there and it was all just a part of the Nightmares' trickery," Balloon Boy muttered, allowing his head to rest itself on the table.

"They're very good with projecting illusions."

His words had swept away the ideal suspect from everyone's mind.

"So. . ." Chica began, leaning back in her chair and letting her golden hair flow down the back of it.

"It wasn't Vincent?"

"No, unless the Nightmares were to create an illusion of him," BB replied, his voice muffed by the table.

"Dammit, that was my gut feeling!" Toy Bonnie groaned, slamming her fist down on the table, expressing her inner frustration. "Still where to begin, everything just quickly decayed into a real life game of cat and mouse," BB moaned, swaying his head from side to side.

"Then perhaps starting from the beginning would work, take your time though," Toy Freddy suggested, patting the boy on the shoulder. He had laid out a structure for BB to follow, as he tried his best to shape recent events into something that would make sense to everyone else.

Balloon Boy slowly raised his head off the table and ruffled his messy hair back into shape.

"Well. . ." he began as fragments of his memory started to piece themselves back together.

"It was all quiet at first, in fact it was just like a normal dream, in which I was walking and interacting with the dream's environment. . ."

And thus, he recalled his horrific experience.

* * *

_Flashback. . ._

Balloon Boy slowly opened his eyes, finding himself to be in the old night guard's office in the second Pizzeria, his former home.

"I am back," he muttered, pushing himself up straight.

"Home sweet home."

He looked around, doing a double take, yep, this was definitely his old home alright.

This place hadn't changed, it had a dark history like all Fazbear establishments, but it was home.

Upon the desk lay a Freddy mask, just like the one Jeremy had used when he was the night guard, holding a round and brown head with attached bear ears. Even the flashlight whose batteries Balloon Boy had long since craved was there, as was the fan with its blades spinning wildly but on a controlled setting.

He approached the desk and immediately took the flashlight, but he didn't empty it as he normally would, but rather used it as a source of light. He shone it around the room, revealing various posters of the Toys with the famous four worded slogan: 'Rock, Eat, Party, Play'. There were also pictures of the Toys drawn by the children who had visited the Pizzeria, all looking very happy. There was even one of Goldie for some odd reason.

Balloon Boy smiled, he didn't feel scared, this was the pizzeria he knew and loved, even if it was just a dream. Taking the flashlight with him, he headed off down the main hallway, passing the four party rooms on the way.

As he shone the flashlight on them he found that the tables were still there, all decorated with balloons and party hats, with the walls covered in even more posters.

_All ready for a day of fun. . ._

He remembered being in one or two of them, handing out balloons to the children who eagerly took them as they celebrated someone's birthday.

All of this was when the Pizzeria was in its 'golden days', before the Second Missing Children's Incident, back when the Originals and the Toys hated each other bitterly, seeing each other as a rival.

Although to be fair the Originals started it, they more or less pushed the Toys into hating them, simply because they were unfriendly and tired to wreck their performances in the hope of getting them removed, so they could regain their place on stage. He remembered that on the night before one of their performances, the Originals sneaked out of the Parts and Services Room and set up a cunning prank, which would activate later during the day.

And it did, causing nearly all the Toys, save for BB himself to end up hanging upside down from the ceiling covered in flour and chicken feathers. Not very threatening obviously, but then the children thought that they were actual life sized pinatas and proceeded to smack and hit away at them with plastic sticks in the hope of cracking them open and gaining lots of sweets.

Somehow in the chaos, Puppet had also been pulled up along with the others and she wasn't an intended target, but supposedly Foxy had by accident left one of the ropes trailing by her music box. Because when she stepped out to warn the others, as she had only just noticed several odd things about the stage, her foot caught the rope and the trap was sprung, ending with her getting coated in flour and chicken feathers like the others

And amidst all that chaos, with the Toys shouting at the children to stop, the children themselves being too loud and preoccupied with getting the candy that would never immaterialize, Balloon Boy did what any reasonable person would do.

Hand out fresh plastic sticks to any child who wanted one, and then join the fun.

He would claim that he was trying to whack them down, but they were not convinced.

In the end, there was no serious damage done to the Toys, despite a few bruises and Goldie personally made sure that the Originals didn't interfere with their performances anymore.

_He made dead sure. . ._

The rivalry and all the tension it accompanied still remained though, and things only began to change in August later that year, when the Pizzeria lost its kitchen staff for a short while and management somehow couldn't hire temporary staff.

So, they concluded that the Toys could make the pizzas the night before, so they could still perform during the day.

And yes, you would be right to point that it would run them down and wear them out. . .however, the Originals unexpectedly stepped in.

They weren't doing it out of any concern for the Toys, but rather overheard the issue and knew that if the place lost money then it would inevitably close down and they would be re-moved. Plus, they were bored, not having anything else to do, but sit around in the Parts and Services room all day, listening to the sounds of children running about the place outside.

So really, they were looking out for themselves, regardless of what happened to the Toys, they were just hoping that management would lose faith in the newbies and reinstall them to their rightful place as children entertainers.

They snuck out of the Parts and Service Room, somehow stole the keys from the locked drawer in the manager's office, all while the Toys were asleep on the main stage and entered the kitchen. As it turns out, it was a good thing that they stepped in, because the Toys fell asleep due to exhaustion on the first night that they were meant to make the pizzas.

By God did they panic when they woke up, rushing around and barging into the kitchen only to discover much to their surprise that the requested number of pizzas had already been made.

It was a miracle in their eyes and they didn't say anything to the staff and passed off the miracle as their own.

Yet for the next few nights, despite their best efforts to stay awake, the Toys fell asleep and the Originals would sneak out. Ever hungry for the act of finally getting to do something productive with their time in this pizzeria which was better and bigger than their own, yet they didn't get to perform in it.

Eventually the Toys eventually suspected them and caught them all red handed in the act, that was a moment to be seen and Balloon Boy would remember it forever.

In the end they formed an agreement, the Toys would entertain the children during the day and at night, the Originals would make the pizzas.

Between the two of them, they would keep the pizzeria afloat and both groups would be satisfied. Tensions cooled from that point onwards, slowly though for it was no walk in the park.

Yet over time they slowly came together, a mutual understanding was formed, then a friendship which then grew stronger as the weeks went by and ultimately it formed into a family.

Balloon Boy smiled inside, he remembered the past well, and especially the moment when they became a real family. It was after the Originals went out of their way to save them from certain death. Basically, with Jeremy's help, the Originals acquired a box, knocked out the staff who were guarding the Toys, hid all six of them inside the box, which was filled of plushies to act as cover and then proceeded to get them onto the lorries which took them to the Originals' pizzeria.

It took a while for the Originals to find them once they arrived, after all the boxes looked the same. However, they eventually found them, and the Toys then had to go under cover.

And pretty much until 1994, they had to remain hidden within the Pizzeria, living in one of the secret rooms and only coming out at night when they were possessed by the ghosts of the children who Vincent had murdered at their pizzeria.

They joined the others in murdering the night guards, thinking about it brought back a wave of guilt and shame for BB.

Balloon Boy sighed, he didn't choose to commit those dreadful acts, yet he could easily imagine the blood that was on his hands. . .just how many did he kill?

How many fathers and mothers had he taken away from their children, whose lives would a lot darker without them?

From 1994 onwards, the Toys were free and able to walk around, without the fear of being spotted and kidnapped. In that year, Fazbear Entertainment had finally registered itself as dead, having collapsed under the weight of its foul reputation and never ending financial chaos. They were now equal to their Original counterparts and they would now stick together as a unit of eleven. For many years they planned to escape the past and see the world with Jeremy's and Mike's help, after a substantial bond of trust was formed between them and the latter.

Finally, in 2015, after so many years of hiding, waiting and preparation, they all prepared to head off.

And yet, completely out of nowhere, Vincent Afton turned up with his endoskeletons, leading them to their current situation, a position which none of them foresaw.

Right out of the blue, just as they were about to walk free, the past had snuck up from behind and dragged them all back in chains.

Pulling himself out of his trip down memory lane, he walked passed the old Parts and Service room.

He then stopped and turned towards the metal door, which by all appearances had not rusted. It was a door which you really didn't want to open at night, unless you wished to lose your life.

Curiosity took hold, urging him to open it and so he did.

Slowly with a strong enough twist on the door knob, he pushed it open and shone the flashlight inside. There was nothing, it was just an empty room with several mattresses, pillows, bed covers and some metal pipes in the back. Balloon Boy shrugged his shoulders, this was a dream after all, not everything would be here, his mind could only recall so much.

He closed the door shut, this place seemed so real, he could feel the cold hard metal of the door handle and hear the wiring noise of the fan from down the hall.

It was his home, but it was only a memory now, the real second pizzeria was probably a rundown dump.

He turned around and headed on further down the corridor towards the main play area which consisted of the stage, the game zone, prize corner and 'Mangle's Cove' so to speak.

He passed the kitchen and the toilets on the way down, taking a quick look inside both. The toilets were still the same and held little interest, other than being gender colored, blue for boys and pink for girls.

The kitchen was more interesting, as BB pushed the door wide open, revealing a clean and polished room with everything in its place as he shone the flashlight around. Strange, because normally the kitchen was a chaotic cluttered filled mess after the Originals had been in it. He remembered being with the others when they discovered the Originals making pizza, after Toy Freddy had kicked the door open commando style. What followed was a long-drawn out moment of silence, with both sides just looking at each other before anybody had the nerve to break the tension.

But here, everything was normal, so he left, continuing to explore.

He soon reached the door to the main stage, which led to the game zone, prize corner and Mangle's Cove. It wouldn't be far to speculate that those areas were empty like everywhere else was. Still it would be nice to see everything again, after not seeing his home for nearly thirty years since he was last here.

Balloon Boy reached forward and grabbed hold of the knob, he turned it. It didn't open, he tired again, this time with more force involved, but he got the same result. He tired for a third time, twisting his arm to force it open, but again got nothing. He then body slammed himself against it, the door jolted and groaned, but it did not give way, firmly remaining shut.

He did it again twice and got nothing.

He could not access the other rooms, for some reason his mind wouldn't let him go any further. . ._how_ _strange_.

He glanced back, shining the light around, but there was nothing to which he could use to help his attempts to gain entry.

Then he pressed his ear against the door's cold hard metal surface and listened for anything on the other side.

Nothing, just silence.

He sighed, accepting defeat, turning around and leaning back against the door, he felt bruised after repeatedly slamming himself against it. Maybe he should go back to the office and try to find something which could force the door open, after all the main entrance was on the other side.

"There has to be a crowbar in here, if this is from a memory then there must be one, because I remember Jeremy referring to having one hidden away at some point," he muttered out loud to himself, trying to remember.

"Then again, I could always find a-"

DECLUNK!

The lights went off, they just died, all at once and darkness quickly filled the void.

The drawn-out sound of the whole building powering down echoed around BB as he pushed himself into the door in a moment of pure adrenaline.

He franticly looked around, from left to right, shining the flashlight around to reveal any hidden predators that waited for him in the darkness. His panicked filled eyes found nothing to confirm his fears, there was no one to jumpscare him, but he strongly disliked this new reality as his heavy breathing confirmed.

He was all alone. . .

Slowly he calmed himself down, but his mind was still gripped with the realisation that he wasn't in control.

Was he about to have a nightmare?

He had plenty of traumatic experiences, more than the average kid which would scare any of them to death.

Yet everything was still silent, so his mind relaxed, letting go of his fears, even though it was still dark.

Then it happened. . .

It started small, but rapidly grew.

The whole building began to shake like it was caught in a typhoon, tossing and turning from side to side with increasing ferocity. BB could hear the sounds of pots and pans breaking and smashing together in the kitchen. As well as the noise of multiple doors in the building, rattling and smacking into the walls as they swung back and forth on their holdings. Each shake got worse and worse as did the strain he received in trying to hold on. Eventually he lost his grip in the chaos and slid towards one of the walls, impacting it into his side as he slammed into it with a heavy thud.

"MMMM!" he groaned, agonizing over the pain as it flared up in his right side and then the whole building tipped again, and he found himself sliding over to the other wall and hitting his left side.

Then the building leaned backwards, and BB rolled back towards the locked door, impacting it with his back and head. The act made him feel light headed as pain appeared in the back of his head, throbbing and making him lose focus momentarily. Somehow, he had been able to maintain his grip on the flashlight, with the light itself constantly shaking back and forth from the walls to the ceiling and the floor, whilst his whole body was shaken from side to side like a rag doll.

His vision was blurred for a moment, although in all fairness there was not much to see with everything being hidden away in the darkness.

But his hearing was not affected and soon he wished it was, because what he heard next terrified him to his core.

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

A wail, a long-drawn out scream, like a banshee howling through the halls of the pizzeria.

The terror in the voice, the tone of never-ending sadness made his blood go cold and sent his heart beat on a marathon.

Regret, pain and anger shrieked its way onto the scene, it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. The only thing which could make him even more scared, was having the owner of this voice appear before him. The shaking got worse with each passing second, seeming to grow in its intensity and the voice reached a higher pitch. Then the whole building tipped forward and BB rolled, aiming to impact with the far wall, but when he was halfway there the building suddenly tipped the other way and he fell in the opposite direction. He slammed hard into the locked door again, with enough force to knock him out with a metallic clung.

The last thing he heard was the endless screams of a tormented soul, begging for release.

_An unknown amount of time later. . . _

Balloon Boy's eyes shot open as he instantly gasped for breath, all five senses were on high alert, as his blue pupils darted back and forth, trying to spot anything unusual in the surrounding darkness.

There was nothing and he couldn't see anything.

Seeing that he was still holding onto the flashlight and that it was still working, he lifted it up and shone it around, revealing his empty surroundings. He was still alone in here, the doors to the kitchen and toilets were wide open, but other than that, everything was still the same.

The screaming had stopped as had the shaking, how long had he been knocked out for?

Could you sleep in a dream?

As his breathing relaxed as did his heartbeat, BB lowered the flashlight and turned it off to preserve its battery life. He sank down to the floor, stretching his legs as his whole body gave up the adrenaline rush to report multiple instances of pain. He lowered his head and sighed deeply before inhaling. Obviously, something was very wrong in here, and he knew who was behind it. It couldn't be any clearer in his mind given recent past examples.

He needed to get out and wake up, he had to find the exit.

Now looking up, his eyes in the fair distance spotted something.

When the chaos had first erupted, all the lights in the building had seemingly gone off, and yet they hadn't by the looks of it. At the far end of the hallway, he could just make out the Parts and Service door which appeared to be closed. Yet it was partly illuminated by a whitish glow coming from further off down the corridor which led to the Night Guard's Office.

He couldn't see the rest of it, but he hoped that it might lead him to the exit, so he decided to investigate.

Pushing himself up and ignoring the pain from his muscles, BB wandered over to the other side of the hall. He briefly shone the flashlight into the kitchen and found it to be in a state of chaos as everything which wasn't held down had become free and cluttered the place.

He left it be and continued on his way, reaching the door to Parts and Service which he found to be slightly open after being jolted out of its lock by the earthquake earlier. The door and the area around it was lit up to the point where he didn't need the flashlight, so he quickly turned it off, saving its battery life. He pushed the door shut, hearing the lock click into place and turned to face the light's source.

As it turned out, he couldn't see it, as now it was far too bright to focus on from where he stood. Although he could see the outline of the desk and the doorways which lead off to the four party rooms.

He gripped the flashlight and slowly walked towards it, wary of what may lay ahead.

_Don't trust everything you see. . ._

As he approached the office, his ears picked up on a sound, static, mumbling static, white noise on an endless loop.

As he drew nearer, the noise grew in strength, crackling away, emerging from the background to the foreground. Looking down he could see his reflection on the tile floor, it was murky, but he could still see himself, he paused to look. He looked bruised, his left cheek had become swollen and looked red, probably from having taken a direct hit. He could make out some marks and scratches on his head, but the rest of it was covered by his hair. A part of his neck was also damaged, having a purplish-blue colour to it.

He put his hand to it, pressed lightly and instantly felt a flash of intense pain ripple through his neck, forcing him to grit his teeth to stem the agony until it subsided. God alone knows what the back of his head looked like, having taken on a full hit when he slammed into the door from behind.

For now, he couldn't feel anything. . . was that bad?

He turned his attention away from the floor and looked up at the light's source, it was clearer now, but he wanted to know more, so he advanced further.

Upon entering the room, a sight met his eyes.

Amidst the loud growl of static noise, what he saw was truly odd and yet somehow intimidating.

A large stack of black TVs, rows of them, all lined to form a solid wall at the back of the office from the floor to the ceiling and all of them were blaring out white noise nonstop. BB slowly walked forward, going around the desk, passing the Freddy mask and the still active fan.

He felt confused, where was the exit and what was with the new set up?

He briefly glanced around, everything else was normal and yet this was here. Then came an abrupt sound, the static noise stopped for a brief second, it instantly caught BB's attention, making him return his focus to the multiple rows of TVs. On their screens was a message, with each individual letter being big enough that they needed their own screen just to fit.

It read as: 'HELLO BB, DO YOU LIKE WHAT WE HAVE DONE WITH THE PLACE?'

Then it vanished, only to be replaced with.

'DOES IT BRING BACK OLD MEMORIES?'

Balloon Boy sort of understood what was going on and decided to play along.

"Yes, it does," he answered firmly.

The message disappeared and a new one took its place, each time the words changed there was a brief distorting sound which erupted from the array of TV screens.

'ARE YOU OK, YOU LOOK HURT WITH THOSE BRUISES?' the new message read, making Balloon Boy chuckle internally. As if those bastards cared about him, did they even understand the meaning of concern?

"Why would you care?" he asked back defiantly.

"You've never showed that side of yourselves to me and I'll take a guess that it was you who caused the shaking and screaming."

Their response was.

'CURRIOSITY REALLY, AND YES WE CAUSED THE SHAKING AND THE SCREAMS, REALITY HAS NO PLACE HERE.'

"What do you want?" Balloon Boy enquired bluntly.

'YOU!"

"Me?"

"YES, TO PASS A MESSAGE ONTO THE OTHERS."

"No."

"WHY?"

"WE WILL OPEN THE WAY FOR YOU IF YOU JUST ACCEPT THE OFFER, YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED."

BB laughed, he couldn't let that awful line pass, seriously, they wouldn't try to harm him. These were the same Nightmares who had beaten Chica to within an inch of her life, tortured Freddy, kidnapped Goldie and then tried to seriously harm Mari.

Not to mention, the long list of innocent people who had been caught in their crosshairs.

"That is utter crap, you are liars by nature, so I'm sorry if I'm having a hard time trusting you."

In truth, a good part of him wanted to accept the offer and just get out, but his more cautious side strongly suggested otherwise. What if it was merely a ploy to lure him into a trap or worse. The Nightmares were gods in this world and he was in a poor position.

And yet. . .they needed him.

"Why do you need me to deliver your message, can't the four of you just visit the others in their dreams and tell them yourselves?" he asked curiously. Actually, how could they see him, if most of the building's power was off than that included the cameras and there wasn't one in the Night Guard's Office.

There was a long drawn out pause, only broken by the continuous static from the TVs before the reply came.

'IT IS MUCH EASIER THIS WAY, SIMPLER AND YOU HAVE NOTHING TO BARGIN WITH, OTHER THAN YOUR LIFE.'

BB sighed, they had him there, but still he was not going to play their game.

"I still won't do it," he replied sharply, gripping the flashlight tightly, trying to give off a tough impression.

'OH, COME ON, HONESTLY BB, IF YOU ARE HOPING TO HOLD OUT UNTIL THE OTHERS SAVE YOU, THEN YOU ARE GRAVELY MISTAKEN.'

BB knew that right now any hope of rescue was a distant possibility, yet he wasn't giving up.

"I will get out of here myself, I don't need to play your games to escape."

'WE WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE THIS PLACE BB, ONLY UNLESS YOU AGREE TO DO ONE SIMPLE TASK, ONE TASK, THAT IS ALL WE ARE ASKING FOR.'

"No, I won't do your dirty work for you, you do it."

He knew this was a bold move, it was like going up to a cage with a lion in it, opening the door and simply standing outside, arms open wide and hoping that the lion doesn't charge out and eat you. But, he hoped that he could change the game and force the Nightmares to concede.

It was a long shot, but if he wanted to get out then it would be on his own terms. There was a long silence, longer than the last one, leaving Balloon Boy standing there staring at a wall of TVs screaming out constant static.

Eventually though, there was a response.

'FINE, WE WILL DO IT OURSELVES, BUT SEEING HOW WE WENT TO ALL THIS TROUBLE, LETS HAVE A GAME.'

'AND IF YOU SAY NO, WELL, WE CAN JUST KILL YOU IN HORRIFIC WAYS INSTEAD!'

'WE ARE GODS IN THIS WORLD AND YOU ARE SMART ENOUGH TO RECONGISE THAT.'

Balloon Boy gulped, but he did raise an interesting point.

"True, I do know that, but. . ." he began, casually passing the flashlight between his hands.

"Goldie can come in here and kick your ass to kingdom come and consider this, he beat Nightmare Fredbear, who is supposedly more powerful than you four put together and yet Goldie soundly defeated him from a very weak position."

"So, I would reconsider your claim to being gods."

Their response was.

'UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IS TRUE, BUT GOLDIE IS NOT INVINCIBLE AND THERE IS ONLY ONE OF HIM AND FOUR OF US.'

'SO, WE STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT YOU ADUST YOUR CONFIDENCE.'

'BUT STILL, HERE IS HOW IT WILL GO.'

Then a series of words popped up, enough to take up all the screens.

'IN THIS BUILDING ARE TWO PUZZLES TO UNLOCK THE EXIT, THAT BEING THE DOOR TO THE STAGE, WE KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO OPEN IT.'

'THE DOOR WILL NOT UNLOCK UNTIL YOU HAVE SOLVED THE PUZZLES AND FIND THE KEY WHOSE LOCATION THE PUZZLES WILL REVEAL, IF YOU TRY TO OPEN THE DOOR BEFOREHAND, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO YOU.'

Balloon Boy could sense a sick sinister smile behind that last part, a thinly veiled threat being given by a set of monsters.

'YOU WILL FIND OUT HOW THE PUZZLES WORK, YOU ARE SMART.'

'FIND THE KEY TO FIT THE LOCK, JUST WATCH OUT FOR THEM'.

"Them?" Balloon Boy asked, feeling worried.

"Who is _'them'_?" He asked, visibly giving away his concerns, a bad move to do in front of people who will exploit that fear for all it is worth.

There was another pause.

'THEY WANT OUT, WE HAVE OPENNED THE WAY FOR THEM, BUT THEY HAVE WAITED IN THE DARKNESS FOR SO LONG."

"SO LONG IN FACT, THAT THEY CAN BARELY REMEMBER WHO THEY WERE BEFORE.'

'THEY COME FROM A PLACE OF UNENDING PAIN, LONGING FOR IT TO END AND TO BE PUT TO REST.'

'WE FOUND THEM, SO CRIPPLED, SO DESPERATE TO RELIVE THE AGONY, SO WE GAVE THEIR BODIES SHAPE, A FITTING CHOICE GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THEIR DEMISE.'

'ALTHOUGH SEEING YOU WILL BRING BACK OLD MEMORIES FOR THEM.'

'YOU KNOW, OLD FRIENDS.'

Then all the TV screens changed to be replaced with images, one for each screen.

BB dropped the flashlight in his horror, it made a metallic clang as it impacted with the floor, but he didn't notice. His mouth fell open as his heart began to race, his breathing grew in its intensity and his eyes widen in fear.

The images were of people and he recognized every single one of them.

For every image shown on screen was that of a nightguard, all thirty of them, men and women, who all shared the same thing, being murdered by them with the same demise each time. They had been stuffed into a prop suit, and on most occasions the act alone had killed them outright with a slow agonizing death.

Yet on the other hand, sometimes in the morning with the Fazbears now under their own control would find them, just barely clinging onto life by their finger nails.

They did the humane thing and took them out of their misery, before going to excessive lengths to hide the body and any other evidence that could implicate them in their disappearance. He personally knew at least six of them, all shown through the TVs which were situated in the centre of his field of vision. Amy Crawfield, David Adam, Laura Summers, Richard Bolten, Henry Williams and Jessica Woods, who had all worked at the Originals' Pizzeria before moving over to his, and then moving back again when the company abandoned it due to the Bite and Second Missing Children's' Incident.

They were the first people to go, and then others followed like lambs to a slaughter which they could not possibly foresee.

Seeing them again for the first time in decades brought them into his mind's eye, Amy's brown hair and bright blue eyes with a beautiful smile to match. David's hair had been going grey, but his hazel eyes always held a sense of youth to them. Laura, with her glossy blonde hair and dark green eyes which made her look moody even though she was rather kind, despite having a sarcastic personality. Richard, with his brown hair and green sea eyes was a serious kind of guy, blunt, but hardworking and he would always make sure that they had what they needed for their performances. Henry, with his dark sense of humor and optimistic mindset which was reflected through the energetic expression of his dark blue eyes, which was countered by his black hair. And then lastly there was Jessica, a somewhat moody girl, with her pretty angelic face, her amber eyes and smooth brown hair. She was nice, but just didn't like being called out for doing tasks, which were in all honestly above her station of being a daytime staff member.

She and the other five had always helped the Fazbears at their job and they did care about the welfare of the pizzeria. BB knew that they didn't like the underhand ways in which Fazbear Entertainment conducted itself and they often felt like the company was dumping their problems onto them, they complained, but did the jobs anyway as they needed the income.

Then suddenly the images of all the nightguards vanished to be replaced with static, before new words took their place.

'THEIR SHAPES ARE VERY SIMILAR TO ONE ANOTHER, BUT STILL DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE.'

'WE HAVE GATHERED THEM ALL TOGETHER IN ONE PLACE, JUST FOR YOU BB, THE ENTERTAINMENT WILL BE A GIFT FOR US.'

'YOU BALLOON BOY, WILL BE THE FIRST TO WITNESS THE JOY OF CREATION, OUR CREATIONS!'

'DO NOT WORRY THOUGH, WE WILL NOT MAKE IT TOO DIFFICULT, BUT JUST ENOUGH TO MAKE IT CHALLENGING.'

'LISTEN. . .BE STILL. . .AND BEFALL- '

Then suddenly, the TVs went completely silent, switching off and killing the last source of light in the whole building, allowing darkness to descend and reign supreme, choking everything in its thick shroud.

Instantly Balloon Boy's heart began to race again, as his fears quickly took hold.

He reached down and picked up the flashlight, it hadn't moved from where it had fallen so he soon found it.

He turned it on and shone it around the office, nothing had changed so far. The various posters and pictures of the Toys were still here, as was the Freddy mask and the fan on the desk, although even that had ceased its droning noise. The multiple rows of TVs remained switched off, gone was the endless buzzing of static.

In the darkness, it was just him.

He slowly turned on the spot from left to right, spotting the vents on each side of the office which led back to Party Rooms 1 and 2. Then there was the main hallway which led all the way down to Parts and Service. He knew that within this small area, there were two puzzles he needed to solve and the key to his escape. He didn't know how the puzzles would work, the Nightmares deliberately avoided giving him any hints, but he would soon find out. He just hoped that they wouldn't be too hard and require immense thinking on his part.

Sighing deeply, he wished that he wasn't alone in this hell, that Mari or Goldie was here to help him get through this mess. Yet here he was, playing a game for the Nightmares, whose track record on what they do to people in their dreams isn't one of positivity to say the very least.

He would find a way out of here, in this corrupted memory which had become a playground for his family's enemies. He strengthened his grip on the flashlight as his other hand molded to become a fist. He would win, he would get out by playing their game and then soundly beating them at it.

"I will win," he muttered determinedly, declaring his intent to see the night through.

Then, no sooner had the words left his mouth, a loud metallic groaned erupted into being. It was the sound of several doors being opened, all in the immediate area, their jolts moaning as they were moved by some unseen force. Instantly BB switched the flashlight off, hiding himself away in the darkness, just behind the office desk.

He breathed in deeply to calm his nerves and then exhaled.

Then he listened, becoming completely still and breathing slowly and quietly so not to give away his location.

Nothing. . .nothing came through the still nighttime air.

Just a tense silence, waiting for another sound to come.

He continued to wait, but still nothing reached his ears, it was all quiet out there in the halls and one could almost be forgiven for thinking that there was no real threat given the silence.

Yet Balloon Boy knew better than that.

Still nothing, he turned back to where the multiple rows of TVs were. He couldn't see them even though they were right in front of him, that's just how dark it was. He then turned around to where the main hallway was, everything around him was cloaked in darkness. Maybe he should start looking for the puzzles, at least he would be moving forward, rather than standing out in the open and leaving himself exposed for anything.

_Crunch!_

His whole body froze on the spot, his ears pricked at the sound as his breathing despite his best efforts began to race again.

He wasn't mishearing things, that sound was something completely new.

The new sound quickly returned with others, slowly growing in strength.

_Crunch!_

_Stomp!_

_Squeak!_

_Groan!_

_Moan!_

The crunching sound was of something being crushed, the stomping of feet against the tile floor and the squeaking noise of something mechanical moving. The groaning was probably from old joints struggling to function correctly as they moved, and the moaning probably originated from metal being bent and forced to turn in ways unnatural to its original purpose. Then a new sound made its way onto the scene, a rasping one, like someone was desperately struggling to breathe as if they were being compressed or suffocated.

It got louder along with the other sounds as they moved up the hallway in unison towards the main office.

Balloon Boy wanted to run and hide, his primeval instincts were screaming at him to seek safety and he knew that he should, but he wanted to see the voice's owner.

He was shaking all over, his entire body was trembling as the owner of the sounds approached, drawing ever nearer to his location. It took all his willpower not to scream out in fear right there and then. The rasping got louder as did the moaning and the groaning, it was as if the owner was pushing itself forward, but its body was struggling to comply with its demands.

His mind had quickly created an image of what the thing looked like and it was truly gruesome.

He stared out into the darkness, in the direction of the main hallway from where the collection of sounds was coming from.

He dared not blink unless he wanted to miss something as the sounds finally reached the office as evident in their density.

The sounds continued, moving ever forward until they all stopped abruptly.

Balloon Boy was on the edge of his seat mentally, his whole body was pulsing with fear, his legs were shaking like jelly and his arms were trembling so much that he was struggling to maintain a grip on the flashlight. His breathing was rushed, although he was doing it in short quiet bursts to keep himself calm and hidden. He knew that the thing was right in front of him, just beyond the office desk, he couldn't see it, but he just knew.

Could it see him?

Could it hear him?

Was it also playing the wait and listen game, waiting for him to slip up and then pounce when the opportunity arose?

Why was he here, why had he put himself in this position, when he could have just run and hid?

Was it just because of his curiosity, or something else, something which ran much deeper than mere human curiosity of the unknown?

"_B...a...l...l…o…o…n…B...o...y."_

{Balloon Boy.}

BB held his breath to stop himself from gasping out in shock.

The voice sounded old and worn, having to stretch itself out in order to speak probably. It carried something of a robotic tone to it, but there was human emotion in it as well, curiosity and desire, reaching out to him.

The owner of the voice, called to him again, whispering as it did, coming over as soft, yet firm and despite having a robotic edge, the voice sounded distinctly feminine.

"_I…k…n…o…w…y…o…u…a…r…e…t…h…e…r…e."_

{I know you are there.}

Balloon Boy didn't speak, choosing to keep his mouth shut, but his mind dug deep into his memories and brought up the voice's owner, creating a strong mental image that he couldn't shake off.

He knew who it was that stood opposite to him in the surrounding darkness, but God alone knows what had become of her in both mind and body.

He would not say her name vocally, but his inner voice would.

"_Jessica. . ." _

Then as if the owner of the voice had read his mind, it spoke again in a delightful, yet sinister tone.

"_I…t's…m…e!"_

{It's me!}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took inspiration from the FNAF fan game Joy Of Creation Story Mode, especially from the basement level, and that game among others has given me some extra ideas to work on.  
I'll leave it to you to imagine what Jessica looks like. . .for now.  
Please Review, your feedback is more than welcome.


	34. Rusty Skeletons In The Closet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know that it's been a week since the last chapter, but I had been occupied until recently, so here is chapter 34.  
I was intending for this to be a much bigger chapter, but I feared that it would be too big, going beyond 10,000 words so I cut it in half.  
Chapter 35 should take sometime to get properly edited, but it shouldn't take as long as this one did.
> 
> Anyway, the song in this chapter is 'Don't Let Them See You', by TryHardNinja and Bonecage for the FNAF fangame 'Joy of Creation Story Mode'. 
> 
> The idea of your past coming back to haunt you is a very interesting story arc.  
I like the song a lot, so I may use again in later chapters.
> 
> Enjoy. . .

** Chapter 34 **

** Rusty Skeletons In The Closet. **

_ **"Let's celebrate."** _

_ **"Make your sorrows go away."** _

_ **"Time for fears to fade."** _

_ **"A jolly night here thou awaits."** _

_ **"No use to call for aid."** _

**Five Nights at Freddy's 2 by Sayonara Maxwell**

Balloon Boy had heard the phrase about having a visit from your past. Often it was meant to be something of a surprise, a shock which usually comes out of nowhere. However, in his case, the shock was very much life threatening as evident by the thing that called itself _'Jessica,'_ which stood only a few steps away on the other side of the Office desk.

_"B…a…l…l…o…o…n B…o…y," _{Balloon Boy.} she called again, the voice now sounding more feminine as if the spirit was entirely taking over its vocals and repressing the robotic element of its voice box. It sounded hoarse and rough, as it was still struggling to speak probably, perhaps for the first time in decades.

_"Y..o...u a…r…e n…o…t i…n t…h…e o…t…h…e…r r…o…o…m…s,"_ {You are not in the other rooms} she whispered, despite having to stretch the words out.

Balloon Boy could hear several mechanical clicks, probably as _'Jessica'_ twisted her head from left to right with the old neck gears attempting to comply with her demands.

_"S…o o…b…v…i…o…u…s…l…y, y…o…u m…u…s…t b…e i…n h…e…r…e." _{So obviously you must be in here} So, she didn't know where he was, just guessing, but her guess was right.

Balloon Boy's eyes darted from left to right, he roughly knew where the side vents were, and he desperately wanted to get away from '_Jessica'. _However, he couldn't unless he wished to reveal his location and she would be listening out for any sound. He just prayed that the row of TVs behind him did not suddenly switch back on, because he would be lit up like a Christmas tree for all to see.

He needed to get away and start looking for those two puzzles that the Nightmares had told him about, but he would have to distract her first.

Prop suits were not meant to move, let alone run, and _'Jessica'_ had been struggling when she was making her way into the office. So, he could outrun her, but she would follow him, and she was not the only possessed prop suit in the pizzeria. If they cornered him, then he was dead, and the immediate area which he had access to was not very large. Even if he got away from one of them, in the dark, he would easily stumble across another, and Balloon Boy couldn't use his flashlight unless he wanted to give away his location.

However, if he could solve the puzzles, then he stood a chance, but Balloon Boy would not resolve it here.

Although he needed to plan out his next moves very carefully. As it turned out though, his hand was forced.

The sound of something mechanical suddenly moving jolted him, it quickly grew with the additional sounds of gears groaning in protest. Balloon Boy couldn't see, but his mind came up with the image as _'Jessica'_ seemed to move forward. Her hands seemed to grip the desk, followed by the motion of her climbing onto it.

Her whole body screamed out in noncompliance as the mechanical joints struggled to push themselves forward.

The fan and the Freddy Mask were pushed aside and fell to the floor with a clattering thud. She occupied the whole desk, presumedly standing on her knees as she seemed to stare out into the surrounding darkness.

She was just inches from Balloon Boy's face, who was trying not to scream or breathe.

He could hear her rusted facial plates shifting about in the dark, along with her neck joints. Every tiny noise only served to put him even more on edge.

With it he had an opportunity to use the flashlight to blind her, with her being so close, the effect with be devastating.

Yet she would know where he was, but still what was the alternative?

There simply wasn't one.

The decision was made. . .

**xxx**

**"There are monsters in this house."**

**"Glowing eyes staring us down."**

**"I push to keep all my loved ones safe.**"

**xxx**

Despite both his hands shaking with fear, he was able to carefully raise the hand holding the torch, so it was in front of his chest.

The turning of her gears, the creaking of her facial plates as they swung back and forth every time she moved her head, stretched his nerves to their breaking point. The table groaned as she placed even more weight on it, _'Jessica' _she maybe, but BB knew that what was situated just across from him was not human anymore.

**xxx**

**"Every claw scratch on the door, shakes me right down to my core."**

**"Stranger's voice says it'll be ok."**

**xxx**

His heart was pounding away in his ribcage, threatening to burst out as fear had already conquered much of his mind.

Yet he promised himself that he would win.

Crossing his fingers with his other hand for good luck, he pressed the button.

'Click'.

Immediately there was a bright flash of yellowish white light as the whole area before him was lit up, revealing everything, including _'Jessica'_.

However, BB didn't get a proper look at her as he was blinded by fear whilst she screamed in agony at being blinded by the bright light. It was as if the light itself was killing her if her shrieks of pain were to be believed.

In the process of being caught off guard by the bright light, _'Jessica'_ fell back in her attempts to get away and shield herself from the flashlight's gaze. There was a collection of metallic groans as all the rusted joints of her prop suit moved in union as she was knocked off the table through no fault other than her own. Although it was swiftly followed by a loud metallic thud as she hit the floor.

Whilst that had been going on, Balloon Boy had legged it towards one of the nearby air vents and dived right in. He instantly switched off the flashlight and began to crawl quite quickly over the vent's cold hard metal surface to put as much distance between himself and _'Jessica' _before she could recover.

He knew it wouldn't last long as he was quickly proved right as _'Jessica'_ emitted an ear-piercing scream of rage.

_"H…E I…S O…V…E…R H…E…R…E!" _{HE IS OVER HERE!}

Her cries were soon followed by the sounds of:

Crunch!

Stomp!

Squeak!

Groan!

Moan!

More prop suits, perhaps two or three at best entered the Office, seeking to find the source of their comrade's distress.

Balloon Boy emerged out of the end of the vent and straight into Party Room One.

It was dark as expected, but he could easily change that, his hope was that there weren't any possessed prop suits around with _'Jessica'_ having caught their attention.

He turned the flashlight back on, allowing it to reveal his surroundings. If this was from his memories, then nothing should have changed.

Yet this was the Nightmares, so anything could happen.

Looking about, he saw two tables both covered in white cloth with party hats standing on top, each one set before a chair so that every child had one. That extra attention to detail was something which BB could admire, as ugly a company as Fazbear Entertainment was, the employees were decent people. All of them worked hard to deliver and to reach customers' exceptions of the new and 'improved' Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.

Turning about on the spot, BB shone the flashlight across the walls and came across something that defiantly out of place.On the far wall opposite were the scrambled words of _'WHERE DEATH AND DISMEMBERMENT COME TO LIFE!'_ in bright red. An obvious play on Fazbear's famous slogan of _'Where fun and fantasy come to life!'_

Just below it was another set of words also written in red, reading as 'THEY ARE MURDERERS!'

No doubt that have been written by the possessed prop suits and BB discovered more when he directed the flashlight's gaze at the three posters of Toys Freddy, Bonnie and Chica, which were pinned up on another wall. They have been marked, having their eyes scratched out with various words on their respective posters had been scribbled over.

Whereas Toy Bonnie's slogan had originally been _'let's rock!'_, it has been replaced with _'let's kill!'_ in more red writing. Toy Freddy's poster was meant to say,_ 'Party time, you ready?'_, but now in its place were the words,_ 'Murder time, you ready to die!'_

And lastly, the poster showing Toy Chica had originally said,_ 'let's eat!'_, yet that too had been changed to say, _'let's die.'_

Below each poster was a single insulating word also written in red.

Toy Bonnie - _'Bitch!'_

Toy Freddy – _'Monster!'_

Toy Chica – _'Whore!'_

All those words had been written in anger, one which was still red hot and would never cool down. As the Nightmares said, the murdered nightguards had been locked away in the darkness, unable to find enteral peace and were feeling very bitter over their deaths which to them were completely unjustified.

And now for the first time ever they had their shot at revenge, to repay the Fazbears in kind to put it nicely.

Wouldn't you feel the same way after being grabbed in the dark by 'supposed friends', seriously beaten, stuffed inside a prop suit with insufficient breathing space against your will and then being crushed to death as you cough up blood when the springlocks penetrate every part of your body, including your lungs?

Creak!

The sound of something creaking nearby jolted BB's mind back to his current dilemma.

He needed to find the pieces to the puzzles and then solve them to stand any fighting chance of getting out here.

Stomp!

His mind began to fill with panic as his heart started to race for one of those things could just so easily walk in through the main door or gain entry by means of the vent. It was then in his rising panic that he noticed something odd about the poster of Toy Freddy, it seemed. . .detached at the bottom from the wall as he ran the flashlight over it.

Walking forward, he reached out and grabbed hold of one of the corners. He lifted it upwards and saw that there was a small hole behind, craved into the wall itself and it wasn't empty. There in its centre was a pinkish coloured cupcake, just like Chica's.

Balloon Boy instantly grabbed hold of it, examining the object in greater detail.

Yes, it was without a doubt Chica's cupcake, but why was it here?

He glanced back in the direction of the doorway which lead out into the main hall, something dawned on him. There were four party rooms, this one contained Chica's cupcake, hidden away from sight and an unusual object at best. So. . .would it not be too farfetched to say that the other party rooms contained items of the other three Originals.

If so, then that was one of two puzzles already cracked.

"Things seem to be in up for me at least," BB muttered to himself, feeling somewhat hopeful as he shoved the cupcake into his back trouser pocket.

Groan!

Creak!

BB physically filched as the sounds suddenly erupted into being from the vent which led back to the Security Office.

It was swiftly followed by voices.

_"H…e'll b…e i…n h…e…r…e f…o…r s…u…r…e,"_ {He'll be in here for sure.} said one, sounding firm and determined, as well as irritated.

It was a female and BB instantly recognised it despite, the heavy robotic element in its voice.

_"Jessica. . ."_ his inner voice whispered from within the depths of his conscious.

There was another voice as well.

_"H…e c…a…n n…o….t g…e…t o…u…t t…h…e o…t…h…e…r w…a…y."_ {He cannot get out the other way.} This was rough, raspy, and carried a somewhat masculine tone.

David perhaps, maybe Richard?

Yet his words sent BB's mind reeling with confusion.

_"Why can't I get out?"_ he mentally asked himself.

He turned and quickly headed towards the doorway which was the other exit point. Although he switched off the flashlight to avoid the light being seen from the outside so that anyone lurking in the murky hallway didn't notice his presence. However, he wished that he had kept it on as he walked right into a metal door, face first.

That resulted in a first-class level of agony which he couldn't keep down despite his best efforts as the pain flared through his face.

"Shit!" he cursed, no doubt that someone would hear him.

_"N…o s…w…e…a…r…i…n…g B...B!" _{No swearing BB!}

_"B…u…t t…h…e…n a…g…a…i…n w…h…a…t w…o…u…l…d y…o…u k…n…o…w a…b…o…u…t m…a…n…n…e…r…s,"_ {But then again, what would you know about manners.}

_'Jessica'_ remarked in a sinister, yet bubbly tone which sounded as if she was giggling.

Even through her voice box which had not aged well was being stretched to its limits to function with any degree of success. BB throwing all caution to the wind, turned the flashlight back on and found that the mental door which he had 'bumped' into was in fact a cage door of sorts with vertical metal bars.

And on the lock was a number pad for entering a three number code, no normal keyhole.

His mind exploded into raw panic, it surged throughout his thoughts, quickly sapping his ability to concentrate. The metallic groans of the vent grew louder, with new sounds coming from the direction of the office, composing of lots of stomps and creaks. The others were making their way towards the main exit, blocking him on the both sides and leaving him with nowhere else to run.

His heart was already racing, acting like a drum against his ribcage, his breathing became rapid as fear tighten its grip and his hands were shaking.

**xxx**

**"But is the static on TV or inside my mind?"**

**"I see hate through every keyhole burn in their eyes."**

**"All the rooms have turned to puzzles, trying to take my life, now they're close."**

**xxx**

The sounds from the vent only grew louder which each passing second as the mechanical predator within had sensed its prey, could smell its fear and was now bolting towards it in a bloodlust like frenzy. The creaking and stomping noises from the direction of the hallway become louder as the possessed prop suits were clearly pushing their worn out bodies beyond their limits to reach him in time. Balloon Boy lowered his head, trying to maintain his confidence which was flatlining as his enemies drew ever closer.

Then from somewhere within the depths of his mind, a part which was yet to be overwhelmed by fear, a voice came into being.

_"If it's a code, then it can only be in this room and its three numbers, so what about the three posters?"_

Was it his instincts taking over the logic part of his brain or more properly the ghost child which had for decades taken up residence in his subconscious that decided to intervene?

But nothing else followed those words, but BB took its advice he was out of options.

He shone the flashlight, on the posters and found that the words bore fruit, for there were something odd about them.

It wasn't obvious at first, but it was there alright.

Stars. . .on each poster there was a series of golden stars that were not part of the original poster design.

Plus, they didn't follow a normal pattern of one, two and three, but were instead mixed.

Toy Bonnie's poster had seven, Toy Freddy's held one and Toy Chica's consisted of just four.

A rather loud metallic groan echoed about the room, BB immediately turned his attention to the vent, the source of the sound.

His whole body was trembling from head to toe as a pair of rusted metal hands appeared out of the darkness. They had been so worn down by age that they looked skeletal in appearance because they were missing several pieces. The fingers appeared to be even more skeletal as they moved, because the plastic cover over the bare metal had been eroded away to reveal a sliver like material. The hands tightly gripped the sides of the vent and began to pull, bringing their owner through.

He didn't wait to see _'Jessica'_ make her appearance as he quickly turned round and typed in the number code, 7.1.4.

There was a rumbling metallic groan as the jail door started to slide away, slowly opening up access to the hallway.

Yet it wasn't working quick enough for BB, as the sound of stomps suddenly got louder and increased in frequency as the possessed prop suits became aware that he was attempting to escape.

However, that was not his immediate concern as a heavy thud erupted from behind him. . .a footstep.

_"H..e…l…l…o B…B!"_ {Hello BB!} _'Jessica' _called sweetly in a delighted tone which acted as a thin veil for her murderous intentions.

BB's fear fully possessed him into action as he grabbed hold of the still moving metal door and attempted to make it go faster by pushing it with all his might.

And yet it fought him, refusing to accelerate.

_"Come on, come on, MOVE!"_ he mentally screamed as he heard heavy footsteps from behind, moving fast.

'_Jessica'_ knew exactly where he was, like a wolf on the hunt when they had caught the scent of their prey.

**xxx**

**"Forced to play a GAME TONIGHT!"**

**"Trap of your own design."**

**"Horrors running free, in a memory."**

_ **(Just Hide!)** _

**"Don't let them see you."**

**xxx**

"PLEASE MOVE!" he screamed, it didn't matter if they heard him now.

Then he noticed that a sizeable gap had emerged between the wall and the still moving door, he went for it.

He dived through, but it wasn't quite big enough for him as small as he was, because only half of him was through.He was in a badly exposed position that being made worse each passing second and he could only inch his way forward. His will to survival was the only thing keeping his panic at bay, the need to live to see another day howled within him as the mechanical monsters circled him in the dark.

Why him?

Why was he chosen and why this place?

His old home, now a haunted relic of a dark past.

As the gate slide further away, BB was able to wiggle free, but just as he became unstuck, a mechanical hand came from behind and grabbed his arm, firmly holding him in place.

_"G…O…T Y…O…U!"_ {GOT YOU!} the voice was robotic, but there was an undeniable amount of human emotion behind it, joy, satisfaction and hatred.

BB yelled in fear at the suddenness of the act as a cold, metal, skeletal hand with an iron like grip tighten its hold on his arm, not caring in the slightest if it hurt him.

He couldn't see_ 'Jessica'_, he dared not to look at her if he could help it. Her fingers were icy to the touch as well as being bony as they rubbed against his skin. He could feel both a cold smooth metal and a rough hard surface which was the mixed metal/plastic covering that had been worn away with time.

_"I A…M N…O…T A…B…O…V…E K…I…L…L…I…N…G A C…H…I…L…D L…I…K…E Y…O…U!" _{I AM NOT ABOVE KILLING A CHILD LIKE YOU!}

Instantly another hand came out of the darkness and grabbed his hand again, along with a sharp pull backwards.

'_Jessica'_ was trying to keep him in place while the others closed in.

"LET GO OF ME!" he demanded, trying to shake her off, but to no success.

_"I s…a…i…d t…h…e e…x…a…c…t s…a…m…e t…h…i…n…g!"_ {I said the exact same thing!} '_Jessica'_ hissed aggressively, digging her metal fingers into his flesh.

_"T…w…o d...e...c…a…d…e…s a…g…o a…n…d l…o…o…k w…h…e…r…e t…h…a…t g…o…t m…e!" _{Two decades ago and look where that got me!}

The jail door was still in the process of opening and as it did _'Jessica'_ emerged through the ever-widening gap.

_"I H...A...V...E W…A…I…T…E…D S…O L…O…N…G F…O…R T…H…I…S D…A…Y!"_ {I HAVE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS DAY!} she raged as she rose above him like a mechanical titan.

**xxx**

**"CAN'T ESCAPE!"**

**"The fear that you create!"**

**"Watch your family break, can you keep them safe?"**

_ **(Just Hide!)** _

**"Don't let them see you."**

**xxx**

Yet Balloon Boy still had the flashlight in his other hand and he brought it to bear against _'Jessica'_.

He turned it on, hoping that the bright light which have the same effect on her as it had previously. Summoning all his strength he bashed away at her hands with the flashlight like it was a mace, creating a metallic clang as metal clashed against metal.

'_Jessica'_ howled in pain, shaking him back and forth rather violently to make him stop.

Yet she did not let go, maintaining her grip on the boy.

Balloon Boy tired again, hammering the flashlight against _Jessica's_ hands, trying to loosen her iron clad grip. He could hear the quick paced stomps of the other two possessed prop suits, who were closing in fast. He struck again with everything he had and by pure luck, he struck gold. There was a metallic snapping sound as the flashlight hit a mechanical nerve of sorts.

Instantly one of _Jessica's_ hands let go, falling away to be replaced by nothing.

'_Jessica' _of course screamed in both pain and rage.

Her voice was a mix of mechanical vocals which originated from her worn out voice box, but also a strong presence of human emotion behind it. Her soul was screaming, treating her mechanical tomb as if it was an actual human body. The pain, the anger and the sorrow of her position could not be understated as all three emotions raged within her being.

It would be understandable to think that her hand was broken given the bashing it had received, but it was not as BB found out the hard way. A thick, metal skeletal hand punched him hard in the chest, knocking him off balance. BB staggered back, having lost his footing and ended up swinging about on the spot, until he eventually impacted the wall adjacent to the entrance of Party Room one.

That sent a searing amount of pain racing up his back.

He grunted, unable to repress the pain, which sparked off the other bruised areas of his body which had been dormant until now.

_"E...n...j...o...y...I...n...g y...o...u...r t...i...m...e a...t F...r...e...d...d...y F...a...z...b...e...a...r...s?" _{Enjoying your time at Freddy Fazbear's?} '_Jessica'_ sniggered, chuckling in a sinister expression of delight.

However, the change in his stance had strained _Jessica's_ hold on his arm as he was now no longer directly in front of her.

He could feel her attempting to strengthen her grip as she only had one hand holding him in place.

He still had the flashlight on and in its limited field of vision he could make out the shady outlines of the other two prop suits, both marching up towards him at a frightening pace. BB tired to pull away with all his might, hoping to break free of _Jessica's_ hold. He could hear the stomping metallic sounds of feet hitting the smooth tile floor nearby. As the door slid fully open, _'Jessica'_, fully emerged through the unblocked doorway with her feet creating heavy footsteps as they hit the floor.

_"I...T I...S T...I...M...E T...O D...I...E Y...O...U L...I...T...T...L...E S...H...I...T!"_ {IT IS TIME TO DIE YOU LITTLE SHIT!} she yelled in a joyous and sadistic cheer.

With one last pull, combined with another smack of the flashlight against her arm, BB broke free.

He staggered backwards as her grip collapsed. In fact, she had to let go because the flashlight had touched a nerve of sorts, forcing her to loosen her hold on him. He turned around on the spot, just missing _Jessica's_ attempts to grab him again.

_"G...O...D D...A...M...I...T!"_ {GOD DAMIT!} she screamed in open frustration at his sudden escape.

Balloon Boy ran in the direction of the Parts and Services room. He could hear_ Jessica's_ wails of immense anger behind him as by now the other two possessed prop suits had caught up with her. He glanced back briefly, he could just make out the rough outlines of three figures following him at a fast pace.

Then suddenly one of them shouted something at him in a vengeful tone which was intermixed with superficial humour.

_"H...E...Y F...R...E...D...D...Y, G...O G...E...T H...I...M!"_ {HEY FREDDY, GO GET HIM!}

Clearly, it's vocal cords had not aged well, as it cracked and stuttered between its words. Although the human voice indicated that it belonged to a male.

Something was thrown in his direction.

Suddenly a hard object smacked into the back of his head, knocking him forward off his feet. Judging strongly by the possessed prop suit's words, he had been hit by the Freddy Mask He hit the tile floor face first, losing his grip on the flashlight.

It rolled away under its own momentum, however its impact with the floor had killed the light.

Feeling rather woozy, BB slowly lifted his head up. His bleeding nose was the least of his problems as a familiar set of sounds reached his ears.

Stomp!

Creak!

Groan!

Moan!

His eyes widen as his senses came rushing back to him like a tidal wave. Quickly, he spun around on the spot, he was surrounded by pitch blackness, as his only source of light was gone.

It was just him and the sounds which were getting steadily closer.

It was like a pack of ravenous wolves closing on a wounded deer, moving in for the kill.

**xxx**

**"Started out as games and toys, now we rip apart your joy."**

**"Sick of playing by your rules this time."**

**xxx**

Balloon Boy sat up straight, his whole body ached from multiple bruises both new and old.

Out of the darkness came the sounds of creaking metal, heavy footsteps and rasping breath.

_"W...e...l...c...o...m...e b...a...c...k B...a...l...l...o...n B...o...y,"_ {Welcome back Balloon Boy} the voice was obviously male, despite carrying a robotic overtone. It was dripping in sadistic enjoyment, aiming to milk the situation for all that it was worth.

_"W...e m...i...s...s...e...d y...o...u."_ {We missed you.}

_"D...e...a...r...l...y."_ {Dearly.}

The sounds got louder as did the screaming from his instincts, telling him to run.

However, he needed the flashlight, regardless of whether it was dead or not, it was still a useful weapon. He felt the area around him, trying to find it, it couldn't have rolled away far. The sounds of creaking continued to draw ever closer as his searching became ever desperate. His hands could only feel the cold hard tile floor, as his heart pounded away in his ribcage.

"Please, come on it must be here!" he begged.

Then his fingers brushed past something metal.

He instantly grabbed it, just as a loud massive thud landed behind him.

Quickly BB picked himself and ran headlong into the surrounding darkness.

From behind him came a scream, but it was not one of frustration and despite their broken voice box, its tone was very clear.

"_RAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"_

It was a war cry.

The scream which was worthy of becoming a classic jumpscare echoed throughout the building.

**xxx**

**"Hitting pause you stop the clock, but the chase will never stop."**

**xxx**

Yet BB kept on running blindly into the dark, not daring to look back. He could hear them following him, trying to run, but the mechanical gears in their legs couldn't not cope with sudden movement. As BB neared the Parts and Services room, one question took up residence in his mind amidst the mental alarm bells that were ringing nonstop.

Where were the other three prop possessed suits?

Were they just waiting in the darkness to jump out and grab him while the other three had his attention. He burst through the door that lead out into the second hallway which lead to the Stage Area at one end and the Parts and Services room at the other. However, he didn't go into the latter, but instead he swung round into the corner that was between the doorway that lead down to the security office and the Parts and Services door. It was a small space, but it was not obvious to the human eye especially when the lights were off.

He held his breath and listened, trying to become invisible.

**xxx**

**"Your own nightmares rise, you will play a GAME TONIGHT!"**

**"Trap of your own design."**

**"Horrors running free, in a memory."**

_ **(Just Hide!)** _

**"Don't let them see you."**

**xxx**

He didn't need to wait long for those familiar sounds to reappear.

Stomp!

Creak!

Groan!

Moan!

**xxx**

**"CAN'T ESCAPE, the fear that you create!"**

**"Watch your family break, can you keep them safe?"**

**(Just Hide!)**

**"Don't let them see you."**

**xxx**

Steadily they were getting closer, soon they would be through the doorway. He knew that he needed to find a way back to the Party Rooms, they held the key. However, the others would be searching for him, doing their best to catch him.

He had only just escaped them, and he would dare not risk it again.

But he had too...

STOMP!

Suddenly his eyes darted to his immediate left as something entered though the hallway. The sounds of creaking gears, the mechanical grinding noises of old rusted joints trying to work echoed all about him.

He was only a metre away from _'it'_.

There were some clicking sounds all occurring within short bursts. It was properly the neck joints of the possessed prop suit moving back and forth as it looked both ways.

**xxx**

**"FEEL THE INFECTION OF YOUR CREATION!"**

**"THE STALKING EVIL AT YOUR LOCATION!"**

**"FEEL THE INFECTION OF YOUR CREATION!"**

**"NOW YOU BECOME THE. . .ABOMINATION!"**

**xxx**

BB held his breath as the suit passed him by, hoping that it would head towards either the bathrooms or the kitchen. However, instead it stayed in the general area, walking about aimlessly. Although it was clearly on the prowl as it's gears groaned in protest each time it took a step forward or did a raspy inhale. At least he could pinpoint its location due to the sounds it made.

And yet each sound only increased his heartbeat, which was doing the world marathon.

Stomp!

Ka thump

Stomp!

Ka thump

Ka thump

STOMP!

KA THUMP!

KA THUMP!

KA THUMP!

That last one was very close, so close that he nearly jumped out of his skin. It took all of his willpower to restraint himself and not to make a noise that would alert it to his presence.

_"W...E K...N...O...W Y...O...U...R O...V...E...R T...H...E...R...E S...O...M...E W...H...E...R...E B...B!"_ {WE KNOW YOUR OVER THERE SOMEWHERE BB!} a another possessed prop suit shouted as it walked through the hallway. The voice was obviously that of a male, on the surface it sounded fun and bubbly, but it was just dripping with sadistic intents. The owner of the voice was eager to get his cold metal skeletal hands on BB and then rip him to shreds.

_"C...O...M...E O...N O...U...T!"_ {COME ON OUT!}

He called again, chuckling in a rather mad fashion.

Balloon Boy recognised the voice's owner, it was the same one that had thrown the Freddy Mask at him.

_"David,"_ he mentally muttered to himself whilst trying to keep still.

There was a loud stomp followed by another joyous shout from _'David'_.

_"L...E...T'S P...L...A...Y L...I...T...T...L...E O...N...E!"_ {LET'S PLAY LITTLE ONE!}

The idea of _'play'_, was far from BB's mind.

STOMP!

There came another heavy footstep, Balloon Boy closed his eyes. He was shaking all over, he wouldn't be surprise if his nerves were shot from the experience alone.

He wished that he wasn't here with these twisted recreations of his family's past mistakes. With his eyes closed he could briefly imagine that he was somewhere else and not here.

Although, that was being constantly shattered by _David's_ heavy footsteps.

Where were the others, why had they noticed anything yet?

Was he not thrashing his arms and legs about like Chica did when she was being attacked by Nightmare Freddy.

_No. . .wait._

_"That was when she was being possessed?"_ his conscious corrected him.

When Nightmare Freddy was forcing his way into her mind, taking over her body.

Chica's actions were properly representing the brief fight they were having for dominance of her body. That was not happening to him, he was properly lying in bed next to the others, not moving a muscle. By all accounts he was sleeping peacefully and because of that the others had no reason to act. The Nightmares had found an opening, their defence plan for 'collective security' so to put it nicely had failed on the first night.

_"Y…O…U C…A…N…N…O…T H…I…D…E F…O…R…E…V…E…R!"_ {YOU CANNOT HIDE FOREVER!} _'David'_ screamed, his tone had changed, despite the robotic overtone, there was a clear hint of frustration in his voice.

**xxx**

**"But is the static on TV or inside my mind?"**

**"I see hate through every keyhole burn in their eyes."**

**"All the rooms have turned to puzzles, trying to take my life, now they're close."**

**xxx**

By the sounds that he was making, _'David'_ was somewhere off to the BB's right, properly in the middle of the hallway that lead all the way down to the Stage Area.

BB could hear the mechanical groans of his neck joints as he constantly surveyed the area. However, he could no longer hear the first one as the sounds that _'David' _was making had drowned them out. It had to be somewhere within his immediate area, best guess it was properly at the opposite end to _'David'_, if they were being thorough in their search.

He opened his eyes, but he still couldn't see anything, just pitch blackness and anything else.

But _'it'_ was there. . .somewhere in the darkness, listening, just waiting for a sound.

He knew it was there, but just not where exactly and that made the whole situation terrifying.

**xxx**

**"Forced to play a GAME TONIGHT!"**

**"Trap of your own design."**

**"Horrors running free, in a memory."**

**(Just Hide!)**

**"Don't let them see you."**

**xxx**

His whole body was trembling with fear, his breathing was rushed, although he was trying to calm himself and his heart was constantly beating against his ribcage like a drum.

Creak!

Groan!

Two sounds erupted out of the darkness to his immediate front, the first one was that of a door briefly rattling almost as if something had pressed against it. The second was the recognisable mechanical groan of old gears shifting about, being well beyond their prime.

That…was the first possessed prop suit and it was right in front of him.

_"Y…o…u c…a…n o…n…l…y d…e…l…a…y y…o…u…r d…e…m…i…s…e,"_ {You can only delay your demise.} came a cold heartless whisper.

Balloon Boy's heart froze, he knew who that was, that distinctive, sarcastic, female voice.

"_Laura!" _

He forced himself to not scream out in terror, but he was truly screwed.

And _David's_ shouts were quickly eroding his resistance to not make a sound, with each one unnerving him.

_"W…H…E…R…E I…S T…H…E B…I…R…T…H…D…A…Y B…O…Y!"_ {WHERE IS THE BIRTHDAY BOY!} he screamed in a tone of bitter frustration only thinly covered by a humorous laugh every now and again.

**xxx**

**"CAN'T ESCAPE, the fear that you create!"**

**"Watch your family break, can you keep them safe?"**

**(Just Hide!)**

**"Don't let them see you."**

**xxx**

And then another thought dawned on him.

Where was the third one?

Where was _'Jessica'_?

He had only heard two of them, but not the third one.

WHERE WAS THE THIRD ONE?

And then a horrible thought hit him in the face like a lighting blot.

She was properly in the doorway, deliberately blocking his only way out.

His eyes turned away from his front to look right, he couldn't see the doorway even though he was standing right next to it. He couldn't hear any sounds from there, but he knew she just had to be there, she wouldn't be one to give up so easily. So, he had one to his immediate front, another somewhere off to his left, occupying the centre of the hallway.

And lastly, a third one in the doorway, blocking off any access to the security office or any of the four party rooms.

He was trapped.

**xxx**

**"FEEL THE INFECTION OF YOUR CREATION!"**

**"THE STALKING EVIL AT YOUR LOCATION!"**

**"FEEL THE INFECTION OF YOUR CREATION!"**

**"NOW YOU BECOME THE…ABOMINATION!"**

**xxx**

He cracked, his fear fully overwhelmed the last of his ability to think straight.

There was no way out, he was cornered on all sides. He was trapped in a hell filled with old ghosts of the past and there was nothing he could do.

Tears filled his eyes and began to fall, running like rivers down his face.

He slumped down to the floor with his bruised back groaning in pain as it contacted the wall. His lip curled into a tearful scowl as he rested his head onto his knees and wrapped his arms around himself. The flashlight which he had been holding onto had been placed next to him, it was dead anyway, so it held no use. His whole body trembled as he underwent an emotional meltdown, his throat tightened as he began to cry softly to himself. It wasn't fair and right now he simply wanted comfort, but he was all alone.

He was going to die, be killed by monsters of his own making, even though he didn't kill them himself.

_"I don't want to be here, I want to go home,"_ he mentally sobbed.

_"I don't want to die."_

The creaks, groans, moans and stomps of the possessed prop suits didn't matter to him now as he mentally blocked them out.

He was going to get killed for something that he didn't do, and the others were completely unaware of what was happening to him. They properly would only notice that he was dead when they wake up and discover his cold, lifeless corpse lying next to them.

Puppet. . .Mari, she would freak out, or worse.

There he sat in the dark, surrounded by nightmarish recreations of old friends.

He mourned the lost years, he shouldn't have to go through this shit. Having spent most of his life on the run, he thought that he might be capable of handling such dangerous scenarios, but this was different. He along with the other Toys had nearly been caught several times, but the current situation was far more terrifying then anything that Fazbear Entertainment could have done to him.

The Fazbears were the only family he had ever known, and he loved all of them despite their faults which were many he had to admit. But right now, all he wanted was to have them with him, in this place filled with shattered hopes and broken dreams. Life is simply cruel, and you just must ride the tide and see where it takes you.

_"W…E W…I…L…L F…I…N…D Y…O…U!" _{WE WILL FIND YOU!} _'David' _screamed, but BB didn't react, he was far too lost in his own sorrow.

_"This is where my story ends," _he mournfully mentally muttered to himself, as his despair became an ever enlarging black hole.

In many ways it was quite ironic, although understandably he didn't feel like laughing.

_"Was I a dead kid walking from the start?" _he asked himself, fate seemed to agree with him on that.

_"I am, but you are not."_

Normally BB would have shot up straight with his eyes darting about, but he simply didn't care anymore. But he recognised the voice, that female childlike voice, which had been with him since 1987.

_"You are not dead yet, if you used your smarts,"_ the voice spoke from within the depths of his subconscious. His ghost child, a girl, whose name he could still remember. . .just.

_"Rachel, fancy seeing you here,"_ he mentally murmured.

Suddenly he could feel a warm sensenation spreading across his back, flowing over his shoulders and linking up around his neck.

He felt fuzzy, as a feeling of calm washed over him like a tide pushing away all previous feelings of sadness, abandonment and despair. Looking down he could feel a soft pair of hands around his neck with the arms going back across his shoulders. For a moment he wasn't back in the second Pizzeria, but rather in a warm, soft place of safety, although _David's_ loud stomps quickly brought him back to reality.

_"Shhh, it's ok,"_ Rachel whispered, pouring comfort into his battered soul.

_"I'm still here. . ."_

BB could feel someone else's hair now resting against his own along with the sensation of someone breathing against the back of his neck.

_"It's me. . ."_

_"I can't get out of here, I'm going to die," _Balloon Boy mentally moaned, burying his head further into his knees.

_"You won't die,"_ Rachel muttered, repeating the words repeatedly, as she gently rocked him back and forth on the spot.

_"You won't die."_

_"You won't die."_

_"You won't die."_

Before ending with.

_"I won't let you die, because this is not where your story ends…"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like the idea of the murdered nightguards coming back to torment the Fazbears, creates an interesting parallel with Vincent being tormented by the Ghost Children, should I take that route later on in the future.  
I do intend to slowly bring the Ghost Children into the story, to give them fully flesh out personalities rather than just have them as a thing wandering about in the background.  
Please Review, your feedback is greatly appreciated.


	35. Monsters Are Made, Not Born

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!
> 
> I was aiming to upload another chapter earlier in the week, but other events had my attention until now.
> 
> I struggled with this one a bit, trying to make sure that the language doesn't come over as boring, so it underwent several rewrites before I finally wrote up the final draft.
> 
> Although I swear that AO3 and Fanfiction.net keep deleting various words and thus mess up the flow of sentences, so I have to keep coming back in and updating things.
> 
> I assume you lot have had similar experiences, I can't be the only one?
> 
> Enjoy. . .

**Chapter 35.**

**Monsters Are Made, Not Born.**

_ **"This time, there is more than an illusion to fear!"** _

**Nightmare Fredbear from Ultimate Custom Night.**

"_I won't let you die, because this is not where your story ends,"_ Rachel whispered gently, gripping Balloon Boy tightly in a warm embrace so to calm his nerves.

Even though she was a child like him, she quickly became the more 'adult' of the two.

"_How, I'm trapped on all sides," _BB groaned, trying to wipe away his tears.

"_Yes, but they don't know that do they?" _Rachel replied warmly as BB felt her hair brush past his.

He didn't know whether she was physically here with him, or whether that through his senses she was somehow creating that impression. Either way, it felt nice to have a companion in this life or death struggle that he was unfortunate enough to find himself in. She was right though, the possessed prop suits didn't know where he was. They had no idea that they held a golden opportunity to get their long overdue vengeance.

There was a brief pause before Rachel spoke again.

"_Do you remember. . ."_

Another pause came, amidst the various sounds of the possessed prop suits moving about in the dark.

"_Back when we were hunting the nightguard, you used to throw your voice and make them think that you were somewhere else?"_

"_Yeah, I do," _BB whispered back, although he spoke in his mind, his voice sounded heavy and tired, but he was interested. He could easily guess what she was going to say next, but he let her continue.

"_My advice, throw your voice as far as you can, wait for them to move and then go,"_ she stated clearly.

"_I can throw my voice when laughing, but I've never do it when speaking naturally,"_ he mentally replied in a rather plain tone.

"_Then now is the time," _she answered back, tightening her hold on him.

"_Rachel?"_ he asked sully.

"_Yes,"_ she replied, her voice was soft and gentle.

"_What was it like to die?"_

There was a brief noticeable pause, she was properly casting her mind back to her last day of living.

"_I remember it well, it was very painful, but also very quick at the same time."_

Another pause.

"_I would not recommend it to anyone, for it's a memory that you can never forget,"_ she whispered.

Suddenly there came a loud stomp out of the dark, just in front of BB's position.

It was followed by the sound of joints creaking, but so far none of the possessed prop suits had found him. Maybe they were just waiting for him to slip up and reveal his location. At least he roughly knew where three of them were. As for the other three, it was anyone's guess where they might be.

"_You need to be brave, you will win, these horrors, these ghosts are still people, somewhere deep inside is their humanity,"_ Rachel whispered calmly. "_They just want to see their families again, and then ascend into the light."_

Balloon Boy gently lifted his head from his knees and sighed before answering back with.

"_They want to kill me, because I killed them."_

"_I know and I'm truly sorry for forcing you to do that, I can never stop apologising for what I did," _Rachel whispered, sounding very downtrodden, like those acts had become an immense weight on her soul.

"_Hatred can be a strong anchor point for the dead, but it can also become. . .addictive."_

"_Very, very, addictive."_

BB knew what she meant.

It was a craving that never ended and was extremely difficult to get out of.

Mike Schimdt himself would definitely agree, seeing how they nearly killed him on several occasions.

The act itself had felt so good. . .but only for a few seconds.

BB sighed deeply, before returning to the matter at hand. "_Rachel, I am being forced to play a game of cat and mouse in a memory; and in order to get out, I need to get an item from Party Rooms 2, 3 and 4."_

"_I can get to Party Room two by means of the vent, but three and four are locked out, and I need to type in a three digit code to unlock each door and gain entry."_

"_And it involves finding a random set of numbers, which requires a light source to see, and everything else in here is dead, including the flashlight."_

He knew that he was giving her a lot of information, but he had to lay everything out, so she could stand a chance of helping him in his dilemma.

"_Can you help me please?"_

There was a long drawn out silence which made BB evermore nervous. Oddly enough, the noises from the nearby possessed prop suits had died down considerably.

Even _'David'_ had ceased screaming his head off.

Eventually Rachel responded.

"_Well. . .any outsider would say that we are screwed."_

"_We?"_ BB asked.

If Rachel could roll her eyes, then she properly was doing. "_I'm attached to you, aren't I?" _she replied with a hint of sarcasm. "_Oh right,"_ BB muttered sheepishly. "_Is the flashlight dead?"_ Rachel asked, letting the moment pass. "_The light died when it hit the floor, I don't think it's working anymore,"_ BB answered back, rather sullenly.

"_Try to shake it and point it directly at the floor, keep it very close to the ground so they don't see?"_ Rachel urged, encouraging him to try.

Balloon Boy slowly reached out, picked up the flashlight and held it just inches from the floor. He shook it rapidly from side to side and then he pressed the on switch. There was a light and it was bright, but because he was holding it so close to the floor, its range was drastically shortened and far beyond any preying eyes.

He mentally breathed a sigh of relief to which Rachel giggled.

"We are not dead yet," he muttered softly.

"_Now throw your voice, wait for them to move and get to the Party Rooms,"_ Rachel replied, sounding rather pleased with BB's frame of mind. Determination replaced despair, that had previously held a tight grip on his soul as Balloon Boy slowly rose to his feet.

Creak

Groan

Stomp

He could hear them wandering about in the dark, still trying to find him.

He had to give them credit for their determination, they would be hard to shake off.

He cupped his mouth with his hands.

"_Please work, I ask for nothing else but to see another day_,_"_ he mentally begged, hoping that fate would hear him.

He closed his eyes and opened his mouth.

"Damit!"

No words erupted out of his mouth, instead they came from far away in the darkness.

And it awoke a nest of irritated vipers.

_"G…A…M…E O…V…E…R B…B!"_ {GAME OVER BB!} _'David'_ screamed, instantly turning in the direction of the yell and sprinted towards it, making his worn out body groan in protest. Sounds of gears shifting and metal moaning came from in front of BB; as the second possessed prop suit now followed its comrade's direction. And finally, there came similar sounds from the doorway of the main hallway, as the third possessed prop suit also made its move.

_"I…T'S P…A…Y D…A…Y!"_ {IT'S PAY DAY!} _'Jessica'_ sneered, forcing her old joints to move.

Internally Balloon Boy smirked.

"_Jokes on you Jessica, happy hunting though_," he mentally chuckled, waiting for the right opportunity to make good his escape.

He stood there in the dark, listening to the sounds of his enemies wandering off to what would be a major disappointment.

But by then he would be long gone.

A few seconds passed by, with the sounds of neck joints clicking, feet stomping and gears shifting, drifting over from the door to the stage area.

Balloon Boy had a clear escape route lined out for him, and he took it within a heartbeat. Although, he wondered how long it would take for them to discover that it was just a ruse. But for now, if he could keep them off balance long enough, then they would never find him, chasing his cries in endless circles, yet always seeming so near and yet somehow out of reach.

Lure them into a labyrinth and keep them there.

"_Rachel, there's six of them in total, I don't know where the other three are," _he said, turning his focus on the matter at hand. "_Don't think about it, just go to Party Rooms Three and then Four,"_ Rachel answered firmly, mentally pushing him forward.

Balloon Boy moved quickly, but also silently so not to draw any further unwanted attention.

He soon reached Party Room Three, finding as expected a barred jail door.

"_I unlocked the Party One door by finding that the posters on the wall had an unusual number of items on them that didn't exist before,"_ he said, filling Rachel in. "_Then check for the same thing__, shine the light on the posters,"_ she suggested, cutting straight to the most obvious solution.

BB pressed the on button, the flashlight flickered briefly before eventually stabilising.

He smiled, that's a start.

He then shone the light through the metal bars at the posters of the Toys, which were situated on the right wall towards the back.

And there it was as predicted, for on the poster of Toys Freddy, Bonnie and Chica were a set of stars. The posters themselves had been deliberately damaged and torn but the stars were still visible.

Two above Toy Freddy, five below Toy Bonnie and three next to Toy Chica.

Of course, there was more red writing around them, probably more insults, but that didn't matter.

He turned the flashlight off to preserve its battery and entered the door lock: 253.

Instantly, there was a grinding mechanical groan as the door slowly slid open. BB sneaked inside, he needed to be fast and get out before the others realised their error. Ignoring the pain that he could still feel in his neck, head and nose, which was still bleeding, he reached the posters.

Again, there was something odd about the Toy Bonnie poster, its left upper corner was peeling slightly. He grabbed it and slowly pulled, carefully tearing the poster off the wall. Falling away to the floor revealed a small hole carved into the wall, just like before.

Inside was a pirate's hook, it was clearly Foxy's, as no one else had one.

BB swiftly took it, before stuffing it into his other back trouser pocket.

"_Good, now let's go to Party Room Tw-"_

Rachel stopped talking as a series of mechanical groans filled the air. BB instantly turned in their direction towards the doorway that led out into the main hallway.

Someone was there.

_"S…t…u…p…i…d c…h…i…l…d f…o…o…l…i…n…g u…s, h…e c…a…n o…n…l…y h…i…d…e i…n c…e…r…t…a…i…n p…l…a…c…e…s," _{Stupid child fooling us, he can only hide in certain places,} a strained voice muttered in a mixed tone of frustration and bitterness.

Balloon Boy recognised the voice, he felt a wave of nostalgia and remorse hit him.

"_Richard, good to see you again…I suppose,"_ he mentally whispered.

There came the stomps of heavy footsteps hitting the floor as the body forced itself to move. BB would simply wait for him to pass by. It wasn't worth attempting to throw his voice, not now at least. The footsteps continued, walking by the room he was in. . .and then they abruptly stopped.

BB's heart froze, he knew what was up.

The footsteps came again, getting closer as_ 'Richard'_ entered the room.

Neck joints shifted, internal gears creaked and groaned, but BB remained completely still.

_"W…e…l…l w…e…l…l w…e…l…l, t…h…i…s i…s a c…h…a…n…g…e,"_ {Well well well, this is a change,} _'Richard'_ remarked in a calm manner, as if he was slowly processing the situation that lay before him.

_"I w…o…n…d…e…r w…h…y t…h…i…s d…o…o…r i…s o…p…e…n?"_ {I wonder why this door is open?}

Obviously, he knew why it was open and who opened it. His neck emitted several mechanical clicks as he looked from left to right. There was a heavy groan from his internal gears as he stepped forward, followed by a mechanical snap as he gripped the table with his hands.

"_Y...o…u k…n…o…w B…B, I w…i…l…l a…d…m…i…t t…h…a…t t…h…i…s i…s n…o…t h…o…w I i…m…a…g…i…n…e…d m…y d…e…a…t…h,"_ {You know BB, this is not how I imagined my death} he remarked casually.

It was quite a bold move for him to assume that Balloon Boy was in here, just because the door was open. He could be somewhere else for all _'Richard'_ knew and he would simply be talking out loud to a empty room.

Then again, maybe he was just voicing his frustrations, letting off some steam, either theory was possible.

'_Richard'_ took another step forward, resulting in a heavy metallic thud, as his foot made sharp contact with the tile floor. There was of course another creaking groan as his leg joints moved, being bent in a manoeuvre that they were not designed to perform.

"_I d…o n…o…t k…n…o…w w…h…y y…o…u a…n…d t…h…e o…t…h…e…r…s k…i…l…l…e…d m…e,"_ {I do not know why you and the others killed me,} he muttered, sounding very confused. Although in his position it was understandable.

He suddenly growled in frustration.

"_I…t i…s c…r…a…m…p…e…d i…n…h…e….r…e, w…i…t…h m…y c…r…o….p…s…e e…n…t…w…i…n…e…d w..i…t…h s…p…r…i…n…g l…o…c…k…s, a...n…d G…o…d k…n…o…w…s w…h…a…t e…l…s…e."_ {It is cramped in here with my corpse entwined with spring locks, and God knows what else.}

_"T…h…e p…a…i…n t…h…a...t I f…e…e…l i…s e…t…e…r…n…a…l, a…n…d I b…l...a…m…e y…o…u f…o…r i…t B…B,"_ {The pain that I feel is eternal, and I blame you for it BB,}

He then gave a dark chuckle, possibly leaning over the table as he spoke.

"_I n…e…v…e…r t…u…r…l…y b…e…l…i…e…v…e…d i…n t…h…e s…u…p…e….r…n…a….t…u…r…a…l u…n…t…i…l n…o…w,"_ {I never truly believed in the supernatural, until now,} he said in a smug tone, despite the strong robotic element in his voice.

"_W…h…o w…o…u…l…d h…a…v…e t…h…o…u…g….h…t t…h…a…t V…i…n…c…e…n…t A…f…t…o…n k…i…l…l…e…d t…h…o…s…e k…i…d…s, t…h…e s…h…a…d…y b…a…s…t…a…r…d."_ {Who would have thought that Vincent Afton killed those kids, the shady bastard.}

"_Puppet knew, but she had no hard evidence to back up her claim,"_ BB mentally muttered to himself.

"_He covered his tracks well,"_ Rachel added in a hushed tone, even though _'Richard'_ couldn't hear her and never would.

"_M…e, g…e…t…t…i…n…g b…y k…i…l…l…e…d c...h…i…l…d…e…r…n, a…n…d t…h…e…n b…e...i…n…g f…o…r…c…e…f…u…l…l…y s…t…u….f….f…e…d i…n…t…o a s…u…i…t,"_ {Me, getting killed by children, and then being forcefully stuffed into a suit,} _'Richard'_ remarked, sounding as if he was humoured by the strange turn of events.

He laughed again, although it was dry and sounded sad, which turned quickly into depression. _"I a…m n…o…w a d…e…a…d m...a…n w…a…l…k…i…n…g."_ {I am now a dead man walking.} His raspy intakes for air suddenly became shaky, although BB couldn't see it, he imagined_ Richard's_ hands to be trembling.

"_I…t t…o…o…k m…e a…g…e…s t…o d…i…e, a…n…d t…h…e…n d…a….r…k…n…e…s…s t…o…o…k m…e, b…u…t t…h…e a…g…o…n…i…s…i…n…g p…a…i…n d…i…d n…o…t c…e…a…s…e."_

(It took me ages to die, and then darkness took me, but the agonising pain did not cease.}

"_T…h…i…s i…s n…o…t l…i…v…i…n…g,"_ {This is not living,} he muttered scornfully, his words were directed to the situation that he found himself in.

"_T…h…i…s u…n…a…t…u…r…a…l, I d…o…n't w…a…n…t t…o b…e h…e...r...e, I w…a…n…t t…o g…o h…o…m…e!"_ {This is unnatural, I don't want to be here, I want to go home!}

He was clearly angry, but there was also a strong underlying tone of despair in his voice, a desire to break free from this living hell that he had been dropped into.

"_I…T'S N…O…T F…A…I…R!"_ {IT'S NOT FAIR!} he screamed, slamming his hands down onto the table, making it shake.

His words maybe stretched out to the point where they were near impossible to be understood, but BB could hear the emotional weight behind them very clearly.

It was like a tidal wave of negativity that threaten to overspill and drown any hope for better days. Innocent lives had been taken without reason, a senseless act without remorse, carrying life changing conquences. Prospects had been destroyed beyond salvage, dreams and aspirations lost their meaning, and any joy that they held died with them.

Their world grew dark and lifeless, as the energy which had sustained it was drained, leaving it as a husk.

The rest of the world moved forward, while they were left behind.

The children who had been murdered had turned savage, becoming feral beasts. They had lost their humanity and became as cold and vile, as the evil that had claimed them. Even the Fazbears had become hard and stern in their demeanour, facing the world with a heartless indifference.

They had become content to live in a decaying world and would wait until they leave it the same way that everyone else does.

No one would attend their funerals, no one would care.

And now the nightguards who were clearly innocent of any wrong doing had been swallowed up by them, transforming into twisted versions of themselves.

Vincent took the children, who took over the Fazbears, and together they had taken the nightguards to their demise; and in return they would do the same to their killers. It was a never ending circle of vengeance upon vengeance. And in the end, they all wanted the same thing, they just wanted to move on.

Yet, that simple wish seemed to be too much to ask for these days.

_Richard's_ voice filled the air again, breaking the silence that had briefly settled.

_"I c…a…n…n…o…t l…e…a…v…e t…h…i…s p…l…a…c…e, I a…m s…t…u…c…k i…n t…h…i…s t…h…i…n…g!"_ {I cannot leave this place, I am stuck in this thing!} he growled, venting his frustration at his new look.

_"T…h…i…s i…s m…o…r…e o…f a t…o…m…b t…h…a…n a b…o…d…y, w…i…t…h a…l…l i…t's b…l…o…o…d…y u…n…c…o…o…p…e…r…a…t…i…v…e p…a…r…t…s!"_ {This is more of a tomb than a body, with all its bloody uncooperative parts!} he hissed, immediately followed by multiple sounds.

The creaking mechanical groan of shifting gears, and joints being bent in ways that they were not supposed to echoed about the room. There were also several cracking sounds, that sounded like bones breaking and snapping.

The thing was, that prop suits were never meant to move, only be stationary. They were also never made with the intention of being worn like a springlock suit. It was a surprise that the night guards were even able to fit inside them when they were being shoved in by the possessed Fazbears.

Well. . . _they mostly fitted._

_"D…a…m, t…h…i…s t…h…i…n…g k…e…e…p…s o…n f…i…g…h…t…i…n…g m…e!"_ {Dam, this thing keeps on fighting me!} _'Richard'_ shouted, as the mechanical joints of his suit groaned even louder, refusing to move where he wanted them to.

"I H…A…T…E T…H…I…S T…H…I…N…G!" {I HATE THIS THING!} he roared, his voice was now more robotic in its tone, becoming a broken high pitch yell. It now sounded like he was shaking in it, wanting to break free from his rusty chains, but he knew that he wouldn't get very far without it.

_"W…H…Y D…I…D Y…O…U H…A…V…E T…O K…I…L…L M…E?"_ {WHY DID YOU HAVE TO KILL ME?} he shrieked, his voice still retaining a strong robotic element even though he sounded murderous. Yet underneath that rage was a strong desire for answers, which were long overdue.

In truth, BB couldn't give him an answer, at least not one that would make sense, but he couldn't justify it.

Rachel however, being the one who had killed through BB's hands, could give an answer.

"_I thought you were Purple Guy, I truly did,"_ she answered, although only BB could hear her and that was nothing new to him.

_"I N…E…V…E…R D…I…D A…N…Y…T…H…I…N…G B…A…D T…O Y…O…U O…R T…H…E O…T…H…E…R…S!"_ {I NEVER DID ANYTHING BAD TO YOU OR THE OTHERS!} _'Richard'_ cried, now he was almost sobbing, expressing his despair at the unfair situation which he had been dragged into.

_"I W…A…S Y…O…U…R F…R…I…E…N…D!"_ {I WAS YOUR FRIEND!}

Again, that was also true, and BB felt more than a pang of guilt in his heart.

_"I W…A…N…T T…O D…I…E!"_ {I WANT TO DIE!}

But he was already dead. . .

_"I W…A…N…T T…O M…O…V…E O…N, B…U…T Y…O…U A…R…E K…E…E…P…I…N…G M…E T…R…A…P…P…E…D H…E…R…E!"_ {I WANT TO MOVE ON, BUT YOU ARE KEEPING ME TRAPPED HERE!}

That last line startled BB, making him slowly inch his way along the back wall. Trying to outflank _'Richard'_ and therefore reach the doorway and ultimately freedom. He feared that _'Richard'_ would now make his move and attack him, hoping that through killing BB he would be freed from his suffering.

How ironic, it was just the same mindset that the ghost children had back in the 80s and 90s. Killing who they thought to be Vincent Afton, so they could be free. However, it didn't work, because of a simple fatal misunderstanding in identity, but in _Richard's_ case perhaps it would work, given that BB technically did kill him.

_"H…O…W L…O…N…G H…A…S I…T B…E…E…N, T…H…E…Y S…A…Y 2…0…1…5, T…H…R…I…T…Y Y…E…A…R…S!"_ {HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN, THEY SAY 2015, THRITY YEARS!} _'Richard'_ sounded confused, dumb shock even.

_"W…H…A…T A…B…O…U…T M…Y F…A…M…I…L…Y, W…H…E…R…E A…R…E T…H…E…Y!"_ {WHAT ABOUT MY FAMILY, WHERE ARE THEY!}

_"H…o…w a…r…e t…h…e…y?"_ {How are they?}

His tone suddenly dropped at the last sentence, trailing off as if reality was sinking in, and he was having to process it. Then there erupted a mechanical clang, followed by a soft thud. It sounded like someone collapsing to their feet, and then having their head hit the table.

At least that's how BB imagined it, given that he couldn't see anything in front of him.

_"H…o…w m…u…c…h h…a…v…e I m…i…s…s…e…d?"_ {How much have I missed?} _'Richard'_ asked out loud, still sounding shocked beyond anything.

_"T…h…e…y'll b…e i…n t…h…e…i…r f…o…r…t…i…e…s b…y n…o…w."_ {They'll be in their forties by now.}

So much emotional sorrow was in his voice, even though it carried a strong robotic overtone, it still leaked through.

_"C...a...n I e...v...e...r s...e...e t...h...e...m a...g...a...i...n?"_ {Can I ever see them again?}

As he spoke, most likely to himself, BB continued to steadily make his way across the room.

Given the direction of_ Richard's_ voice, he was probably now exactly opposite to him.

_"B…u…t i…n t…h…i…s m…o…n…s…t…r…o…u…s f…o…r…m. . ."_ {But in this monstrous form. . .}

There was another mechanical grinding sound, as several gears shifted position when he turned about, probably examining himself.

_"T…h…e…y w…o…u…l…d d…e…s…p…i…s…e m…e."_ {They would despise me.}

BB slowly sneaked sideways, moving through the pitch blackness to the far wall. He was ignoring _Richard's_ voice, as he tried to focus on not making any noise.

_"B…u…t w…e b…o…t…h k…n…o…w n…o…w B…B, a m…o…n…s…t…e…r d…o…e…s…n't h…a…v…e t…o l…o…o…k h…o…r…r…i…f…i…c o…n t…h…e o…u…t…s…i…d…e t…o b…e e…v…i…l."_ {"But we both know now BB, a monster doesn't have to look horrific on the outside to be evil.}

_"I…t c…a…n e…a…s…i…l…y e…x…i…s…t w…i…t…h…i…n, a…n…d t…h…a…t's o…f…t…e…n t…h…e c…a…s…e. . .e…s…p…e…c…i…a…l…l…y w…i…t…h V…i…n…c…e…n…t A…f…t…o…n, a…n…d n…o…w y…o…u."_ {It can easily exist within, and that's often the case. . .especially with Vincent Afton, and now you.}

Yet, what he said next made BB stop dead in his tracks.

_"D…o y…o…u f…e…e…l a…n…y g…u…i…l…t f…o…r w…h…a…t y…o…u t…w…o d…i…d?"_ {Do you feel any guilt for what you two did?}

Two. . .he must be referring to Rachel, seeing how he clearly knew about the ghost children having a role in his death.

_"W…h…a…t i…s y…o…u…r n…a…m…e?"_ {What is your name?}

Yes, he was definitely referring to her, and he probably wouldn't let them leave without an answer.

Normally he would just ignore the possessed prop suit and keep on going, but _'Richard'_ wasn't hunting him, rather he was trying to engineer a conversation of sorts.

_"W…h…a…t i…s y…o…u…r n…a…m…e c…h…i…l…d?"_ {What is your name child?} he asked again, in a plain tone which didn't appear to hide any sinister intentions.

"_Should. . .should we speak to him?"_ Balloon Boy asked mentally, calling out to Rachel, who had so far remained silent.

"_Maybe, his interest seems to be genuine, but then again, I was fooled by a friendly looking man in a golden suit with bunny ears who said a lot of nice things, so I am wary of such risks,"_ she replied cautiously.

_"I j…u…s…t w…a…n…t t…o k…n…o…w p…l…e…a…s…e?"_ {I just want to know. . .please?}

_'Richard'_ sounded sincere with his question, a simple longing for confirmation for the reason of his death.

A dead man calling from his grave for answers that only a dead child could answer.

_"A…t t…h…e e…n…d o…f t…h…e d…a…y, a…r…e w…e n…o…t h…u…m…a…n s…t…i…l…l?"_ {At the end of the day, are we not human still?}

Balloon Boy's heart soften at _Richard's_ words.

He wanted to complete the game that he was playing. However, he felt that he had an opportunity to fix things, if he could get Rachel and _'Richard'_ to talk to one another. His gut twisted, he was wary of undertaking this idea, the other possessed prop suits were still out there, and if he revealed his location, then the only way out was blocked by a potential enemy.

Yet, the atomsphere around him felt different, there was no alarming sense of a threat to his life.

"_Rachel, talk to him, he's clearly calling to you not me," he_ said mentally, calling out for her in his mind

"_I think he is trustworthy, and this might be an opportunity to make amends for what we did."_

There was a small pause before she answered.

"_Ok, I'll talk, but should things get worse then we run, and I'll dictate that,"_ her voice was calm, but decisive.

Having been killed once, she was in no rush to go through it again, even though she was a ghost, and would therefore survive the ordeal. Although she was willing to follow through with BB's idea, and he trusted her to be in control. To carry him to safety should it be required.

He closed his eyes, feeling a similar presence washing over him like a tide, and pushing him underneath it.

It was like he was drowning, as a warm force emerged from the depths of his subconsciousness and took over his body, becoming the main driver. He soon lost consciousness, like he had done so many times before, slipping into a semi dream like state with vivid images that flickered and swiftly passed him by.

The only thing he could feel was a collection of emotions which mentally linked him to Rachel.

Her thoughts

Her senses

Her feelings

He was no longer in control, but he could pick up on her mood, flowing around him like water around a rock.

In this dream like state, he was devoid of his actions, everything was in Rachel's hands now.

Normally he wouldn't know that she was in control, because she would possess him at night like the others, when they were all sleeping, so they felt no change take place. They were none the wiser to what happened at night, only to find in the morning that the night guard was missing from their post with their car still out front, and that the security office had been trashed.

And there would be blood strains leading them to one of the backrooms, where they would find. . ._them._

He could feel Rachel's overriding sense of concern, fear and doubt. She was rightfully scared of what these _'monsters'_ could do should they catch them. Her sense of doubt came from whether forgiveness could be earned after all the horrible things that she had done in the name of revenge.

All of this due to a simple mistake in identity.

He could tell she was nervous, her emotions were flowing back to him like a flood, all stressed and fraught. And then she spoke through BB's mouth in a tense, frighten tone that was trying to come across as calm and collective, but failing miserably.

"I am Rachel, that's my name."

Her anxiety levels rose as the sounds of mechanical gears turning and joints creaking erupted from the other side of the room. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly, knowing that the glow from her white dots for eyes were giving away her location.

Then there came the predictable stomps of mechanical feet, bending as they dragged themselves forward across the tile floor.

_"W...h...y d...i…d y...o...u k...i...l...l m...e, I d...i...d n...o...t...h…i…n…g t…o h…a…r…m y…o…u?"_ {Why did you kill me, I did nothing to harm you?} _'Richard'_ demanded, now speaking sternly as he made his way over to her.

BB could feel the fear in her soar like an eagle as Rachel pressed herself up against the wall. The footsteps got louder as _'Richard'_ drew nearer. His rasped breathing echoed as it became evident that each breath intake sounded like a struggle, and each outtake was more like a vile hiss.

_"W…a...s i…t f...u...n k...i...l...l...i...n...g m…e?"_ {Was it fun killing me?} he demanded in a frustrated tone, as he now was on top of her, followed by multiple creaking groans as he straightened himself. Although he was probably staring down at her, given the height difference between them.

Rachel was trembling in BB's body, every part of her was shaking with her eyes going wide, filling with dread. She found herself to be tongue-tied, unable to speak a single word, let alone mutter any sound.

"I…I,"

_"S…p...e...a...k, p...l...e...a...s...e,"_ {Speak, please,}_ 'Richard'_ ordered, eager to get a response of sorts.

Somehow, she was able to get her words out, although they were in a jumbled fashion.

"I thought you were him, minster Afton, I swear!"

Her panicked voice only stressed her vulnerability to him.

"I'm so sorry for what I did, but I really thought that you were him!"

Her focus was entirely on him, brushing anything else aside.

_"D...i…d y…o…u n…o…w?"_ {Did you now?} _'Richard'_ muttered softly, his tone might suggest that he was quite calm about it all, but the tension between them said otherwise.

Then there came a small mechanical creak from immediately in front of her, she didn't know what it was, but she feared the worst.

Maybe he was gripping his fists.

_"R...a...c...h...e…l,"_ {Rachel,} he began, God it sounded so unclean as he said it in a stern like manner that left little to the imagination.

"H...o...w d...i...d I...t f...e...e...l f...o...r o...n...e s...o i...n...n...o...c...e...n...t t...o t...a...k...e a...n...o...t...h...e...r i...n...n...o...c...e...n...t l...i...f...e, a...n...d t...h...e...n a...n...o...t...h...e..r, a...g...a...i...n a...n...d a...g...a...i...n a...n...d a...g...a...i...n, u...n...t...i...l t...h...e...r...e w...a...s n...o...t...h...i…n...g i...n...n...o...c...e...n...t l...e...f...t i...n t...h...e w...o...r...l...d?" {How did it feel for one so innocent to take another innocent life, and then another, again and again and again, until there was nothing innocent left in the world?}

Rachel's lower lip of wobbled in fear, she knew what _'Richard'_ was referring to without a doubt.

How much blood can a victim spill before they lose sympathy?

When they become what they hate and are too blind to see it because their cause is just.

Thirty. . .thirty lives had been taken before she looked back at herself, dripping in blood and gore. Her white dots for eyes were burning with an irrational hated of a man that could never be found, no matter how hard she looked.

And then the reality of her actions came crashing into her like a tsunami, filling her with dread. How the hell can she move on, knowing what she did in those dark years?

Together, she and the others had killed more than Vincent ever had, and he was supposedly the bad guy in all of this.

Killing children was unforgiveable, there were no excesses for those do commit such heinous acts, but a similar line was given to adults too. People would only see her, the other ghost children, the Fazbears and Vincent Afton as murderers, if they knew what had gone on in the past.

Not that they could do anything to hurt her in any meaningful way.

"It felt good, I was getting my revenge, someone else was feeling my pain and after years of sorrow and anguish, I couldn't care less about anyone else."

That earned her a dark chuckle from_ 'Richard'_, with several creaks from his suit as he appeared to be leaning forward, looming over her.

_"A…n…d n…o…w t...h...e p...a...s...t h...a...s c...o...m...e b...a...c...k w...i...t…h a v...e...n...g...e…a…n….c...e R…a...c...h...e...l, s...o...w t...h...e w...h...i…r...l...w…i…n...d, r...e...a...p t...h...e w...h...i...r...l...w...i...n...d."_ {And now the past has come back with a vengeance Rachel, sow the whirlwind, reap the whirlwind.}

It was a very true statement with everyone having a vendetta against someone, never able to let go, or in her case not wanting to.

And now potentially it could be her turn, or rather BB's turn to be precise. This was his body that she was possessing, and he would get the worst of whatever harm _'Richard'_ would inflict if he choose to do so.

She could fight, but she wouldn't win, no doubt BB could feel her distress and fear from the depths of their shared subconsciousness.

_"L…e…t m...e a…s...k y...o...u a q…u...e...s…t…i...o...n R…a...c...h...e...l, w...e h…a...v...e b...e...e…n t...h…r...o...u...g...h t...h...e s...a...m...e s...h...i...t f...r...o...m o...u...r d...e...a...t...h...s t...o n...o...w s...o w...o...u...l...d i...t b...e w...r...o...n...g o...f m...e t...o k...i...l...l y...o...u r...i...g…h...t n...o...w?"_ {Let me ask you a question Rachel, we have been through the same shit from our deaths to now, so would it be wrong of me to kill you right now?}

Before she could mount a reply, a cold hard mechanical hand touched her neck, slowly gripping it, forming an iron bound.

She gasped for breath, her white dots for eyes darted for any sign of relief or salvation, but there was nothing.

_"C...h...o...k...i...n...g,"_ {Choking,}_ 'Richard'_ continued in a plain dead tone.

_"W...o...u...l...d g...i...v...e y…o...u a s...i...m...i...l...a...r e...x...p...e...r...i...e...n…c…e t...o w...h...a…t I f...e...l...t, a...s I c...h...o...k...e...d o...n m...y o...w...n b...l...o…o...d, w...h...e...n y…o...u f...o...r...c...e...d m...e i...n...t...o t...h...i...s d...e...a...t...h t...r...a...p."_ {Would give you a similar experience to what I felt, as I choked on my own blood, when you forced me into this death trap.}

His voice was cold, and yet there was a subtle undertone of enjoyment to it.

Rachel's panic levels went through the roof as did BB's, as he could feel the immense inflow of emotional distress that was overpowering their shared mind.

"I am a child," Rachel pleaded, as she gripped his hand with her own, trying to loosen them and give herself some breathing room. Her fingers wrapped around a cold tough metal that was utterly lifeless despite being possessed.

_'Richard'_ merely tighten his hold on her neck, cutting into her airwaves.

_"B…u…t a…r...e y…o...u a...n i...n...n...o...c...e…n…t c...h…i...l…d?"_ {But are you an innocent child?} he asked coldly.

Rachel could not give him an answer, because she knew which one was right.

"I. . .I. . .I don't know," she stammered, unable to fight her rising panic. Instantly_ 'Richard'_ strengthen his hold on her neck, cutting off the air from her lungs.

_"Y…e...s, y...o...u d…o, y...o…u j...u...s…t d...o n…o…t w…a...n...t t...o s...a…y i...t, b...u...t y...o...u k...n...o...w w…h...a…t y...o...u a…r...e R...a...c...h...e...l."_ {Yes, you do, you just don't want to say it, but you know what you are Rachel.}

He could sense her fear, she was emitting an absolute aura of terror, just like he did as they dragged to his death.

_"M...o...n...s...t...e...r...s a...r...e m...a...d...e, n...o...t b...o...r...n,"_ {Monsters are made, not born,} he muttered, chuckling in a dark tone as Rachel gasped for breath, sensing her to be flaring about in his grip, but unable to escape.

_"S…e...e…i…n...g y...o...u p...o...w…e...r...l...e… s...s i...s l...i...k...e m…u…s...i…c t…o m…e, h...o...w d….o…e...s i…t f...e...e...l t…o b...e o...n t...h...e r...e...c...e…i…v...i...n….g e...n…d f….o...r a c…h...a...n…g…e?"_ {Seeing you powerless is like music to me, how does it feel to be on the receiving end for a change?} he asked, enjoying every second.

"Not. . .nice," she croaked, stressing her distress as her brain screamed at her for air that she could not provide.

_"B…u...t y...o…u c...a...n...n...o...t d...i…e c...a...n y...o...u R...a...c…h...e...l, n...o...t u...n...t...i...l y...o...u c...a...n m…o…v…e o…n, b...u…t V...i...n...c…e...n…t i…s n...o...t h…e...r...e I'm a...f...r...a...i...d."_ {But you cannot die can you Rachel, not until you can move on, but Vincent isn't here I'm afraid.}

He increased his grip on her, squeezing her windpipe. She could feel BB's panic which was screaming at the back of her mind for her to get out of whatever it was that she was in.

_"Y...o...u w...i...l...l d...i...e R...a...c...h...e. . .l, b...u…t t...h...i...s b...o...d...y w...i...l...l, a...n...d y...o...u w…i...l...l f...i...n...d a n...e...w h...o...s...t, s...o, l…e...t's t...a...s...t...e d…e…a...t...h a...g...a...i...n, a…n...d a...g...a...i...n, a…n...d a…g…a...i...n."_ {You won't die Rachel, but this body will, and you'll find a new host, so, let's taste death again, and again, and again.}

The prospect of death frightened Rachel, even though it wouldn't mean the end for her; but to experience it again with all the torments that accompanied it, overloaded what remained of her common sense as instinct took hold.

She opened her mouth to scream, but she couldn't due to a lack of air. Her heart was racing, pleading for relief as her mind screamed in its need for fresh oxygen. In its starved fear driven state, the current moment brought up vivid images of SpringBonnie with his bright green eyes towering over her with a joyous smile, that hid a murderous intent.

* * *

_Flashback. . ._

There was screaming and shouting as Mangle had just attacked a member of staff, giving way to the infamous _'Bite of 87'_. People ran in all directions, as the security staff tired their best to contain the situation.

The other Toys were frozen in shock at what just happened, standing, eyes wide and their mouths aghast at what was unfolding in front of them.

Rachel was with her friends on the edge of it all, watching from the side lines near the Egg Baby attraction.

Her parents were nowhere to be seen, there were so many people running around. The atomsphere of fun and enjoyment that had existed only seconds ago seem far off now. She had just been playing Midnight Motorist, trying to beat Sammy's high score. His dad had designed some the games here, so being the son of an employee he had gained early access to them, and knew how to get the highest score.

"What's going on?" Sammy asked curiously, trying to see over the panicking crowd, but failing due to obvious height issues.

Suddenly Toy Freddy ran past the group, charging straight into the fray with Toys Bonnie and Chica in tow, having already dropped their instruments.

"MANGLE, JESUS CHRIST, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Toy Freddy yelled, shoving various staff members aside as he attempted to gain some form of control over the situation.

"WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT!" Toy Bonnie shouted, trying to jump in and wrestle Mangle off the poor unfortune woman, who had she for unknown reasons attacked.

"GET HER OFF, GET HER OFF NOW!" Toy Freddy ordered aggressively, trying to pry Mangle's grip loose, so the staff members could pull the woman away.

"SOMEONE CALL AN AMUBLANCE!"

Toy Chica was circling the maelstrom, unable to intervene due to the mass of people that were trying their best to rein Mangle in.

She seemed to be driven by a hungry bloodlust, lashing out at everyone who would dare come near.

"MANGLE, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" Toy Chica screamed in shock, upon seeing the blood on her friend's teeth and the enraged, irrational look in her yellow eyes. Rachel stared at the Fazbear's despair, this was unexpected to say the least. Her friends maintained their gaze, too dumbstruck to move, everything was in chaos.

At last though, one of them, Charlotte spoke.

"Should we go somewhere else?" she asked quietly, intimated by the noise.

"We should find my dad immediately," Sammy answered, instantly taking the role of the leader. Then the shadow of a tall figure fell across the group, in their startled state, they quickly turned to face the newcomer.

The figure was in simple terms, another Toy Bonnie, given that they had bunny ears and they also possessed bright green eyes. Although they were clearly a male given their physical features, plus they wore a smart golden suit with a purple bowtie.

"It's a good thing I found you lot, my name is SpringBonnie Fazbear; we need to leave; in emergency situations, all children are to be placed in the safety room, you will need to come with me."

"It's ok, we just need to find my dad, he'll keep us safe," Sammy answering, walking forward. He had to lean his neck back slightly to fully make eye contact with SpringBonnie.

"You might know him, Henry Emily, he made some of the games in this place."

But SpringBonnie shook his head with a dismissive expression.

"Sorry, no can do I'm afraid, all children are to be placed in the safety room, it's the rules of the pizzeria," he stated, reaching down to take Sammy by the hand.

"Trust me, it's for your own good, you'll be safe while the staff try to deal with this. . .unfortunate incident."

With a firm hold on Sammy's hand, he led the children away from the chaos. They passed the main stage and went out into the hallway, which was now deserted with most people having either legged it to the exit or were trying to hold Mangle down.

"Once you're in here, I can go and find the remaining children, then we'll all do a head count," SpringBonnie said warmly, upon finding the right room. "In you go," he ordered, opening the door for them, the room itself was pretty much empty save for a few boxes that contained various supplies for the Pizzeria's actives.

"It's not much I know, but when we are all assembled, I can entertain you with songs from my banjo while we pass the time."

"What's a banjo?" Sammy asked curiously, seeming to have never heard of such a thing before. "It's a guitar like Toy Bonnie's, but only much smaller," SpringBonnie answered in a statesman like manner.

As the other children entered, Rachel stopped in the doorway, a certain question had hold of her mind. "Something wrong kid?" SpringBonnie asked, sounding concerned as he looked down at her with his bright green eyes.

"It's just," Rachel began, unsure of how to frame her words.

"I've never seen you before and I know all the Fazbears, even the older ones."

SpringBonnie chuckled, in a somewhat delighted tone, which felt odd somehow.

"Oh my, it's rather simple, I am a special entertainer, I only come in on birthdays and special events."

He slowly pushed Rachel inside.

"You'll be safe in here until the danger has passed," he said reassuringly.

Then rather unexpectedly, he entered the room and closed the door shut behind him.

"It's quite hectic outside, and someone else could disturb our fun, so to avoid all of that, I'll just lock the door," he stated, turning the key in the lock to prevent any _'disturbances'_ from interrupting their _'fun'_.

"Wait, don't you need to go and get the other children?" Charlotte enquired, feeling rather confused.

"And is it completely necessary to lock us in?"

SpringBonnie slowly turned round to face the small group of children, his eyes now seem. . ._off._

And his grin now looked. . ._intimidating._

"No, you five will do just fine, I'll get my banjo out and we'll forget our troubles," he remarked casually.

Yet there was something else underneath that tone, something threatening, enough to make Rachel feel uneasy. There were still screams and shouts coming from outside as SpringBonnie reached into his trouser pocket to pull out his banjo.

"Let the fun begin," he remarked joyfully.

Only it wasn't a banjo that he soon held in his hand, but rather an extremely sharp knife, that he clenched in a tense grip. His smile suddenly turned murderous, as his green eyes lost all their warmth, becoming two cold, hard pupils of sheer ruthlessness.

"You should never walk off with strangers, it's usually fatal for children like yourselves," he sneered in a sarcastic tone that fitted his demeanour.

Instantly a dozen alarm bells went off inside Rachel's head, this was bad, very bad!

She stepped away from SpringBonnie, her eyes were wide with immense fear.

SpringBonnie merely followed her move, making sure to block off the only exit.

"Now there's no use in trying to prevent the inevitable kids," he said, speaking in a warm tone that did nothing to hide his cruel intentions.

"Everyone has to die at some point, even the young."

As he slowly stepped towards them, the children continued to back away, all huddling together against the far wall.

Rachel now spoke, her voice cracking with emotional panic.

"But I don't want to die!"

She seemed to be the only one who could summon her voice to say anything.

"I want my mom!"

SpringBonnie shook his head, dismissing her pleas for mercy.

"There's no such thing as innocence I'm afraid, life crushes it, if you've seen and lived through what I have, you would understand."

Then Sammy spoke, trying to sound brave, but failing miserably with his eyes glued on the knife that SpringBonnie held.

"My dad will find out who are and then you'll go to jail."

SpringBonnie slowly turned to face him, his green eyes narrowed slightly, as if he could be intimidated right now.

"He won't do Sammy, your father, for all his talent, is not as smart as you give him credit for," he replied, in a confident yet stern tone.

Tears quickly began to fall off Rachel's face, she trembled under SpringBonnie's piercing gaze as he now towered over her.

"I don't understand," she croaked as SpringBonnie lightly gripped her shoulder.

"I know you don't, just like I did when I lost my innocence, all three of them were gone in quick succession from my life," His voice was now cold, which did match his sinister slasher grin. Yet there was something else in his tone too, hidden beneath the cold demeanour.

Sadness, loss. . . a painful despair perhaps?

The smooth sharp edge of the knife that he held in his hand, reflected in her horror filled eyes. All the while SpringBonnie continued to stare down at her with his own eyes.

They were still a bright green, but there was now no life behind them anymore.

"Don't be scared," he muttered softly, as if he could reassure her that death wasn't terrifying.

"_It'll only hurt for a moment. . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's good to be back.  
The last part is how I pretty much imagined the Second Missing Childrens' Incident would take place, given the minigame cutscenes from FNAF 2.  
Having the nightguards and the ghost children interact with eachother seemed to be interesting route to take. Especially given how they both did nothing wrong that would justify their deaths.  
One of the main ideas for this story was that nearly everyone has blood on their hands and therefore no one is completely innocent.  
It's really just a matter of perspective based on who you sympathise with.  
I have some interesting ideas to implement in the next chapter though. ;-)  
Please Review, your thoughts are more than welcome.


	36. Mechanical Monsters In The Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, this chapter is much bigger than recent ones, in order to provide a proper ending for the chapter and to avoid having to round things off in the next chapter.
> 
> I try to keep to a 10,000 word limit to avoid overloading the chapter, but it isn't always possible, yet no one seems to mind so far.
> 
> There is a sing along song in this one, 'Mechanical Instinct' by Aviators, whose lyrics I feel fit very well with this chapter's content.
> 
> Do enjoy. :-)

** Chapter 36. **

** Mechanical Monsters In The Dark. **

_"**THIS IS A NIGHTMARE THAT YOU WON'T AWAKE FROM!"**_

**Nightmarionnie from Ultimate Custom Night.**

_"It'll only hurt for a moment. . ."_

And with those words, the hand holding the knife moved so swiftly that it was a blur of movement.

When the inevitable blow came, it did hurt with unimaginable pain that left its mark on her soul after death. It was a pain that she could never forget, a constant reminder of what was lost that day. Don't follow strangers, it was so simple to understand, and she had cursed herself for her own foolishness. Although in the chaos that occurred that day, wouldn't you accept an offer for safety?

The image of SpringBonnie looming over her like a tower, with his cold green eyes morphed into pitch blackness, bringing her swiftly back to reality.

_'Richard'_ was still holding her by the throat, with her back pressed into the wall, choking the life out of her.

_"M…o…n…s…t…e…r…s a…r…e m…a…d…e, n…o…t b…o…r…n R…a…c…h…e…l!"_ {Monsters are made, not born Rachel!} he hissed with a strong tone of satisfaction.

_"Y…o…u a…n…d y…o…u…r f…r…i…e…n…d…s h…a…v…e s…h…o…w…n m…e t…h…a…t."_ {You and your friends have shown me that.}

Rachel was still gripping his hands trying to loosen them or at least break free.

However, she was still holding onto the flashlight with her free hand.

She had one last idea to gamble on and if it failed, well that outcome didn't require much imagination. There was a sizeable metallic clang, followed by an intense ringing sound as the flashlight struck the side of _Richard's_ head with significant force.

Instantly, there was a loud painful snap as his neck joints were bent to one side, with his head becoming lopsided. It was such a shock to him that his grip on Rachel's throat vanished with his hands falling away.

Rachel could sense BB's approval from the depths of her subconsciousness, cheering her on. She dropped down to the floor, with her opponent staggering about as he struggled to balance himself.

His rage was understandable.

_"Y…O…U L…I…T…T…L…E-"_ {YOU LITTLE-}

Suddenly two arms wrapped themselves around his waist, cutting him off midsentence as Rachel pushed herself up against him.

Two warm hands encountering a cold, jagged and hard surface.

Rachel buried her face into his chest, it was both rough and smooth in certain areas, although it had a plastic feel to it. Her whole body was pressing against his, she was warm whereas he was cold. The suddenness of her action has caught _'Richard'_ off guard. It made no sense given his agenda, let alone his hatred of those who he deemed responsible for his demise.

And yet here she was hugging him, holding him in a protective embrace amidst the darkness that surrounded them. It was strange, odd if anything, as _Richard's_ hands remained motionless at his side. Slowly, he came out of his shocked state, raising both his hands to tightly grip his head. There was a loud snapping sound as he righted it, forcing his neck joints back into place. Rachel tighten her hold, she was shaking all over, her hands despite being locked around him were trembling.

This was very dangerous.

"Please. . ." she muttered, finally breaking the tense silence.

"I want to help you, to save you, it's all my fault, I made you into a monster."

Her white dots for eyes widen with horror and realisation of what she had truly done.

"I was so scared, we were all terrified, trapped in the dark."

She buried herself even further into his chest. "When we saw you in the purple staff uniform, we thought that you were Vincent, but we never questioned on how he could keep on reappearing every night."

"However, it wasn't him, but you are not really a monster, none of you are, not really, just lost souls."

There were several clicking sounds as _'Richard'_ leaned down to look at her, returning his hands to be by his side. "I did bad things, very bad and I want to fix my mistakes," Rachel whispered, her breathing was shallow and sharp, evident of her fear.

"Please. . .forgive me, the Fazbears are as innocent as you are, I want to end this hell; this isn't living as you say, but I cannot do it if you try to kill me."

"Then you can see your family again, without feeling any regret or shame."

Her white dots for eyes slowly looked up, seeing nothing but pitch blackness, accompanied by a deadly silence, broken only the internal sounds of her heart racing.

_"Please don't give into the urge, I am not a threat to you,"_ she mentally begged.

The silence continued, seconds turned into minutes.

_"Say something!"_ Rachel mentally implored, she could feel BB's anxiety rising like a tide from within the depths of her subconsciousness.

It did nothing to alleviate her worries as _'Richard'_ remained motionless, still not saying anything.

_"Speak!"_

Creak!

Groan!

Suddenly, from the direction of the main hallway came several noises that were instantly recognisable.

_"H...e...y R...i...c...h...a...r...d, a...n...y b...o...d...y h...o...m...e?"_ {Hey Richard, anybody home?}

It was _'Laura'_, sounding casual, almost in a friendly manner.

_"T...h...e l...i...t...t...l...e b...a...s...t...a...r...d i...s h...i...d…i...n...g, a...n...y s...i...g...n?"_ {The little bastard is hiding, any sign?} another one asked, it was _'David'_, sounding rather irritated.

_"H...e's t...r...y...i...n...g t...o e...s...c...a...p...e!"_ {He's trying to escape!} a third stressed, that was_ 'Jessica'_, sounding very vicious and edger for some violence to happen.

The sound of joints shifting, and creaking filled the air as the trio stepped into the room. Rachel's heart was in her mouth, she was shaking all over, trying not to scream or cry.

Her hands were trembling, unable to maintain their grip as her knees buckled back and forth.

_"Oh God!"_ she mentally screamed.

_"R...i...c...h...a...r...d, a...r...e...y...o...u i...n h...e...r...e?"_ {Richard, are you in here?} _'Laura'_ called out.

_"I'm h...e...r...e g...u...y...s," _{I'm here guys,}_ 'Richard'_ replied calmly, although he didn't turn around to face them.

_"I h...a...v...e n…o...t s...e...e...n h...i...m, n...o...r c...a...n I f...i...n...d h...i...m i...n h...e...r...e," _{I have not seen him, nor can I find him in here,} he added, his voice was calm and steady, giving away no sense of uneasiness, unlike Rachel who was trembling from head to toe.

_"H...e h...a...s c...e...r...t...a...i...n...l...y b...e...e...n i...n h...e...r...e t...h...o...u...g...h,"_ {He has certainly been in here though,} he muttered, he could feel Rachel shaking against him, her fear was undeniable.

_"H...a...v...e y...o...u g...u...y...s t...i...r...e...d t...h...e o...t...h...e...r r...o...o...m...s?"_ {Have you guys tired the other rooms?} he asked suggestively.

_"W...e a...r...e d...o...i...n...g, b...u...t h...e i...s s...n...e...a...k...i...n...g a...b...o...u...t," _{We are doing, but he is sneaking about,} _'Laura'_ remarked, sounding frustrated.

_"H...e c...a...n o...n...l...y h...i...d...e f...o...r s...o l...o...n...g t...h...o...u...g...h,"_ {He can only hide for so long though,} _'Jessica' _added.

_"S...p...l...i...t u...p, w...e w...i...l...l e...n...t...r...a...p h...i...m," _{Split up, we will entrap him,} _'Richard'_ stated, appearing to give them orders.

_"H...e w...i...l...l s...u...f...f...e...r t...h...e s...a...m...e f...a...t...e a...s u...s,"_ {He will suffer the same fate as us,} _'David'_ growled, giving off the indication that he was tightening his fists.

All the while Rachel stood there, completely hidden by _Richard's_ body and the darkness, listening to her tormenters who stood only a few meters away. She held her breath, listening to her ragging heartbeat as it pounded against her ribcage. This body obviously wasn't hers, but when she was in control, it became hers with all the normal functions of a living human. Even though she was a girl and BB was a boy, it made little difference in the context of things.

Balloon Boy's panic was at the same height as hers, unsure of what could happen and desperately hoping for the best.

It was a conscious presence in the back of her mind.

_"F…i...n...e, b...u...t k...e...e...p s...e...a...r...c...h...i…n...g, h…e c...a…n…n...o...t h...a...v...e g...o...n...e f...a...r,"_ {Fine, but keep searching, he cannot have gone far,} _'Jessica'_ mumbled, determined to keep up the hunt.

She now turned away and headed off down the corridor with _'David' _in tow, grumbling to himself, as his gears groaned when in motion.

_"T...h...o...s...e N...i...g...h...t...m...a...r...e…s p...r...o...m...i...s...e...d u...s v…e...n...g...e…a...n...c...e, I d…o n…o...t w...a...n...t t…o b...l...o...w m…y c…h...a...n...c…e...s b...y f…a...i…l…l…i...n…g t…o c…a...t…c…h a c…h…i…l...d,"_ {Those Nightmares promised us vengeance, I do not want to blow my chances by failing to catch a child,} _'Laura'_ stated sternly, seeming to turn about on the spot, as she surveyed both hallways.

_"O...h y...e...s,"_ {Oh yes,} _'Richard'_ remarked in a smooth excited tone, the sound of his voice indicated that he was staring down at Rachel. He could just so easily trap her with his hands and reveal her location to the others and then indulge in his revenge against his murderer.

_"A v...e...r...y s...m...a...r...t c...h…i…l…d,"_ {A very smart child,} he muttered in a smug tone that made Rachel tremble even more.

_"W...e w...i...l...l f...i...n...d h...i...m,"_ {We will find him,} _'Laura'_ replied sinisterly, now heading off towards Parts and Services, as evident by the sounds of her heavy footsteps.

_"A…n...d w...h...e...n w...e d...o, h...e w...i...l…l w…i...s...h t…h...a...t t...h...e d...e...e... p...e...s...t d...a...r...k...e...s...t p...i…t o...f h...e…l...l o…p…e...n...s u…p t...o s...w...a...l...l…o...w h...i...m w...h...o...l...e,"_ {And when we do, he will wish that the deepest darkest pit of hell opens up to swallow him whole,} she hissed, her voice growing ever distant, but her intentions were very clear.

Soon she was gone, the mechanical clicks and groans of her worn out suit faded away into the darkness, leaving both _'Richard' _and Rachel alone.

_'Richard'_ had returned to being motionless, while Rachel was still shaking all over. A starling realisation was blowing through her mind, even BB within the depths of her subconsciousness had come to the same conclusion.

_'Richard'_ despite his desire for revenge and having the perfect opportunity to hand her over. . . had instead spared her.

It was such a surprise to Rachel that she needed to breathe deeply as the new reality slowly sank in. She was still holding onto him, with both arms wrapped around his cold metallic waist. As all other sounds died down into nothing, leaving only silence, Rachel slowly lifted her head up to face him.

Her white dots for eyes shone with surprise, shock and a creeping sensation of relief.

"Why?" she asked, her tone was one of complete disbelief at his actions. Silence reigned for a good long while, until_ 'Richard' _finally spoke, his voice was mostly robotic, but his humanity still shone through.

_"Y…o…u s…a…i…d t…h…a…t y…o…u w…a…n…t…e…d t…o f…r…e…e u…s, t…o p…u…t u...s b…a…c…k t…o…g…e…t…h…e…r, I a…m n…o…w g…i…v…i…n…g y…o…u t…h…a…t c…h…a…n…c…e. . . a…n…d o…n…l…y o…n…e c…h…a…n…c…e," _{You said that you wanted to free us, to put us back together, I am now giving you that chance. . . and only one chance,} he whispered, sounding calm, but also quite serious.

He steadily raised his right hand, reached round and lightly patted Rachel on the head. Before Rachel could mount a reply, he spoke again, preemptively cutting her off.

_"G…o, n…o…w."_ {Go now.}

His voice was both firm and directive, as his right hand fell back to be at his side. Slowly, Rachel bypassed _'Richard' _and headed towards the doorway that led out into the main hallway. She stopped to turn back, staring into the darkness, knowing that Richard would hear her.

"Thank you, I knew that you weren't a monster," she said, sounding very grateful.

_Richard's_ reply was rather simple and direct.

_"Y…o…u k…n…o…w w…h…a…t w…i…l…l h…a…p…p…e…n i…f t…h…e…y c…a…t…c…h y…o…u."_ {You know what will happen if they catch you.}

It was a warning that both Rachel and Balloon Boy were aware of, although the real torment would be far worse than anything that their minds could conjure up. Rachel turned away and stealthily made her way out into the desolate hallway. There was silence, but she knew that it was all an illusion.

"We must free them all," she muttered softly to which only BB could hear.

"We will set them free."

She could feel a strong rush of approval from BB, which made her smile. Given _Richard's_ recent actions, there was some hope at least for fixing the past. Although there was no knowing what would happen if she got caught and he was present.

It was a question that Rachel wanted answering and yet dreaded to ask.

_"Now come on,"_ she mentally said confidently, returning to the matter in hand, as the darkness surrounded them like a predator in the wild.

It was like it was daring them to make a move.

Exhaling a little, to remove some tension, Rachel mentally spoke to Balloon Boy. "_I told you that you won't die, not with me by your side and that's a promise BB."_

She sounded determined, as she stepped into the dark, unafraid.

A warm sensation passed through her, it was BB encouraging her onwards.

_"I like what you are saying, but what if the Nightmares don't play fair and refuse to let us leave?"_ he asked, cautiously, his voice echoing throughout her mind.

Rachel smiled to herself as she replied in an assured tone.

_"We will find a way out, there's always an exit."_

_"Always. . ."_

Using Balloon Boy's body and ignoring the pain that pulsed from various bruised areas, Rachel made her way to Party Room Two. She stopped outside the door that of course was still barred, but it was better to be sure that no one else was around.

After listening patiently for a minute or two, she switched on the flashlight, the light blinded her briefly before her vision adjusted.

_"Be careful,"_ BB whispered from within the depths of her subconscious. "I always am. . .mostly," Rachel replied calmly, thinking back to the day she died, when she followed SpringBonnie to her grave.

She shone the light through the metal bars, revealing a series of tables covered in a white cloth with a party hat at every seat. Then there was the party banner with _'Let's Party' _in big green letters hanging overhead. An innocent impression that didn't belong here, given the dark history that had taken place within the pizzeria's walls. Moving the light around revealed the other side vent that lead into the office, Toy Bonnie had often made use of it when they were hunting Jeremy back in the day.

She would often pose before the vent in sight of the camera, making it look as if she was about to go in, which kept Jeremy on edge as he tired to hold off eleven Fazbears at once.

It was fun. . .

It didn't take long to find the posters, situated at the far back of the room like the others.

Each one had their own set of golden stars, 7 3 1.

She quickly typed the code in, upon doing so the door opened, sliding away to one side. Strangely enough, there were no possessed prop suits in the room, the emptiness of it produced an eerie calm that was unsettling.

Rachel slowly made her way inside, shining the light back and forth across the room's interior, finding very little worth of her attention.

No one was here. . .

Quickly she made her way up to the posters, knowing that gifts were hidden behind them. Analysing the posters individually, Rachel deduced that the Toy Chica poster was the one hiding the object.

She grabbed it by one of the corners and slowly peeled it off the wall, revealing a small hole that looked as if someone had deliberately dug into the wall. Reaching inside her hand came into contact with a small object which she grasped tightly.

Pulling it out of the hole revealed a miniature version of Bonnie's guitar. Rachel could feel a wave of approval from BB, mentally patting her on the back.

_"Thanks, three down, one to go,"_ she mentally remarked confidently, shining the flashlight around the room.

_"We're nearly there, head to Party Room –" _

CREAK!

GROAN!

A loud series of noises drifted up the hallway outside, Rachel froze, with the hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight.

Someone was coming!

Luckily, she knew where the vent was, although BB was ahead of her on that.

_"Hurry get inside and head to the office!"_ he urged, sounding very nervous.

If it wasn't _'Richard'_ then they would be in a tight spot.

Not wanting to find who it was, Rachel raced forward and climbed inside the vent, its cold metal and unforgiving interior pressed against her skin. Well. . . in reality it was Balloon Boy's skin, since she was possessing his body, but he could deal with any pain later on if they survived this ordeal.

She crawled forward, her knees ached as they were pushed against the vent's floor.

Why anyone would want to climb inside this thing, even if the prize at the other end was killing an unfortunate night guard. The sounds from the hallway continued as she pulled herself out of the vent upon reaching the office.

However, there was another sound that accompanied the creaking and groaning.

Music. . .

A faint sound of dancing music could be heard floating in the air, moving steadily towards the office.

Another possessed prop suit was making its entry onto the scene.

So far, none of the possessed prop suits that Rachel and BB had encountered played music and given the dire condition of the suits that housed their broken bodies, it would be impossible for them to have any functional inbuilt music boxes.

Yet this one did.

Seeing how it was clearly intending on entering the security office, Rachel could just turn round and head back the way she'd came via the vent again. She turned around and leaned down to crawl inside, when her knee came into sharp contact with vent's metal panelling.

Searing pain engulfed her entire left leg, flowing upwards. She gritted her teeth, repressing her instinctual desire to scream out in agony. Unfortunately, it made a noticeable noise; a metallic clang rang out.

And it had been received.

_"I…s s…o...m...e...o…n…e t…h…e…r…e?"_ {Is someone there?} a smooth, yet curious voice called out, amidst its stuttering as its aged voice box struggle to process its words.

Rachel froze, keeping her mouth shut.

_"I c…a…n h…e…a…r s…o…m…e…o…n…e i…n…s…i…d…e t…h…i…s r…o…o…m,"_ {I can hear someone inside this room,} the voice remarked, along with several mechanical clicks as it moved its head from left to right.

The dancing music continued to play uninterrupted, a soft tune drifting through the tension.

_"I a…m c…e…r…t…a…i…n t…h…a…t I h…e…a…r…d s…o…m…e…t…h…i…n…g,"_ {I am certain that I heard something,} the voice said, sounding rather determined to find what had caused the noise.

Rachel knew that the one possessing the prop suit was another one of her victims, but she couldn't recall its name, although it was obviously a female.

_"Amy,"_ Balloon Boy muttered from within the depths of the subconsciousness.

_"She was such a nice person, always ready to help anyone."_

Then _Amy's_ voice erupted out of the darkness somewhere ahead of them, now sounding devious as if she knew something that they didn't.

_"I t…h…i…n…k I k…n…o…w w…h…o c…a…u…s…e…d t…h…a…t n…o…i…s…e,"_ {I think I know who caused that noise,} she amused, sending alarm bells off in Rachel's head.

Suddenly there came a scrapping sound, but it was rather fast for someone to be walking as they would normally be dragging their feet along the floor. However, the music that _'Amy' _was playing had a particular theme to it, growing louder and faster she approached.

The playful sound, the sweet rhythm, it was beautiful and yet it was distinctly called. Rachel's eyes widen as the music's origin exploded into being inside her head.

_"Ballerina music!"_

And _'Amy'_ wasn't walking, but gliding, enabling her to move fast unlike the others.

Rachel now willed herself to move, repressing the aching pain from her knee as she burst into action, clambering inside the vent. She crawled forward over the bubby unforgiving metal, aiming to put enough distance between her and _'Amy'_ as she pulled her legs inside.

Unfortunately, a roughed hand grabbed hold of one of her legs, a cold sensation ran up her spine as its grip tighten.

Instantly, her other leg was also grabbed, and she was pulled right out, the motion resulted in her sliding across the floor of the office.

_"I F…O…U…N…D Y…O…U!"_ {I FOUND YOU!} _'Amy_' yelled joyfully, striding over to Rachel, despite the protests from her aged joints.

Rachel scrambled up to her feet, but a foot kicked her in the back from behind, sending to the floor again face first. A pain erupted on the entire left side of her body, spreading like a wildfire.

She gripped her chest as it throbbed, feeling her rib bones ache.

_"H…E'S H…E…R…E G…U…Y…S!"_ (HE'S HERE GUYS!} _'Amy'_ shouted, her triumphant voice echoed down the hallway, ensuring that the wolves would hear their brethren's call and response accordingly.

Rachel slowly lifted her head, blood flowed from her nose which had already been bloodied. The flashlight had fallen out of her grip and had rolled away in the chaos, but the impact had caused it to turn on.

And it just so happened to be shining in the direction of the hallway, exposing the office to anyone who wanted to find it. Despite her hazy vision, she could see the Security Office for the first time in countless years. Memories came rushing back to her, running around the place with her friends in the summer of 1987.

Those were good days. . .

The harsh impact of a foot into her back ensured Rachel's swift return to reality, pain surged throughout her body, her muscles clenched.

A cold hand grasped her by the back of the neck, before tightening like an iron bond and lifted her upwards.

_'Amy'_ spoke in a victorious tone which dripped with immense excitement.

_"H…e…l…l…o B…a…l…l…o…o…n B…o…y, w…e…l…c…o…m…e b…a…c…k t…o t…h…e N…e…w a…n…d I…m…p…r…o…v…e…d F…r…e…d…d…y F…a…z…b…e…a…r's P…i…z…z…e…r…i…a, w...h...e...r...e f...u...n a...n...d f...a...n...t...a...s...y c...o...m...e t...o l...I...f...e," _{Hello Balloon Boy, welcome back to the New and Improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, where fun and fantasy come to life,} she sneered in her moment of triumph.

With her other hand, she turned Rachel around, whilst still maintaining a strong grip, so not to let her escape.

_"A…h…h…h!"_ {Ahhh!} she exclaimed, sounding surpised and her tone suddenly dropped.

_"I r…e…c…o…g…n…i…s…e t…h…o…s…e e…y…e…s,"_ {I recognise those eyes} she muttered curiously.

_"T…h…o…s…e c…o…l…d m…u…r…d…e…r…o…u…s e…y…e…s o…f a f…r…i…g…h…t…e…n…e…d c…h…i…l…d."_ {Those cold murderous eyes of a frightened child.}

Due to the position of the flashlight, Rachel couldn't actually see _'Amy'_, although there was a faint outline of a humanoid in front of her. The sounds of gears grinding and joints shifting echoed from down the hallway.

The wolves had found the scent and were following the trail.

_"Y…o…u r…e…c…o…g…n…i…s…e m…e d…o…n't y…o…u c…h…i…l…d, a…l…t…h…o…u…g…h I h…a…v…e c…h…a…n…g…e…d a…n…d n…o…t f…o…r t…h…e b…e…t…t…e…r c…l…e…a…r…l…y,"_ {You recognise me don't you child, although I have changed and not for the better clearly,} _'Amy'_ remarked, still sounding triumphant.

However, Rachel had no intention of looking at her, turning her head away. She didn't want to see what decades of neglect had done to a mangled corpse trapped inside a rusty mechanical suit.

With her feet, _'Amy'_ kicked the flashlight in her direction with the light now shining directly at her.

_"L…o…o…k a…t m…e?"_ {Look at me?} she asked, in a bittersweet tone.

Rachel didn't, keeping her gaze on anything else but her.

_"L…o…o…k a…t m…e!"_ {Look at me!} she asked again, now in a demanding tone to which Rachel refused to compel.

_'Amy'_ slowly brought Rachel close to her, her arm joints groaned slightly as they moved.

_"P…l…e…a…s…e l…o…o…k a…t m…e, d…o…n't y…o…u w…a…n…t t…o s…e…e w…h…a…t y…o…u h…a…v…e c…r…e…a…t…e…d?"_ {Please look at me, don't you want to see what you have created?}

Her voice was smug and insisting, not wanting to be denied her chance to bask in her moment of victory. Yet Rachel refused to, keeping her line of sight on the surrounding darkness.

Anything was better than looking at _'Amy'_.

Footsteps could be heard from the hallway, getting steadily louder as each one marked her approaching doom.

_"I w…a…s f…o…r…g…e…d i…n a…g…o…n…y a…n…d t…h…e…n c…a…s…t…e…d i…n…t…o t…h…e d…a…r…k…n…e…s…s l…i…k…e a n…e…w b…o…r…n,"_ {I was forged in agony and then casted into the darkness like a new born,} _'Amy'_ stated, slowly increasing her grip on Rachel's neck, intending to squeeze the life out of her.

_"T…h…e…n t…h…e…y f…o…u…n…d u…s, a…t f…i…r…s…t w…e t…h…o…u…g…h…t t…h…a…t t…h…e…y w…e…r…e t…h…e…m, t…h…a…n…k…f…u…l…l…y w…e r…e…a…l…i…s…e…d o…u…r m…i…s…t…a…k…e b…e…f…o…r…e w…e c…o…u…l…d b…l…u…d…g…e…o…n t…h…e…m t…o d…e…a…t…h."_ {Then they found us, at first, we thought that they were them, thankfully we realised our mistake before we could bludgeon them to death.}

_'They'_ were of the course Nightmares, given that they had similar appearances to the Fazbears.

_"T…h…e d…e…a…t…h o…f y…o…u…r f…a…m…i…l…y w…i…l…l s…e…t u…s f…r…e…e, w…e'll b…e c…o…m…p…l…e…t…e, a…b…l…e t…o f…i…n…a…l…l…y s…o…a…r a…n…d a…w…a…y f…r…o…m t…h…e…s…e c…h…a…i…n…s,"_ {The death of your family will set us free, we'll be complete, able to finally soar and away from these chains,} _'Amy'_ announced, joyfully, her end goal was in sight.

The sounds of grinding gears grew progressively louder as the shadows of five other people emerged from the darkness, spreading across the hallway floor that lit up by the flashlight.

_'Amy'_ further tighten her hold on Rachel's neck, bringing her in even closer.

_"Y…o…u k…n…o…w w…h…e…r...e b…a…d p…e…o…p…l…e g…o w…h…e…n t…h…e…y d…i…e, b…e…c…a…u…s…e t…h…i…s i…s w…h…e…r…e y…o…u…r s…t…o…r…y e…n…d…s."_ {You know where bad people go when they die, because this is where your story ends.}

Rachel could see the outline of _Amy's_ face as the light hit it, making the decayed plastic and metal shine. Yet, she refused to give her any satisfaction as the other possessed prop suits finally entered the room.

Rachel's heartbeat raced like it was on a marathon, hearing the creaking sounds of multiple joints behind her.

_"T…O…G…E…T…H…E…R A…G…A…I…N!" _{TOGETHER AGAIN!} one screamed in sadistic joy, clearly being _'David'_, serving to put Rachel into panic mode, if she wasn't already in it.

As all hope vanished from her eyes, Balloon Boy jumped in, offering Rachel a lifeline. "_Rachel, let me take back control, I can get us out of here," _he whispered urgently from the depths of her subconsciousness.

_"How?"_ she mentally asked back, as danger crept ever closer.

_"It's risky, but what isn't these days, however, I think I know where the key is,"_ BB hastily answered.

_"Where?" _Rachel asked.

_"Parts and Services," _he replied confidently.

Rachel paused momentarily before replying.

_"Ok, but how are we going to get out of this?"_

BB merely answered back with the phrase.

_"Just watch me."_

Consciously letting go, Rachel allowed herself to drift away into the depths of the subconscious. The arms dropped to the side, the head slumped forward and the white dots for pupils faded away, being replaced with baby blue.

_"I…r…o…n…i…c i…s…n't i…t, h…o…w t…h…e h…u...n…t…e…d b…e…c…o…m…e t…h…e h…u…n…t…e…r, w…e a…r…e a…l…l t…r…a…p…p…e…d, c…r…e…a…t…i…n…g a n…e…v…e…r-e…n…d…i…n…g c…i…r…c…l…e,"_ {Ironic isn't it, how the hunted become the hunter, we are all trapped, creating a never-ending circle,} _'Amy'_ muttered, sounding bittersweet. She didn't seem to have noticed the change in eye colour, continuing to speak.

_"Y…o…u're t…r…a…p…p…e…d, w…e a…r…e t…r…a…p…p…e…d, t…h…e N…i…g…h…t…m…a…r…e…s a…r…e t…r…a…p…p…e…d, e…v…e…r…y…o…n…e w…a…n…t…s t…o b…r…e…a…k f…r…e…e, b…u…t i…t a…l…w…a…y…s s…e…e…m…s t…o c…o…m…e a…t a p…r…i…c…e f…o…r s…o…m…e…o…n…e e…l…s…e."_ {You're trapped, we are trapped, the Nightmares are trapped, everyone wants to break free, but it always seems to come at a price for someone else.}

Upon regaining full control of his body, BB's eyes darted about, trying to quickly spot the nearest escape route. He knew what he needed to do, no more hunting, no more playing hide and seek with monsters in the dark.

His chances were slim, but he had to be optimistic.

_"T…h…i…s t…i…m…e h…o…w…e…v…e…r, y…o…u'll k…n…o…w h…o…w i…t f…e…e…l…s t…o g…e…t 's…t…u…f…f…e…d'!"_ {This time however, you'll know how it feels to get 'stuffed'!} _'Amy'_ hissed, her voice suddenly followed by the sounds of something snapping.

Something mechanical. . .

Then it dawned on BB what she was going to do, his eyes went wide with horror.

_"T…h…e…r…e i…s b…a...r…e…l…y e…n…o…u…g…h s…p…a…c…e l…e…f…t f…o…r y…o…u i…n h…e…r…e."_ {There is barely enough space left for you in here.}

Instantly, not desiring to wait for the inevitable to happen, BB leaned his head back and then with full force, headbutted _'Amy'_ in the face. A horrifying sound echoed throughout the room, the other possessed prop suits actually shuddered at the sound.

The impact shocked _'Amy'_, she never expected BB to attempt such an aggressive move without the flashlight.

She staggered backwards, letting go of BB's neck, he dropped to the floor as she struggled to regain control of her balance, falling sideways into the office desk, making a heavy thud. The impact with her face, a rough combination of metal and hard plastic had clearly stunned BB, nor had it done any good to his facial injuries.

However, he forced himself to move, just as the other possessed prop suits came out of their collective shock and pounced.

_"N…O, T…H…I…S. E…N…D…S. H…E…R…E!"_ {NO, THIS. ENDS. HERE!} _'Laura' _yelled in anger, seeing her companion's dilemma.

She quickly moved to strike BB, but he dogged her and went straight for the flashlight that had been lying on the floor the entire time. Gripping in his hand, BB ran forward, straight towards the other possessed prop suits.

Yet, before any of them could act, he shone the flashlight right at them, its brightness going straight into their eyes, blinding them with its intensity. Some covered their eyes, others screamed immense pain as BB raced through them, keeping his eyes forward, dazing away into the darkness.

They would have attempted to grab him if they could, but the bright light had frozen them in agony. However, when the light mercifully died down, they were quick to recover from being blinded.

Turning round in the direction that BB had just gone, only one emotion existed amongst them. Rage, unbridled, hell raising rage based from a justified feeling of victimhood.

Rasped heavy breathing echoed from their rusted and decayed mouth holes. Bone scrapped against metal and plastic, as they willed the joints to move as their spirits were strong. Anger, despair and fear bubbled away inside them, a swirling cauldron of negative emotions amassing together to form a collective mood that was liked to a storm that was as aggressive as it was mighty. Their facial plates twitched in and out of place ever so briefly, never revealing what lay behind them. Yet, it did reveal their irritation, an eagerness to finish what they came here to do in this tomb of the past.

Letting go of the mental bonds that was barely keeping their emotions in check, they let out a collective scream of aggressive fury that echoed throughout the whole building, making their feelings very clear. . .well, all but one of them did.

And then they charged on mass, running into the darkness that embraced them openly as the monsters that they were forced to become.

For salvation was worth any price, even committing the vilest acts of humanity, because how far would you go for revenge?

The hunt was on. . .

* * *

(Begin the song here if you wish.)

_We are pulled inside the darkness of the main hallway, echos of the past line the walls. Childlike laughter drifts through the air, memories of fun appear like ghosts, briefly taking the pizzeria back to its glory days._

_Suddenly the focus cuts straight to Balloon Boy running for his life, flashlight in hand._

_He breaths in fast as his heart races._

_His footsteps hit the smooth floor hard as the shadows chase him._

"**One step at a time, I'm going outta my mind."**

_Mechanical groans echo off the walls_ _ **.** _

**"I'm being hunted by something primal."**

_Cuts to the possessed prop suits twitching uncontrollably._

**"They're just simple machines, yet tainted souls they seem."**

_Hours feel like days._

**"For five nights I'll fear for my survival"**

_A decayed metallic fist tightens in rage._

**"Are they mechanical?"**

_Shows them stalking the hallways._

**"They hunt like animals."**

_Bodies jerk unnaturally_ **.**

**"Freezing for seconds while I see their corpses."**

_BB's eyes go wide with fear._

**"I'm getting panicked now."**

_Nearby doors suddenly slam shut._

**"I'm locking this place down."**

_The presence of Nightmare trickery feels very real._

**"I'm feeling watched by unnatural forces."**

_A mechanical scream compels him to run faster._

**"Looks like I'd better run for my life, I'll never be in one piece to see night five!"**

_His enemies hunt him like wolves._

**"I've got eleven on my tail, with no time to think of a way to survive, mechanical instinct."  
**

_Shows David's decayed body twitching about at all angels as he stalks the hallway._

**"Kk, kk, kk, mechanical instinct."  
**

_BB meanwhile unlocks Party Room 4, dashing inside to grab the hidden item._

_He takes the miniature version of Freddy's top hat and stuffs it inside his trouser pocket. _

_Upon hearing a tortured scream, he turns around in fear with his heart in his mouth._

**"Just an hour more, I'm closer than before, to making it out of this ghastly madhouse."**

_His mind is awash with tension._

**"I'm feeling desperate, I'm starting to regret, taking my chances with no way out."**

_Loud creaks and groans resonate throughout the dark._

**"Who's walking down the hall?"**

**"I can't keep track of them all."**

_Amy's ballerina music drifts through the air._

"**A music box plays my dying song."**

_BB puts on a brave face._

**"This is my one escape, the mask still on my face."**

_Yet they know where he is._

**"But they have known I've been here all along."  
**

_He runs out of the room and legs it to Parts and Service._

**"Looks like I'd better run for my life."**

_His pursuers follow_ **.**

**"I'll never be in one piece to see night five!"**

_They are relentless._

**"I've got eleven on my tail, with no time to think of a way to survive, mechanical instinct."**

_Jessica twitches uncontrollably as she forces her body to move._

**"Kk, kk, kk, mechanical instinct."  
**

_Rushing into Parts and Service, BB notices a glowing panel in the back wall._

_He seizes the moment and pulls its aside to reveal a small golden key._

_However, as he grabs it, the possessed prop suits pile into the room, blocking off the only exit._

**"Here, all alone in the darkness."**

_They close in._

**"Why, can't I escape their soulless eyes?"**

_BB's back hits the wall._

**"It's a lost cause now."**

_The creaks of their mechanical bodies draw ever near._

**"They've got my scent, and I can't get out."**

_He can see the rough outline of one now bearing over him._

**"Now, I'm afraid to look because they, are just the beasts who hunt me down."**

_A decayed plastic/metal hand reaches out for him._

**"With no way fight back, the night is already over."  
**

_With one last shot, he turns on the flashlight, blasting it right in the eyes._

_It staggers backwards into the others._

_Taking the chance, BB with the key in hand, bursts through the crowd, avoiding all attempts to seize him._

_Screaming in a blood culling rage, they chase him as he legs it to the door to the stage, seeking escape from the nightmare._

**"Looks like I'd better run for my life."**

_BB's instincts scream at him to keep running._

**"I'll never be in one piece to see night five!"**

_They reach out to grab him._

**"I've got eleven on my tail, with no time to think."**

_The tension is rising._

**"Of a way to survive, mechanical instinct."**

_BB reaches the door._

"**Looks like I'd better run for my life."**

_He jams the key in and turns it._

**"I'll never be in one piece to see night five!"**

_The door won't open._

**"I've got eleven on my tail, with no time to think."**

_BB frantically tugs at the door handle._

**"Of a way to survive, mechanical instinct."  
**

_He suddenly feels a shadow fall over him, making him hesitantly turn to look up._

_A terrible sight meets his eyes._

**"Mechanical instinct!"**

_In the glow of the flashlight, he sees a mixed row of decayed metal and human teeth appearing out of the darkness. _

_The metallic joints twitch, pulling the row of teeth into a crooked murderous smile._

**"Mechanical instinct!"**

_(The song fades out as it ends.)_

* * *

Balloon Boy felt a sudden painful punch to his stomach, making him fall onto his knees, just as a mechanical arm elbowed him hard in the throat, having the air taken right out of his lungs.

The flashlight was torn right out of his hand, its brightness now lighting up its new owner, who was very clear for BB to see. They had crowded around him, trapping him against the door, there was nowhere left for him to run.

The golden key was still in the lock and the door itself remained closed, much to his despair.

Why hadn't it opened?

He had clearly won the game that the Nightmares had set out for him, but of course they wouldn't let him go. They would never play fair, it was in their nature to be deceptive and yet he had played into the idea that they would honour their own rules.

Now look where that had got him. . .

Before he could pick himself up and recover from the initial assault, a cold metallic hand grabbed him by the throat and hauled him upwards, without much care to his wellbeing. In the glow of the flashlight his attacker was now as clear as day, as were their companions who stood behind them in a solidary manner. BB stared at his foes, taking in every detail, the tension made the surrounding air thick as uncertainty crept in.

They held similar characteristics but looked different enough to be separated from one another.

The one holding him, and the flashlight was a prime example.

Its body was roughly human in shape and its brownish/greyish skin was a mixture of rusted metal and hard plastic. Yet it had heavily decayed, suffering many holes, hanging wires and exposed internal gears. However, the most shocking thing visible was the dried blood that covered the edges of the various holes that peppered its body. Within the holes themselves, BB could just make out what looked like dented and cracked bones.

When the spring locks had been activated, they had impaled and then ripped the body to shreds.

Some of its fingers were missing as were its toes and yet it was miracle that it could stand, let alone walk or run. However, the soul inside willed the body to move despite its poor condition. Their determination for revenge pushed them onwards as their bodies rotted away, weakening its ability to hold itself together.

Yet it was the head that held BB's attention the most, again it could be described as visibly human in appearance despite its battered state.

A thin line ran down its centre from top to bottom, splitting the face into two halves. In fact, its chest held the same design upon a closer look, looking as if it could split wide open and revealed the dreaded contents within.

Contents that Balloon Boy did not want to see.

Going back to the face, it only had one ear, that being its left, the other was nothing but a mixture of stretched out broken wire ends.

The mouth which held a murderous smile, housed a visible collection of rusted metallic teeth that belonged its internal endoskeleton and the remnants of its unwilling human inhabitant.

And finally, there were the eyes. . .those vacant black holes for eyes that gazed back at him with an unreadable expression. The eyebrows were not in any downward slant to suggest aggression, although BB was in no doubt as to how it perceived him.

Then it cocked its head slightly to one side, as if it was properly examining him for the first time.

And then it laughed, being full of humour and joy, revealing the identity of the soul that possessed it.

_Henry . . ._

_"Y…o…u l…o…s…t!"_ {You lost!} he hissed, before brutally smacking him in the side with the flashlight.

A flare of immense aching pain erupted into being as BB fell to the floor, with the back of his head hitting the door. He felt dizzy, his head was spinning as exhaustion spread through him like a disease.

His neck hurt as did his back and his nose threated to bleed again. Every fibre of his being was tired, even though he still felt tense, given the circumstances as his enemies towered over him.

A sharp kick to his stomach brought him back to focus, as _'Henry'_ gloated.

_"G…i…v…i…n…g u…p s…o e…a…s…i…l…y a…f…t…e…r s…u…c…h a c…h…a…s…e, p…i…t…y, w…e w…a…n…t…e…d t…o s…e…e y…o…u b…e…g f…i…r…s…t, l…i…k…e w…e d…i…d." _{Giving up so easily after such a chase, pity, we wanted to see you beg first, like we did.}

A pair of hands suddenly reached down grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him up off the floor for a second time.

The touch was cold and held no love to it.

BB was then shoved hard against the door with a thud, which resulted in pain racing up his back. It blurred his vision for a moment, but _Henry's_ face came into view as he leaned in close, still gripping him by the shoulders as he had handed the flashlight over to one of his comrades.

_'Henry'_ had leaned in so close that BB could see right into his vacant holes for eyes, yet his eyebrows had now shifted into a downwards slant, giving off the expression of annoyance.

_"Y…o...u s…m…i…l…e…d a…s I d…i…e…d, I r…e…m…e…m…b…e…r m…y d…e…a…t…h w…i…t…h i…m…m...e…n…s…e d…e…t…a…i…l, e…v…e…n t…h…e p…a…i…n n…e…v…e…r t…r…u…l…y l…e…f…t m…e. B…u…t t…h…e…r…e w…a…s a l…o…o…k o…f s…w…e…e…t s…a…t…i…s…f…a…c…t…i…o…n o…n y…o…u…r f…a…c…e a…s T…o…y C…h…i…c…a p…u…s…h…e…d t…h…e s…u…i…t c…l…o…s…e…d, c…r…u…s…h…i…n…g m…e,"_ {You smiled as I died, I remember my death with immense detail, even the pain never truly left me. But there was a look of sweet satisfaction on your face as Toy Chica pushed the suit closed, crushing me,} he spoke with a firm conviction and an undertone of both hatred and satisfaction.

_"Y…o…u w…e…r…e a…l…l l…a…u…g…h…i…n…g, f…i…n…d…i…n…g i…t t…o b…e s…o f…u…n…n…y, c…a…l…l…i…n…g m…e n…a…m…e…s t…h…a…t I d…i…d…n't u…n…d…e…r…s…t…a…n…d t…h…e…n, b…u…t n…o…w I k…n…o…w t…h…a…t y…o…u w…e…r…e a…f…t…e…r V…i…n…c…e…n…t A…f…t…o…n."_ {You were all laughing, finding it to be so funny, calling me names that I didn't understand then, but now I know that you were after Vincent Afton.}

_"Y…o…u w…e…r…e a…l…l e…n…j…o…y…i…n…g i…t, k…i…l…l…i…n…g, w…a…t…c…h…i…n…g u…s g…e…t…t…i…n…g r…i…p…p…e…d a…p…a…r…t b…y t…h…e s…p…r…i…n…g…l…o…c…k…s, s…a…y…i…n…g h…o…w w…e d…e…s…e…r…v…e…d i…t,"_ {You were all enjoying it, killing, watching us getting ripped apart by the springlocks, saying how we deserved it,}_ 'David'_ growled, standing on the side-lines.

_"I l…a…s…t s…a…w B…o…n…n…i…e g…l…a…r…i…n…g a…t m…e w…i…t…h s…u…c…h h…a…t…r…e…d a…n…d I d…i…d…n't u…n…d…e…r…s…t…a…n…d w…h…y b…a…c…k t…h…e…n, i…t s…e…e…m…e…d s…p…o…k…e s…e…n…s…e…l…e…s…s,"_ {I last saw Bonnie glaring at me with such hatred and I didn't understand why back then, it seemed spoke senseless,} _'Laura'_ muttered with immense venom in her voice.

Yet _'Amy'_ spoke up with eager hatred.

_"W…H…E…R…E A…R…E O…U…R B…O…D…I…E…S?"_ {WHERE ARE OUR BODIES?} she yelled, leaning forward to make her point clear and direct.

_"W…H…E…R…E D…I…D Y…O…U B…U…R…R…Y T…H…E…M?"_ {WHERE DID YOU BURRY THEM?}

She was the only one in a ballerina pose, standing on her ankles with her arms above her head in an elegant position. Technically, she couldn't walk or run, lacking the ability to do so. Shakily BB answered her question, his voice was low as he forced himself to speak, scared at their reaction.

He wanted to look at the floor, but he somehow forced himself to keep eye contact.

"We. . .buried. . . them. . . outback."

Their reaction was swift.

_'Amy'_ acted first, attempting to throttle him.

_"H…I…D…I…N…G Y…O…U…R C…R…I…M…E, I S…H…O…U…L…D E…X…P…E…C…T N…O…T…H…I…N…G L…E…S…S F…R…O…M Y…O…U, Y…O…U F…A…Z…B…E…A…R…S W…I…L…L B…U…R…N I…N H…E…L…L!"_ {HIDING YOUR CRIME, I SHOULD EXPECT NOTHING LESS FROM YOU, YOU FAZBEARS WILL BURN IN HELL!} she screamed, in a tone that was entirely composed of anger.

Then _'Jessica'_ jumped into the action, trying to score a blow.

_"W…E W…I…L…L C…R…A…W…L O…U…R W…A…Y O…U…T A…N…D D…R…A…G O…U…R…S…E…L…V…E…S A…C…R…O…S…S T…H…E E…A…R…T…H T…O F…I…N…D Y…O…U A…N…D W…E K…N…O…W W…H…E…R…E Y…O…U A…L…L A…R…E!"_ {WE WILL CRAWL OUR WAY OUT AND DRAG OURSELVES ACROSS THE EARTH TO FIND YOU AND WE KNOW WHERE YOU ALL ARE!}

Yet both were held back by _'Henry'_, given that he occupied the space before Balloon Boy.

_"Y…o…u a…n…d I a…r…e v…e…r…y a…l…i…k…e B…B, t…o…r…m…e…n…t…e…d, I u…n…d…e…r…s…t…a…n…d n…o…w, t…h…e d…e…s…i…r…e t…o e…s…c…a…p…e a n…e…v…e…r e…n…d…i…n…g h…e…l…l, b…u…t y…o…u a…n…d y…o…u…r f…a…m…i…l…y a…r…e o…u…r t…i…c…k…e…t t…o f…r…e…e…d…o…m."_ {You and I are very alike BB, tormented, I understand now, the desire to escape a never ending hell, but you and your family are our ticket to freedom.}

Then he gave a cold smile with his mouth joints creaking in motion as they pulled the corners upwards.

_"A…n…d w…e w…i…l…l t…a…k…e i…t w…i…t…h…o…u…t q…u…e…s…t…i…o…n." _{And we will take it without question.}

The others joined him in smiling, sensing their vengeance was close at hand and each expression carried a deep foreboding for BB.

_"P…e…r…s…o…n…a…l…l…y, w…e d…o…n't c…a…r…e a…b…o…u…t y…o…u…r f…e…u…d w…i…t…h V…i…n…c…e…n…t, h…e's g…o…i…n…g t…o h…e…l…l a…n…y…w…a…y w…h…e…n h…e d…i…e…s, s…o y…o…u'll a…l…l h…a…v…e s…o…m…e c…o…m…p…a…n…y a…t l…e…a…s…t."_ {Personally, we don't care about your feud with Vincent, he's going to hell anyway when he dies, so you'll all have some company at least.}

_"A…l…t…h…o…u…g…h, I d…o w…o…n…d…e…r w…h…y V…i…n…c…e…n…t d…i…d w…h…a…t h…e d…i…d, k…i…l…l…i…n…g k…i…d…s, i…t's e…a…s…y t…o c…o…n…c…l…u…d…e t…h…a…t h…e h…a…s a s…i…c…k o…b…s…e…s…s…i…o…n, b…u…t h…i…s p…e…r…s…i…s…t…e…n…t n…a…t…u…r…e a…n…d a…p…p…a…r…e…n…t f…o…c…u…s o…n y…o…u l…o…t s…u…g…g…e…s…t…s o…t…h…e…r…w…i…s…e." _{Although, I do wonder why Vincent did what he did, killing kids, it's easy to conclude that he has a sick obsession, but his persistent nature and apparent focus on you lot suggests otherwise.}

Then_ 'David'_ jumped in.

_"I w…o…u…l…d s…a…y t…h…e s…a…m…e t…h…i…n…g a…b…o…u…t t…h…e N…i…g…h…t…m…a…r…e…s, t…r…y…i…n…g t…o f…o…r…c…e a…n o…u…t…c…o…m…e, w…a…n…t…i…n…g t…o b…r…e…a…k t…h…e…i…r o…w…n c…h…a…i…n…s."_ {I would say the same thing about the Nightmares, trying to force an outcome, wanting to break their own chains.}

BB's eyes went wide with curiosity, but the thought to ask further was shoved into the depths of his mind by the overwhelming sense of fear that he was currently feeling. No doubt that his feeling of panic had reached Rachel, who he could sense was trying to make herself as small as possible. She was just as scared as he was, whispering back in a sobbing tone.

_"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"_

_'Henry'_ then leaned in close, so close that BB's nose made contact with the rough metal/plastic shell.

All he could see now was_ 'Henry'_ staring back at him, his cold hateful expression being very apparent.

_"I w…a…n…t t…o b…e t…h…e l…a…s…t t…h…i…n…g y…o…u s…e…e, j…u…s…t l…i…k…e m…e, a…n…d t…h…e…n t…h…e c…y…c…l…e w…i…l…l b…e c…o…m…p…l…e…t…e, a…n…d h…e…a…v…e…n w…i…l…l o…p…e…n i…t…s g…a…t…e…s f…o…r u…s,"_ {I want to be the last thing you see, just like me, then the cycle will be complete, and heaven will open its gates for us,} his tone was both stern and bitter.

_"O…r p…e…r…h…a…p…s, w…e h…a…v…e t…o k…i…l…l a…l…l o…f y…o…u…r f…a…m…i…l…y t…o t…r…u…l…y b…e…c…o…m…e f…r…e…e, b…u…t w…i…t…h t…h…e N…i…g…h…t…m…a…r…e…s' h…e…l…p t…h…a…t w…o…n't b…e m…u…c…h o…f a p…r…o…b…l…e…m."_ {Or perhaps, we have to kill all of your family to truly become free, but with the Nightmares' help that won't be much of a problem.} He had said the last part in a smug tone, sensing that the long wait was finally over.

Using his body to keep Balloon Boy pin up against the door, he grasped his neck with both hands. Their cold touch against his soft warm skin made BB winch slightly in response.

_"D…i…e. . . " _{Die. . .}

_'Henry'_ let out an electrical mechanical scream that his aged voice box struggled to transmit, but it had the desired effect as it visibly terrified BB.

And then. . . his face and chest plates swung wide open, fully revealing the conquences of being stuffed inside the suit.

A dried, decayed human skull, covered in blood and impanelled at all angles greeted Balloon Boy's horror filled eyes.

The metal crossbeams and wires had forced their way in and the frozen expression of the skull was one of sheer unimageable pain, despite its lack of eyes which had long rotted away. The voice box and endo jaw had been thrusted into what would have his throat, crushing his own voice box and jaw, making him reliant on it in order to speak.

His chest area had faired no different, broken rib bones entwined with the metal endoskeleton, having severed and ripped apart the veins and arteries that connected his heart to the rest of his body and having seriously punctured his liver, stomach and lungs. Yet it didn't kill him outright, instead giving him a long agonising death in which every minute felt like an hour as he bled out.

_"T…h…e…r…e w…a…s f…u…n a…n…d f…a…n…t…a…s…y f…r…o…m w…h…e…r…e I c…a…m…e f…r…o…m a…n…d I w…i…l…l g…e…t i…t s…o…o…n a…g…a…i…n,"_ {There was fun and fantasy from where I came from and I will get it soon again,} '_Henry'_ remarked, referring upon Fazbear Entertainment's famous slogan.

Then his hands began to squeeze BB's throat, cutting into his windpipe.

_"B…u…t t…h…e…r…e'll b…e n…o…n…e f…o…r y…o…u, o…r y…o…u…r w…r…e…t…c…h…e…d f…a…m…i…l…y!"_ {But there'll be none for you, or your wretched family!}

He sneered, triumphantly, tightening his hold.

Balloon Boy gasped for air and grabbed _Henry's _hands, but his attempts to pull them loose were to no avail. His legs kicked at the combined frame of human bone and endoskeleton metal, but it did nothing to deter _Henry's_ efforts.

The pressure increase, as his lungs screamed for fresh air and his vision started to go black around the edges. He could feel immense panic from Rachel within the depths of his subconsciousness, like a caged animal desperately rattling away at the bars, trying to escape its impending fate.

She was crying out in fear and probably had not done so since her first years as a trapped soul at the pizzeria, after Puppet had found her an _'unwilling and unknowing'_ vessel in the form of BB himself. Balloon Boy's gasps become more restricted as his mind started to stagnant due to a lack of oxygen. Images flashed before his eyes, each one for a moment in his short life, as a sense of slumber settled over his mind, even though it was consumed by terror.

He knew it was death calling him to its sweet embrace, but he didn't want to take it.

_'Henry'_ in no doubt was enjoying every second of it, yet he maintained his cold hateful expression as his skull stared back at BB. The other possessed prop suits had peeked over from behind and had also opened their faceplates, revealing their frozen expressions of pain to BB. Each one carried a sorry tale of despair, agony and hate, which provided them with the ability to keep going, like blood does to the human heart. However, in his state of panic, something registered in his brain was quickly drowning in terror.

There were only five possessed prop suits, the sixth was missing.

Had _'Richard'_ refused to take part?  
He hadn't seen _Richard's_ form, so he couldn't recognise him, but had he gone back on his word so quickly?

Yet Balloon Boy's vision was already fading, everything was now becoming burled, steadily mixing together to form unreadable shapes and colours. Sound began to drift away, his gasps for air which were now becoming increasingly irregular sounded muffled.

His mind seemed to sink into a relaxed mood, drowning in its depths, as his fear and panic were washed away by a tide of inner content.

Even Rachel's mental waves of terror had grown less noticeable, maybe she was struggling to reach him as the embrace of death was cutting her off, or perhaps she was also sinking like him. His increasingly inactive mind barely picked up an audible whisper from _'Henry'_, made worse by his degraded voice box.

_"W…e a…r…e a c…r…u…e…l r…e…f…l…e…c…t…i…o…n o…f w…h…a…t y…o…u h…a…v…e c…r…e…a…t…e…d." _{We are a cruel reflection of what you have created.}

BB couldn't care less as sleep seemed to finally overcome him, dragging him ever downwards. His final thoughts that flickered in and out of his mind's eye were questions centred on the other Fazbears.

Did they know what was happening to him?

Where was Goldie?

Where was Mari?

Where were Foxy and Freddy?

What of the other Ghost Children?

Why hadn't anyone come to save him?

In his fading vision, he could just make out _'Henry'_, still glaring at him as he seemed to slump down to the floor. He would be the last thing he saw, he would get his revenge and BB wouldn't.

Who says that life is fair?

'_Henry'_ then appeared to look upwards, looking slightly above BB.

The others followed his gaze, having either noticed or heard something worthy of their attention. Instantly something behind Balloon Boy gave away and he suddenly fell backwards. '_Henry'_ followed him as he was still holding tightly onto his throat, falling forward. Their combined impact with the floor, jolted _Henry's_ grip, weakening it as his body collided with BB's.

Fresh air filtered its way down into BB's lungs as he instinctively inhaled. His vision improved slightly, enough to see _'Henry' _lift his head up to look forward and –

SMACK!

CRUNCH!

Suddenly something sharply impacted _'Henry'_ in the face, something narrow and straight in a blackish colour. There was a high pitched electrical scream of immense pain, followed by a heavy thud as _'Henry'_ fell backwards onto the floor.

The other possessed prop suits, although still seen as blurs of colour charged forward in the defence of their injured comrade. Balloon Boy felt the sensation of someone stepping over him, although he couldn't quite make out the figure.

Yet a single colour stood out.

Red, the figure was red.

Foxy?

Had they come after all?

There was a quick blur of movement from the figure in the form of a slashing and stabbing motion, as they confronted the possessed prop suits. Aggressive screams and metallic thuds filled the air, although they still sounded muffled to Balloon Boy as his hearing was just beginning to return.

Suddenly, he felt three pair of hands grab hold of him by the shoulders, lifting him up.

They held him steady, as he lacked the strength to stand.

Freddy, Bonnie and Chica, they had come at last.

With their arms wrapped around his shoulders and chest, they pulled him away from the fight and into the darkness that lay beyond the open door.

Everything faded away into the distance as BB fell asleep from fatigue, both his body and mind felt exhausted after what he had just been through. He couldn't even mentally reach out to Rachel, but he didn't have strength to care at this point as he was carried away.

Yet one sound followed him into the dark, a resounding cry of both determination and defiance at what fate had just delivered them, when salvation was so close.

_"W…E W…I…L…L F…I…N…D Y…O…U!"_ {WE WILL FIND YOU!}

_"W…E W…I…L…L C…O…M…E A…N…D F…I…N…D Y…O…U!"_ {WE WILL COME AND FIND YOU!}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter effectively wraps up the introduction of the Possessed Prop Suits, but as evident by their last lines this won't be their only appearance. ;-)  
I hope that you found them interesting.  
Please review, I appreciate your feedback and thanks for reading.


	37. Echos of the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here's chapter 37.
> 
> This one is fairly big and I had a lot of fun writing it. :-)
> 
> I do apologise for any grammar mistakes, as there will be some as always.
> 
> Also, there is a sing along song in this one and its Crawling by CG5.  
Enjoy :-)

** Chapter 37. **

** Echoes of the Past. **

"_**In the morning you will wake, or in the morning you could be dead."**_

**Sammy Lawrence from Bendy and the Ink Machine by the Meatly.**

"_W…E W…I…L…L C…O…M…E A…N…D F…I…N…D Y…O…U!" _{WE WILL COME AND FIND YOU!}

Those words flooded back to Balloon Boy as suddenly jolted himself upright, his senses on full alert as fear swept through like a wave crashing onto the shore.

And like a wave, it quickly passed as his immediate surroundings held no danger to him.

Still breathing quickly as his inner tension began to subside, he looked around, finding himself to be sitting on the floor of where he was.

The area itself was lit, more than enough for him to see clearly. As it turned out, it was a rather large room, that the overhanging lights struggled to cover, leaving the corners in shadow. Looking down at the floor, he saw that it was reflective, casting his reflection right back at him. He looked like he had been through hell and back, with his body having several purplish bruises around his neck, on his back and shoulders. His nose had stopped bleeding thankfully, but it was evident that he had been bleeding a lot.

His whole body started to ache as his sense of feeling returned, making him grit his teeth, repressing the pain.

Slowly, he pushed himself off the floor, his arm muscles ached in protest to the move, but BB ignored it. Gazing around the room, he noted that everything was quiet, too quiet. Taking a few wobbly steps forward, trying to readjust his balance, the sounds echoed through the stale air as his feet made contact with the polished floor. His sense of fear hadn't truly disappeared and for good reason, given what he had just been through.

"_WE WILL COME AND FIND YOU!"_ Those words echoed inside his head, they would come for him and the others.

They made their intentions very clear. BB could see them in his mind's eye, dragging themselves out of the ground behind the pizzeria and making their way across the nation to find the Fazbears, regardless of whatever obstacles stood in their way.

And yet their reasoning was understandable, and BB felt immensely guilty for it.

Everyone felt guilty about what they had done to their former friends, but no one's guilt was as great as Puppet's. Given what she had see and done, it was a status that she had earned, although understandably it was not a title, she wanted by means of imagination. Yet, she was there at the beginning, encountering the first ghost child who Vincent had killed outside Fredbear's Family Diner. She had given the first lot of ghost children a new home within Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Goldie, although she hadn't informed them of her decision.

At the time she was desperate to save them from the enteral despair of death that was claiming them. Hoping that giving them a vessel would provide some comfort amidst their new harsh reality. However, her action had thrusted her into an uneasy situation, as she knew or largely suspected that Vincent was the killer, based on the memories of ghost child that now resided inside of her. Yet she couldn't prove that it was him and obviously Vincent wouldn't do anything that would incriminate himself.

So, for a long time when the second pizzeria was opened for business, Puppet watched Vincent and he watched her in return, while the others were largely unaware.

Yet, she was in the deep end, unable to expose Vincent or find a way to help those who she had taken under her care. Because when the ghost children began to possess the Originals at night, searching for their killer with vicious intent, she couldn't do anything to stop them.

She was even forced to fight to maintain control over herself, as the ghost child whose soul had found refuge inside, attempted to gain dominance. In the end it didn't take long for them to become restless with despair and anger. It was an internal fire that she could never put out and it strained her mental state, trying to do so much at once, while Vincent wandered about her carefree.

Balloon Boy sighed at the memory of seeing her looking so gloomy and depressed in her music box. He felt sorry for her, often thinking that it was the constant requirement of having to entertain horde after horde of children. He had attempted to cheer her up, strike up a conversation, being the enteral opportunist that he was, but she merely replied with simple phrases that were meant to cut the conversation short.

Looking into her white dots for eyes, which he always thought were like diamonds in a clear night sky, he could see that something was bothering her. Little did he or the others know just how deep her pain ran, like a tree whose roots could never be removed from the soil that they clung to. Closing his eyes for a moment and he could see her, all alone and cold inside, while the rest of the pizzeria moved on around her in its festive joyous atmosphere.

* * *

_Flashback. . ._

_The New and Improved Fazbear Pizzeria, July 1987._

_"Here's your balloon, please do come again, we are open all summer long!" Balloon Boy exclaimed, handing a yellow balloon to a boy, who was the last one in the queue._

_"Thanks BB," the boy replied graciously, taking the balloon, before rushing off to join the crowd of other children, who were waiting before the show stage for the Toys' sing along._

_With his collection of balloons gone, BB decided to have a wander around until someone came to him with a fresh batch. Toys Freddy, Bonnie and Chica were behind the stage, getting ready to go, properly about to preform one of their classic hits._

_Turning in the direction of Kid's Cove, Mangle could be seen entertaining the littler kids with fairly tale stories, this one happened to be Little Red Riding Hood._

_"And the Big Bad Wolf said, all the better for eating you my dear!" She exclaimed reenacting the scene and spooking several of the children, who gripped eachother in fear._

_Taking his attention elsewhere, BB spied Puppet in her music box handing out prize plushies to the children who had beaten the arcade games._

_And she didn't seem to be all to happy when doing it._

_"Here's your Bonnie plushie, congratulations for winning," she remarked dispassionately, although the girl seemed to be very happy about getting her prize plushie to notice._

_"Thanks!" she beamed joyously._

_Then another child, a boy wandered up, presenting his series of golden ticket strands as proof of his victory._

_"May I have a Foxy plushie please?" He asked, pointing to it on the shelves. Puppet responded by reaching out for it. Taking the soft plushie with both hands, she plucked it off its shelf and then dropped it into his edger hands._

_"Thank you!" He responded eagerly, before racing off to join the growing horde that faced the stage in preparation for the upcoming show._

_As Puppet continued to hand out the remaining plushies, Balloon Boy walked over. She seemed to have noticed him approaching, as her eyes turned in his direction briefly before returning to her duties. With the last child to be given a plushie racing past BB, Puppet now turned her full gaze towards him._

_"How are things?" Balloon Boy asked casually, striking up a conversation._

_Puppet sighed, seeming to drop to her knees and gripped the edges of her music box._

_"Hard going as usual, but each day brings a larger crowd," she replied, sounding as if she didn't like her line of work._

_Her white dots for eyes which shined like stars in the night sky narrowed, clearly expressing her sullen mood as she pushed her raven black hair behind her ears._

_She then continued with._

_"If you are looking for more balloons then you wouldn't find them here, go and find a staff member, they'll get you more."_

_Normally, that would be her way of saying 'I don't want to talk right now', but BB merely asked another question._

_"You think that children can be greedy, if so then who is worse, boys or girls?"_

_Puppet then turned her gaze towards the large crowd of children that amassed before the main stage, awaiting the Toys with excitement._

_"It really depends on the individual child BB, some are nice, and others are not," she muttered coldly, as if it was a hard fact of life, which in many cases it was._

_"Well as long as they are happy and safe," Balloon Boy remarked, referring back to the infamous Missing Children' Incident that had nearly killed the entire franchise, less than five years ago._

_Puppet instantly knew what he was on about as her eyes narrowed, her grip on the box's edges noticeably tighten. Returning her focus onto him, BB could see a sternness in her, almost as if she passionately disliked what he had just said._

_"How would you define 'safety' BB?" she enquired, her tone was cold, instantly putting BB on the spot._

_It was like she was bearing down on him, demanding an answer._

_"Keeping them within your line of sight, have security cameras and bodyguards!" he replied hastily, feeling somewhat small whilst under her piercing gaze._

_His facial expression emitted panic and instantly Puppet's hard stone gaze dropped, vanishing as if it never existed. She bowed her head, putting one of her hands to it, as if she was trying to steady herself._

_"Sorry BB, I didn't mean to put you on edge, it's just. . ."_

_She trailed off, not seeming to know why she had acted the way she did._

_Her mouth moved as she seemed to mutter under her breath, but made no sound, leaving BB to guess at what she had said._

_Taking his own initiative BB walked forward until he was right beside her. B_ _eing up close he could see that her expression was one of sorrow and regret at being so brittle moments earlier._

_"Are you ok?" He asked slowly, he already knew the answer, but he wanted to get proper confirmation from her._

_With him being so close and wearing a expression of concern, Puppet could not ignore him._

_"I am fine. . .mostly," she replied, breathing in deeply, although BB suspected otherwise._

_He could read her face more clearly, her thin black lips had frowned slightly, her hands that being two black gloves were shaking a little. However, it was her eyes that were the main giveaway, they seem to be wide, giving off a vibe of fear and pain, a deep seated pain that BB could not understand._

_Something was troubling her, that much he could see, but he hesitated from pressing the matter any further._

_"Sorry for snapping at you BB, it's just I don't want to risk events repeating themselves, remember we have the company reputation to uphold," Puppet said, now turning to give him a brief smile._

_It was a smile, but seemed forced, he could see that she was pushing whatever was bothering her deep inside, trying to drown it._

_Then she directed her gaze forward, staring at the mass of waiting children that were situated before the stage._

_Balloon Boy steadily raised his arm and placed his hand on the edge of the music box, his hand inches away from hers. _ _Puppet's eyes had narrowed again, those white dots emitting a sense of both determination and yet uncertainty. Her attention was directed solely at the children, whose own attention was collectively aimed at the stage, ever waiting for the Toys to come out._

_Meanwhile, the sounds of cheering, laughter and excitement erupted out of Kids' Cove, no doubt they become rowdy and were now tearing at Mangle's clothes. . .again._

_Soon Mangle herself could be heard, shouting at the children for them to stop, raising her voice higher than theirs._

_Yet Puppet didn't seem to notice Mangle's dilemma, remaining solely focused on staring head long at the children._

_She seemed to be locked in a thousand yard stare, perhaps seeing in her mind, but not in reality. All the while the world around her moved ever onwards, as she remained motionless. Taking the opportunity, Balloon Boy carefully reached up and tapped her lightly on the shoulder, trying to get her attention. It was the first time he had actually touched since they first arrived at the Pizzeria._

_At first it didn't seem to have worked as Puppet remained where she was._

_"We must protect them BB, they are our responsibility," she muttered slowly, her tone was soft and BB struggled to tell wether she was truly aware of his presence or just speaking out loud._

_"It cannot happen again, or else I fear the worse for all of us."_

_Then she turned to face him, locking her eyes with his._

_His pupils were of uncertainty, he was lost in the moment, trying to fully understand why she feel this this way. Her pupils expressed a kind of deep sadness, like she was carrying a heavy weight upon her shoulders but didn't want to tell anyone._

_Did she feel trapped somehow?_

_He was gonna ask her something, but suddenly a loud thunderous cheer came from the children as the Toys had just come on stage._

_"Hello there, boys and girls, how are we all feeling today?" Toy Freddy yelled, his voice booming through the microphone as he walked triumphantly on the wooden boards, with Toys Bonnie and Chica in tow._

_Screams and shouts of joy with multiple children jumping up and down in celebration filled the air. Puppet and Balloon Boy watched with interest as the Toys began their musical number, with each one capturing the children's' attention. Toy Freddy through his charismatic singing, Toy Bonnie through her electrifying guitar play and finally Toy Chica through her astonishing talent with the piano._

_Everyone was watching, kids who were overly excited and adults who were amazed by the performance, as lights surrounding the stage started to play a magical pattern that went along with the music's theme._

_All the meanwhile, Balloon Boy slowly turned his attention back to Puppet, her words had confused him, although he knew that she was referring the Missing Children's' Incident a few years before, but that wasn't it. _ _Something in her words made him feel as if she knew something, something that was not common knowledge. There was a deeper meaning to what she had said, but he couldn't quite grasp it._

_Looking back at her, he could see that she was watching the children, not the Toys. Her lips were a thin straight line that expressed no inner feeling and her black hair flowed down to her shoulders. Yet again it was her eyes that said it all, conveying fear and concern, internally she looked afraid._

_He could ask her, probe deeper, but he didn't wish to put her on the spot. Then again, he might be reading her too deeply and overstep his boundaries._

_"Puppet," he began slowly, he didn't need to soften his voice as the blaring music was almost enough to silence him._

_"Are you ok?"_

_His words had definitely caught her attention, seeming to snap her out of her trance._

_Slowly, she turned to face him, her mouth was now open, and her eyes were wide, giving off the expression of surprise._

_His question had startled her, that much was true._

_For a moment the two stared longingly at eachother, whilst the music and excitement flowed around them, like a rock in a mighty river._

_Then Puppet closed her eyes, seeming to be contemplating something, before opening them again._

_Her mouth moved. . ._

_"Hey, Balloon Boy, Puppet, having a break, we can't blame you."_

_A new voice suddenly erupted behind BB, starling the two, as they turned round to see four staff members approaching._

_Two were women with others being men._

_All were recognisable figures._

_Amy, Jessica, Henry and. . .Vincent, carrying a tool box._

_"BB, you are out of balloons, I'll find you some replacements soon, Toy Freddy and others will keep the kids entertained for a while," Jessica remarked, with a beaming smile on her facial features._

_"I see Mangle is struggling again, good god they can be savage, I am not stitching her clothes back together again," Amy muttered with displeasure at the ongoing scene._

_Henry, who was carrying a box filled with plushies seemed to notice that Puppet's shelves were empty._

_"Puppet, I see you've run low. . .again, good thing I had the sense to get more," he commented casually. Puppet seemed to have been surpised by the group's arrival, although she was trying her best to compose herself._

_"Er, yes, thank you Henry, please do restack them, the children will be hitting the games once the song is over," she replied, gesturing over to the barren shelves. _

_"Cheers, now it's just a question of how fast these things go," Henry muttered, walking over and started to refill the shelves. "Hey BB, how is your day going?" Vincent asked warmly, patting the boy on his head as he strolled over to Puppet._

_"So, you mention that the music player is not working today?" he asked inquisitively, tapping the edges of the music box._

_Given where he was standing, he seemed to be looming over her, although his posture was not threatening._

_Yet back then BB didn't know any better, only Puppet did._

_"Yes, no matter what button I press the music doesn't come on," Puppet replied, pointing down to the mechanism that was situated just inside the music box._

_Vincent seemed to lean over and examine the device._

_"Ok, I'll see what I can do," he remarked determinably._

_He set his tool box down and opened it up._

_The box itself BB noted was grey in colour, looking a little rusty, but it held two brass locks as Vincent pushed the lid up and selected his tools. "Hey BB, which balloons would you like, green, blue, red?" Jessica asked casually, tapping his shoulder and gaining his full attention._

_"Red please," he said, looking up at her._

_She gave him a friendly smile and patted him on the shoulder._

_"Ok, I'll be back soon," she replied, before turning away and heading for the supply room, whilst trying to make her way through the crowds of excited children._

_With Jessica gone, BB turned his attention back to Henry, Amy and Vincent._

_"Ok, I think I'm done over here, Puppet is this good enough for you?" Henry asked, after fully restacking the shelves._

_"Yeah, that seems fine Henry, thank you," Puppet replied, leaning back in her box._

_"You seemed to be an easy person to please Puppet," Vincent commented jokily, as he attempted to fix the music box's sound maker. He particularly had to reach down into the music box in order to get to the source of the problem, as Puppet remained standing upright in it while he worked._

_"I do have my limits Vincent," she muttered coldly._

_"And you won't like to see them."_

_To which Vincent responded with._

_"I must admit that I too have limits-"_

_"Ha, that's a first!" Henry shouted, laughing his head off._

_"Hey, Henry, you are no arch angel either, and before you get involved Amy, you're also cut from the same cloth," Vincent replied back, his tone was both humorous and sharp._

_"Guys, I'm not getting involved," Amy remarked, holding her hands up, although she muttered several under her breath which BB could not hear. _ _Then unexpectedly, Mangle stumbled in from Kids' Cove, looking dishevelled with some of her clothes torn as the overjoyed screams of children followed her. Her white hair which often expressed her beauty looked messy and tangled and her yellow eyes gave off the expression of being tired._

_"Can I have some help please?" she asked, seeming to beg._

_"Of course, dear, I'll sort things out for you," Amy said, pulling her into a warm embrace._

_"Kids can be cruel."_

_"That's an understatement in my world," Mangle replied sully._

_Amy then released her and led Mangle back inside the room to confront the rowdy hordes children._

_"Although I'll get Laura to stitch your clothes back together, I'm not doing it this time," she called, vanishing from BB's sight._

_Then something caught his attention. . .Puppet._

_With Henry focusing on rearranging the various plushies on the shelf and Vincent was busy trying to fix the music box, Puppet seemed different somehow._

_Her eyes were twitching, not massively, but it was noticeable from where Balloon Boy was standing. She seemed irritated, frowning even, her facial gave off the impression of one trying to contain their anger, like something ugly was forcing its way to the surface. _ _Her white dots for eyes now seem to shine brighter than before and then her whole face began to twitch. She was in pain, that deep seated pain had remerged, and she couldn't control it._

_Slowly, she turned to face Vincent, who was face down, focusing on getting the music box to work properly. Then she said something, one word by the looks of it, but BB was too far away to hear it. Whatever she had said, it clearly had an impact on Vincent, as he froze in mid action. Slowly, he raised his head and looked directly at her._

_Balloon Boy could see his expression, shock, surprise and fear._

_What Puppet had said had clearly struck a nerve inside of him, he seemed paralysed compared to her as she loomed over him with a much different expression._

_Anger with hatred mixed together, her eyes were narrowed and giving a feeling of immense dislike. Her mouth was a large frown that expressed both a rage and a coldness that could freeze anyone still. She then said something else, a few more words than before. However, Vincent's expression changed, the panic, surprise and fear vanished to be replaced with a hard, cold look of his own._

_He muttered a few things as he stared the Puppet down, to which she replied, still wearing that look of utter hatred._

_Again, BB couldn't hear them, but he didn't know what was going on, so he felt confused and also concerned._

_In truth, he didn't know whether he should intervene or not._

_Then the Puppet leaned down, closing the space between herself and Vincent, until she was right in front of him. She seemed to say a few words and Vincent responded likewise._

_And then he smiled at her, it was a small smile, but there was something in that smile that seemed. . .off._

_It wasn't happy or warm, but something. . ._

_"BB, I got the balloons you wanted!"_

_The sudden eruption of Jessica arriving on the scene, nearly made Balloon Boy jump out of his skin._

_And instantly, the conformation between Puppet and Vincent vanished as if it never happened._

_Puppet seemed to snap out of whatever mood had possessed her, quickly jumping back into her normal stance, all evidence of anger and hatred disappeared off her face and her eyes went back to her normal brightness._

_Vincent's expression changed, going back to looking all passive as he returned to his work._

_Everything that had happened was swept away like the tide._

_Then Henry turned round to face Puppet._

_"Ok, I've rearranged the plushies, Puppet, there's more of Bonnie and Chica, then there are of Freddy and Foxy, but that doesn't matter I suppose," he said, leaning back against the desk._

_"It doesn't matter Henry, thank you very much, that should keep me busy for the rest of the day," Puppet replied sounding grateful, but also exhausted. Then Jessica appeared before BB and started handing out the balloons that she had gathered for him._

_"Here you go, red just like you asked," she said warmly._

_Meanwhile more shouts and screams of discord came from Kids' Cove, which made Jessica turn in its direction and sigh deeply._

_"Kids can be such monsters at times."_

_"They're naturally selfish Jess, we were like that at their age," Vincent remarked plainly, whilst reaching into his tool box. Jessica then reached out and patted BB on the head, tussling his brown hair._

_"Well not all are selfish, not BB here, you couldn't get my nerves even if you tired," she said playfully._

_"I could try," Balloon Boy replied humorously._

_"Sure you could," Henry muttered sarcastically under his breath._

_"BB would have to do something completely out of character if he wanted to annoy us," Vincent said, finishing off his task of repairing the music box._

_Jessica then turned round to face Vincent, informing him of further technical issues in the pizzeria. Henry then left to see to other tasks and Amy was still trying to help Mangle deal with the rowdy children in Kids' Cove._

_Balloon Boy now found himself looking at the person who had sparked his curiosity. . . Puppet._

_She was still standing in the music box, but her facial expression said many things._

_Fear_

_Sadness_

_Concern_

_Uncertainty_

_Isolation_

_And pain, that same deep seated pain rang clear in her eyes, like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Given what he had just seen between her and Vincent, he wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he hesitated._

_He wanted to help, but he didn't know how, all he could do was watch._

_Physically, he was so close her, but mentally she was somewhere entirely, far away from him and others._

_He couldn't forget her sad face, those bright white dots for eyes, her glossy raven black hair that flowed down to her shoulders, those purple lines that ran down her face and her smile that was absent._

_He could never forget that face and someday he would make her smile._

_And that day would be her happiest day. . ._

_End of flashback. . ._

* * *

Balloon Boy found himself staring at the floor, gazing into it as he was lost in deep thought.

Puppet had torn herself apart with mental anguish, creating her own personal hell over what she had done.

Yes, Vincent had killed the children, but she helped to make them into what they eventually became.

Feral monsters roaming the halls at night and brutally killing anyone they found regardless of their actual identity.

She hated herself for bringing ruin to everyone around her as for a long time the others blamed her for their situation. The Toys blamed her the most for losing their home and liveyhood, effectively giving her the silent treatment. The Originals blamed her as well, although they were more use to losing what they held dear given what had happened to them in 1983, but they too deliberately side blinded her on everything.

Even Balloon Boy had to admit to himself that he too ignored her at times, not as much as the others because he did feel a degree of sympathy for her, but he did feel that she was largely responsible for what transpired at night when the pizzeria closed its doors to guests.

Goldie himself, who held the most sympathy for Puppet, mostly acknowledged her, but that was when it was just the two of them and even then the conversations were short, as the elder Fazbear was often too disappointed in her actions and sad to converse with her openly.

Then again, he did hold his own guilty feelings over abandoning Springtrap, and therefore he could have felt a connection with her plight, as he was in a similar position.

It was a strong possibility now that BB thought about it.

Yet Puppet had never felt more isolated then she did in those dark years in the late eighties and early nineties. She was a lifeless phantom of depression that wandered the decaying hallways of the pizzeria during the daytime, only to then stalk them at night like a bloodthirsty killer.

In the end, the trauma of it all, forced her to attempt suicide and she nearly went through with it, had the others not intervene when they did.

Then a dark and horrible image flashed to life in BB's mind, an ill lit room with a swinging rope hanging from the ceiling. . .

He immediately dismissed the image, shoving it back into the deep parts of his mind where it would and should remain.

Although many things had changed within the family, promising to be stand together until the end and Puppet had been forgiven for her actions, BB could see that Puppet was still haunted by her choices. He remembered their talk back in the basement of the abandoned factory when they were trapped by Vincent's endoskeletons.

Puppet clearly had her strengths, but she also had her weakness and Vincent would know which button to push to break her.

The return of the former nightguards made BB wonder what the families of those 'missing' nightguards thought each day that their special person couldn't be found. The thought gnawed away at him and he couldn't shake it as seeing them in the flesh, up close, had brought the full reality of his family's actions to the surface.

One more threat that seemed to come out of the woodwork that was his past, how many skeletons were there in his family's closet?

Shaking his head, he dismissed the thought, he had more pressing things to deal with.

Firstly, where was he exactly?

Secondly, what had happened to his rescuers?

Where were Foxy and the others?

Thirdly, was the nightmare truly over?

He rubbed his eyes, trying to make sure that he was truly awake, but he couldn't shake the feel of it.

He was still trapped in here, despite having escaped the possessed prop suits, even though he had required some unexpected help to do so. The flashlight was gone, but that didn't matter as long as the overhanging lights stayed on. As his mind tired to answer the various questions that naturally arose in such a situation, his eyes noticed something.

He wasn't alone. . .

His baby blue pupils widen with fear and surprise, so much that he had to mentally slap himself to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating.

Why hadn't he noticed it before, it was obvious now.

Spread out before him, filling the entire room from one end to the next were an almighty host of animatronics.

Yes, animatronics.

Row upon row of motionless child friendly animatronics of all sorts and in different colours. They were either slumped over or backwards, appearing to be in a dominant state. There were at least twenty at best, some of which BB could barely recognise, but the rest were completely unknown to him.

He stared at the crowd that were laid out before him, it was like some massive reunion and he was the outsider. Those he that he recognised were only because of their likeness to the Originals, but BB treated them with suspicion none the less.

Slowly, he came to realise exactly where he was.

This was the stage room, the game area and prize corner all rolled into one.

The many posters that lined the walls, all displaying the Toys themselves or Fazbear Entertainment famous slogan, of 'fun and fantasy', all which BB recognised. Among the rows of lifeless animatronics, were icons of Balloon Boy's past, the balloon stands, the 'happy birthday' banners and the merry-go-round. Nearby and dotted around the animatronic host were several other items of interest.

Items which weren't from his pizzeria. . .

A massive ball pool, deep enough to drown several children was situated on his right. To his immediate left were several climbing frames. Finally positioned somewhere behind the horde of immobile animatronics was. . . a massive baby with another baby visible in its stomach.

Some sort of 'egg baby' was the best description for it.

That item seemed to serve no purpose entertainment wise, and just stuck out there like a sore thumb. The smell of fresh red paint from the merry-go-round, the bright colours of the balloons and idle animatronics created a sense of realism that couldn't easily be dismissed. Coupled with the low buzzing noise from the overhanging lights and the chess coloured walls, the whole place was alive and vibrant.

The level of detail in everything was so overwealhming that Balloon Boy had to keep reminding himself that this wasn't reality.

But it could so easily be if he desired.

Everything was quiet, save for the low buzzing noise from the overhanging lights that accounted for background noise.

Balloon Boy's eyes darted about for one direction to the next, nothing horrifying stood out from the horde of animatronics. Yet he had every right to be warry, given what had just happened with the possessed prop suits. Luckily for him, he could spy out the front doors on the other side oppsitite to him.

He just had the small matter of getting through the army of idle animatronics that were completely blocking his path to freedom.

Perfect, things just had to be arranged against him at every turn.

And he immensely disliked how he had no say in the matter, yet he had to make it through.

He would survive this night, no matter the odds.

Slowly he took his first step, immediately sending out a harsh thud as his foot made contact with the polished floor. It felt like a bad omen at what could come. He bit his lip and steadied himself, taking another step, then another and another. At this rate he would march right through the animatronic horde like a tank crushing barred wire.

He passed the first pair, being extra careful not to touch them and soon he found himself in a maze of mechanical statues.

They all looked cute, friendly, approachable and happy, but Balloon Boy was much wiser now.

Demons in disguises, monsters in masks, after all eleven children had walked off with a man in a friendly bunny suit and were never seen again. Plus, having several close encounters with the Possessed Prop Suits had heighted his senses, but it didn't suppress his fear. Taking slow steps as he carefully slipped through the frozen crowd, each one loomed over him, eyes closed and slumped forward. The sleeping expression on their faces terrified him that they might suddenly wake up and jumpscare him or worse.

Now that he was up close, he could see that each one had their own individual name tag plastered to their chests.

Happy Frog, a frog like animatronic that was nearly green all over with a yellow chest and a microphone in one hand.

Pigpatch, a pig like animatronic with a hillbilly appearance, even sporting a banjo to play the part.

Hippo, a purple hippo like animatronic with a black top hat that strongly matches Freddy's.

Orville Elephant, a golden brown animatronic elephant that looked like a wizard with its magic wand.

And Ned Bear, which was definitely a hillbilly with its loose hat and red tie.

Yet Balloon Boy didn't recognise any of them, were they real?

Or had they been made up for the occasion just to throw him off.

He leaned in close at Ned Bear, it looked so real with the human eye, and he was tempted to touch it.

If he did, would it suddenly jerk its head upwards, opening its eyes and see him?

And then what would happen?

Balloon Boy wisely stepped back and then turned, coming face to face with a truly terrifying animatronic. Its head was lowered like the others, it didn't have any eyes, just two large black holes and a set of teeth that looked like the notes on a piano. Its colour was a mixture of purple and pink which was very reflective. BB bite down on his tongue to prevent himself from screaming out loud.

In each hand it carried a cymbal which could cause a loud clang that would certainly wake everyone up.

BB quickly moved backwards so to avoid getting his head crushed between the cymbals. He moved so fast that he almost fell backwards onto Ned Bear.

Thankfully, he was able to balance himself in time and prevent an awful outcome. On its chest was its name tag, Music Man and it certainly matched both its function and appearance. Moving onwards, he encountered another set of animatronics, who he could easily mistaken for the Toys given their appearances.

Rockstar animatronics. . .

A Bonnie, a Chica, a Foxy and lastly a Freddy, expect they were all based on animals.

Rockstar Freddy was a slim brown bear with a purple top hat and tie, holding a microphone.

Rockstar Bonnie was a bulky blue rabbit, holding a red guitar.

Rockstar Chica was a yellow chicken, wielding a maracas in each hand.

And lastly Rockstar Foxy was a reddish fox, closely resembling a pirate with an eyepatch, hook hand and green parrot on his right shoulder. He also held an accordion in his hands, completing the theme of each of the Rockstars having their own musical instrument.

The other thing was that nearly all, apart from Rockstar Chica had a large yellow star engraved into its stomach. Rockstar Chica just had a bib like the other two Chicas, only this one read as 'Let's Rock!' Yet they all had rosy cheeks added to their facial features, making them look friendly, but as usual he was wary of such appearances hiding something sinister underneath.

Their existence however unleashed a wave of questions in Balloon Boy's head.

Now why were they here?

What was their purpose?

Carefully walking around the four animatronics and seeing their every detail, BB couldn't help but wonder if Fazbear Entertainment had plans to replace the Toys with these lookalikes. They could do it, after all they had attempted to _'remove'_ the Toys, himself and Puppet and use them all as scapegoats in order to save their own skins.

So, he wouldn't put it pass them to pull off such a trick.

Hell, if using these animal robots was cheaper than having the real Toys, then they definitely would do it.

He left the Rockstars in their undisturbed slumber and continued onwards, pressing deeper in the animatronic horde, that was like a forest with the animatronics acting like dark tall trees that casted long shadows over him as he walked.

All were asleep, eyes closed and not moving, but still his terror remained, with his heart beating like a drum in his ribcage. He knew that something was up, it was far too quiet for things to be normal, as he cast his gaze from left to right. They surrounded them, the gaps between them which he had to squeeze through were like that of a maze which he couldn't dictate the direction of.

And then he suddenly found himself face to face with another Freddy lookalike, or perhaps Rockstar Freddy was a better description for it.

He had nearly walked right into it, only stopping when his face was mere inches from its own. Yet when his shock faded, he could see that this Freddy was very different from all the others that he had encountered so far.

This Freddy lookalike was. . .human, strongly matching Toy Freddy in appearance.

The man himself wore black suit and trousers that looked glossy when the light hit it with a white shirt underneath it. He also held a microphone in its right hand and possessed a red bowtie. His skin colour was white, with jet black hair and a red top hat. Overall he looked like a young adult, perhaps in his mid 20s, if BB had to guess. Yet like the Rockstar animatronics, he too had a yellow star engraved into his stomach area. Although he had red rosy cheeks, whereas the Rockstars were all blue in colour.

The man was slumped forward like the others, with his eyes closed, giving off the impression that he was sleeping.

On his chest was his name tag:

LEFTY in big capital letters.

The man stood alone, with all the other surrounding animatronics standing a fair distance away on all sides.

In a way, it seemed to give him a sense of importance, his own identity. Balloon Boy stared at him, Lefty's appearance baffled him.

Why was there a human like robot, when all the others were clearly animals in design?

Was Lefty meant to be Toy Freddy's replacement, maybe the company had the intention to make human robots after they had _'disposed'_ of the Toys themselves?  
It was a nice blend of both robot and human, a child could be easily fooled and never know the difference.

Would he be replaced too?

The idea that the company might be seeking to replace him without warning made him feel vulnerable and sick to his stomach. So much that he physically clutched it, bending over as a feeling of disgust ran through him. He hated Fazbear Entertainment, they had brought him and the others on board, then when things got tough, they attempted to remove them completely to save themselves after everything that he and the other Toys had done for them.

The New and Improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria was a hit, a smashing success. If it had been able to go on for longer than it could have earned itself the reputation of the first pizzeria, hell it could have gone even further than that. The Toys earned the love of children, respect from adults and brought in immense financial benefits for the company. Yet they got no protection from Fazbear Entertainment and were deemed responsible for the Second Missing Children's' Incident.

All the while Vincent Afton slipped through without notice, walking away a free man, while the Toys had to go on the run with the Originals to survive.

He was a child, barely a teenager and yet he would have been killed through lethal injection like the others and disposed of in the company's frenzied attempt to wipe the slate clean. He didn't matter, in their eyes he was just a _'company asset'_.

And now to see their potential replacements, Lefty, the Rockstar animatronics and the other animal themed animatronics filled him with such anger, that he threatened to burst and knock them all over, before viciously dismantling them.

To rip them apart, tear them to asunder, limb from limb, head from neck. To see wires falling through the air like rain and eyeballs rolling around on the floor. To feel their mechanical limbs screaming in protest as he tore them from their joint holdings.

"_Yes,"_ he thought starting to smile in a way that seemed psychotic.

"_I would like that very much."_

To reach deep inside their broken bodies and pull their voice box out whilst they were still active, to hear them gargle and choke as he did it, filled him with a bloodlust that he hadn't felt in years.

To smash them to the four winds with an axe, to cut them down to nothing and then break them even further made him feel giddy as his smile only grew.

It would feel so good to do that, to make them feel like they were nothing, that they held no control over their lives. To make his replacements feel what he felt for all those years when he was in hiding. To be the one in control, to break everyone who had ever done him wrong, both physically and verablly. He would feel powerful, enacting his revenge against Fazbear Entertainment, if the real Balloon Boy was too good for them, then why let them have a phony stand in robot.

Why let them have anything at all, when they had in the end deprived his family of everything, save for the rotting, decayed and crumbling pizzeria that acted as their only home.

It was only fitting. . .the bloodlust grew, his fingers twitched, he wanted to destroy every single robot in this room, to act out and at last have his revenge.

After all, it was an easy task to accomplish to satisfy one's bloodlust and desire for revenge, he had done it before with the others, when. . .

When he was killing the nightguards. . .

Instantly, everything he was feeling previously suddenly felt sour as the image of nightguards violently stuffed into prop suits filled his head.

And then of course came images of what had become of them, the possessed prop suits.

"_WE WILL FIND YOU!"_

"_WE WILL COME AND FIND YOU!"_

Their harsh words echoed throughout his mind as the bloodlust faded away to replaced with an even deeper feeling of disgust and shock. He clasped his hand over his mouth, his eyes went wide as he began to shake all over.

Was it so easy to fall into that mindset?

He wasn't even being possessed by Rachel and he had already submitted himself to such feelings, he could feel bile rising in his throat as he shuddered.

Those thoughts, those feelings, it scarred him to his core.

How can he depart from his humanity so quickly without a second thought?

He needed to leave, he had to get to the doors and flee this place. Repressing his self-disgust, fear and concern, he straightened himself and stride forward, passing Lefty and heading in the direction of the main doors.

Marching past many different animatronics on the way, he came across one that was a brownish beaver wearing a Mexican style sombrero and carrying a mandolin in its hands, called El Chip. Whether the company hand intentions to take the franchise further afield didn't matter to BB, like his, their dreams had been dashed and were nothing more than echoes of a once hopeful era.

Then there was another animatronic that looked a lot like Rockstar Chica, looking very polished and brand new with her glossy white and pink coating. However, like Chica and Toy Chica, she held a cute cupcake in her right hand. Her chest name tag read as Funtime Chica.

Judging by her design which BB gave a fleeting glance to as he passed, it seemed as her body was made up of plastic plates that could open to reveal the endoskeleton inside. Seeing it immediately gave him goose bumps, remembering of when the possessed prop suits opened their suits to reveal a heavily mutilated human body inside.

Again, was the company intending to replace Toy Chica, it was heavily hinted, given what he was seeing.

Passing more dominant animatronics, BB had to admit his surprise at seeing so many, but he also had to question as to whether any of them actually existed, unless the Nightmares who were controlling the dream had a large imagination.

The fact that they had landed him in this situation in the first place filled him with dread. He just knew that they had a trap hidden up their sleeve and that it probably involved all the animatronics.

So, he quicken his pace as he walked, keeping his eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary.

If one of them do so much as move, even slightly then he would make a run for the exit, a blind sprint.

He passed more animatronics, it was like an endless maze, two of them were cat like animatronics called Candy and Cindy on their chest name tags, one was blue, sporting a red tie and the other was magenta and wearing a pink bowtie. Like everyone else, they were asleep and appearing motionless, so BB wisely left them in that state.

However, the one next to them, caught his eye in just how weird it was shaped. It looked so strange and out of place, that he had to stop and gaze at it in wonder. It was humanoid in shape, sporting a roundish head, but wore nothing on its body, just a greyish coating which were covered in various colour drawings. It just looked odd, given everything else that BB had seen, even that Lefty animatronic looked normal compared to this thing.

On its chest was its name, Blank.

It matched the animatronic perfectly, in both function and appearance, a better name couldn't be made for it.

Balloon Boy slowly backed away and turned only to come face to face with another one, only this was the very definition of a robot. It was on wheels, which was a change, having two bulky discs as a midsection and head, flexible plastic tubes for arms and clamps for hands. Both it's head and midsection were decorated in a pretty pattern of colours. Overall it looked like a machine that you gave money to make it work, like the arcade games.

On its midsection was its name, Candy Cadet, a strange one, as it bears no meaning to its function whereas all the others did. Apart from Lefty, the name itself seem to carry no meaning to its job. Yet again Balloon Boy found himself tempted to touch the robot, interested to see what it would do.

However, he was able to restrain himself, his fear was stronger than his curiosity and he was fearful that if he did touch it, he might set something off.

He turned around on the spot, looking around.

The exit was nearby, just up to four dormant animatronics stood between him and it. Looking back, he could see the Rockstar animatronics standing idle a fair distance away, and the Mediocre Melodies standing even further, all asleep. The light was dim, but it was bright enough to reflect off their shiny coats, but everything was still. The atomsphere was quiet, nothing moved, the whole room was like a museum. Yet it felt like an illusion at the same time, it looked every bit the part, but it did not feel like it.

Balloon Boy's mind begged to him to leave, to abandon his curiosity, but he was also wary of being led into a trap.

The exit was right there, almost in front of him, but he hesitated, he didn't trust it.

It was too easy, and he had been tricked the first time.

He narrowed his gaze and steeled himself, remaining where he was.

"_No, it isn't real, there is no exit, only a dead end,"_ he mentally commented.

And then he got a reply from behind him.

"_Clever child,"_ the voice was harsh, cold and demonic even, but retaining a tone of pleasure, as if they were happy that he had figured it out.

Instantly Balloon Boy turned round, trying to find the owner of the voice, although in his heart, he knew who it belonged to.

Yet there was no one present, at least none of the animatronics were moving.

"_Where are you four?"_ he asked mentally, looking everywhere at once.

"_Right. . .here,"_ was the response.

DECLUNK!

The lights went out, darkness flooded in and BB's panic levels went straight through the roof.

His breathing became tense and fast, although he tired to control himself as his heart began to beat against his ribcage like a battering ram. So far, he couldn't hear anything, no mechanical creaks or groans, no voice box static. So, the animatronics weren't moving about in the dark, which was his worst fear. All that he could hear was his own breathing as the darkness surrounded him like an infinite sea, his fear kept him glued to the floor, unable to move.

Being in this situation was terrifying enough, but it was what could potentially follow that scared him even more.

The unknown scared everyone, the human mind hated not knowing.

DECLUNK!

Then suddenly the lights came back on, so bright and fast that it forced BB to cover his eyes with his hands to protect them.

When the brightness died down to a level that was bearable, he lowered his hands, opening his eyes.

His pupils immediately widen. . .

The animatronics had moved!

The whole crowd had changed their positions and yet they were all in the same pose as before.

Now Balloon Boy found himself standing before Lefty with El Chip and Funtime Chica standing nearby.

He turned around, looking at everything. Cadet Candy and the others now stood a fair distance away, it was like the crowd had just jumped forward while the lights were out.

"_How, what, why?"_ Balloon Boy was utterly confused, it didn't make sense.

Why would they do this?

Did they intend to keep him in an endless loop?

Balloon Boy looked confused and felt dumbfounded, it was like he had been pulled off his feet. He breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself, so he could attempt to think clearly. As dozens of questions filled his head, several raised their heads.

Where were Freddy and the others?

Why weren't they trying to save him, was it not morning already?

How fast does time pass in a dream?

Exhaling to install some calm into himself, Balloon Boy admitted to himself that was already obvious. He was alone in here, no one was coming to save him, because he wasn't acting out in an odd fashion. He was properly just lying there in bed next to the others fast asleep and they had no reason to think otherwise.

Yet in his desperation he expressed his desire for help.

"Please, someone help me," he begged softly.

"Please."

Then the moment those words left his lips. . ._something responded._

The room seemed to become dim, like the overhanging lights were slowly going out, but it felt unnatural. The sounds of something mechanical moving, gears shifting, joints creaking as it were turning on erupted from behind him. It was one of the animatronics, Balloon Boy's heart stopped, fear rose up his spine freezing him to the core. He felt a shadow fall over him, something that was much taller than him. Dreading the worst, with sweat now making his hair stick to his forehead and trembling hands, BB slowly turned around.

It felt like he had to drag himself as his body refused to do what his mind commanded of it as fear had paralysed it.

Looking upwards, Balloon Boy's eyes locked with that of the intruder.

Standing before him fully upright was Lefty himself, with a microphone in hand and only eye opened that revealed a bright yellow pupil.

Now BB could see why his name was Lefty, only his left eye was open, whereas his right was just a vacant black hole.

Staring down at the young boy with narrow eyebrows and a cold smile, Lefty seemed to inhale, opening his mouth and then he laughed.

* * *

(Begin the song here if you wish.)

_Lefty's loud, amused laughter reverberates throughout the room, breaking the stillness that had once reigned._

_With his free hand, he then points at BB._

"**Animated friends, we'll be here til the end."**

_He then gestures at the other animatronics._

**"I don't have the chance to tell you but, the others haven't made the cut."**

_He holds his hand out to BB, who backs off cautiously._

**"Lend me your hand."**

_Lefty smiles mischievously._

**"We've got more than one night planned."**

_His body creaks as he moves._

**"Let me crawl into your skin."**

_His smile gets ever more sinister._

**"Release the evil within. . ."**

_The room suddenly starts to spin, the lights flicker on and off at a rapid pace._

_The merrygoround spins and spins, going ever faster._

_The various animatronics start to turn on, twitching, jerking and shaking as if they are possessed by a malevolent unseen force._

_Their heads rock back and forth, their hands tremble uncontrollably._

_Funtime Chica shakes about on the spot, with her face and body plates opening up, revealing her endoskeleton._

_Everything seems to descend into chaos._

_Rockstar Freddy actives, singing in a demonic voice._

**"You gave me one heck of a shock, but you can't control the clock!"**

**"The time is ticking, it goes on and on."**

_Rockstar Chica actives, shaking her maracas in a mad fashion also singing in a demonic tone._

**"Too bad it ain't 6am, you won't reach 6am!"**

**"We can't repent, can't repent of our sins!"**

_Then Lefty reaches out to Balloon Boy._

**"Lend me your hand."**

_He gestures at the chaos unfolding around him._

**"We've got more than one night planned."**

_His chest area seems to rattle._

**"Let me crawl into your skin."**

_Like something is inside, wanting to get out._

**"Release the evil within. . ."**

_Lefty suddenly launches a pair of strings at BB, they wrap themselves around the boy's waist and instantly tighten._

_Lefty then immediately pulls with his free hand, dragging BB towards him with a dark foreboding smile that seems to penetrate BB's soul if it could. _

_The eyes of various animatronics seem to roll backwards, giving them a creepy stare that seemed unnatural._

"**The evil, the evil within. . ."**

_The room keeps on spinning, making BB unable to balance properly and the flashing lights make him distorted._

_The animatronics keep on rocking back and forth, shaking and twitching as if they were malfunctioning._

"**The evil, the evil within. . ."**

_Lefty pulls Balloon Boy ever closer, clearly being the stronger of the two._

_Lefty's smile grows to that of a madman as he draws the boy in._

_When Balloon Boy is close enough, Lefty reaches out and grabs him by the throat._

_He then lifts BB upwards into the air, holding the boy above him, with _ _Lefty's triumphant voice ringing out._

**"I'm a snake of lies, poisoning your life, you only want to take us down, with a big old scoop of pain and strife!"**

_His chest area unlocks._

**"Try not to cry."**

_It then opens wide._

**"Your evanescence will reply."**

_BB's eyes widen in blind panic as the outcome dawns on him._

**"It is time to go down in historyyyy!"**

_He then drops BB right in and the chest area closes shut._

**"Lend me your hand."**

_He starts to compress the boy._

**"We've got more than one night planned."**

_His insides begin to crush the boy, pinning him in place._

**"Let me crawl into your skin."**

_Balloon Boy starts to suffocate._

**"Release the evil within. . ."**

_Lefty suddenly deactivates, slumping forward as a bright brown ball leaves his body, falling silent._

_The ball starts to take form and a similar voice cries out._

**"Because the evil. . ."**

_Nightmare Freddy appears, smiling smugly and in all his finery._

"**It comes from within. . ."**

_(The song fades out.)_

* * *

Letting out a laugh of triumph, Nightmare Freddy with his dark red eyes shining bright, lightly tapped the deactivated Lefty with his claws.

"_You refused our request to be a messenger Balloon Boy, so this is what you will get," _he exclaimed delightfully.

"_However, you want answers, we know that you have asked many questions so. . ."_

He leaned in close, enough to whisper sternly into the dark recesses of Lefty's insides.

"_If you listen carefully and play along, then we might answer them. . ."_

His voice became harsh, making it clear that he was the one in control.

_"So pay close attention. . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far.  
Also if you did noticed, some of the animatronics shown were from the FNAF fangame, Five Nights at Candy's by Emil Ace Macko.  
This story has a lot more in store ;-)  
As always please do review, your feedback is immensely helpful.


	38. Incomplete Souls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (In Molten Freddy's voice) "KNOCK KNOCK. . .I'M HEREEEE!
> 
> Here is the next chapter, it is pretty big, but I suppose that is now expected with this story.
> 
> In case anyone is curious, here are the ages of the characters:  
The Originals and Toys are in their early to mid twenties.  
Puppet and Balloon Boy are fourteen and thirteen.  
Goldie and Springtrap are/were in their late twenties or early thirties, as they're older than the other, hence why I've portrayed them to be more adult.  
Mike and Jeremy are in their early to mid forties, yet I always imagine them to be younger whenever I write them.  
The Nightmares are also in their early to mid twenties, as they are the mirror images of the Fazbears.  
Vincent is actually in his sixties, but I always imagine him to be in his thirties whenever I write him.  
There is a sing along song in this one and it's 'Parasite' by DaGames, it's quite fast though.  
I apologise for any grammar errors that I missed.  
Enjoy :-)

* * *

** Chapter 38. **

** Incomplete Souls. **

_ **"Shhhhhh."** _

_ **"Come spend eternity inside. . .with me."** _

**Lefty from Ultimate Custom Night.**

Darkness greeted Balloon Boy within the cramped confines of Lefty, surrounded by his endoskeleton and various wires.

The space that he occupied was deliberately made to be small, but just big enough to house someone his size. His breathing was tense, his heart was racing, beating against his ribcage like that of a massive drum. He felt dizzy as when he fell in, he did so face first and thus ended up smacking his face against Lefty's endoskeleton.

The impact made his nose bleed. . .again.

He had to turn over as the mechanical machinery begin to close in, crushing and pinning him in place to the point where he couldn't move most of his body without hurting himself.

He knew that Nightmare Freddy was just outside and although he hadn't not seen him, he could tell by the voice who it was, with it sounding so close to Freddy's. Youthful, proud, confident and in control of the situation, yet it lacked Freddy's warmth, kindness, love, devotion and determination.

It was the very definition of an alter ego.

His baby blue eyes darted about in the blackness, unable to see anything and all he could hear was that of his own tense breathing. The silence felt like it was strangling him with its tension, as his nerves were alit like a forest fire, blazing bright and sending his fear induced mind further over the edge. Lefty's internal machinery pressed against him, being cold to the touch, whilst also being sharp and smooth at the same time.

It was a constant presence as he tired to figure things out, but only one truth stood out.

_He was screwed. . ._

His immobility was not helping to repress his fear either, scared that if he moved, he might set the whole thing off. An endoskeleton was like a booby trap rigged to active with the slightest motion, that's how the former nightguards met their gruesome fate. Having Lefty's mechanical innards cut into him kept the possibility of the whole endoskeleton crushing into him centre stage in his mind and further paralysed him. He couldn't move, was too afraid to speak and all that he could do was listen.

Listen for the steady footsteps of Nightmare Freddy, circling him like a shark outside. Everything else was silent, just those heavy footfalls on the polished floor.

Then a voice called out, softly from somewhere behind BB.

_"Shh, be still and quiet, it's for your own good."_

Hearing the Nightmare's voice properly for the first time unnerved BB. He felt his heart beat race, the terrible reality of his position continued to hit home like a slap in the face. Nightmare Freddy continued to talk, circling the dominant Lefty, like a wolf taunting a wounded deer before going in for the kill.

_"Admittedly, we've kidnapped you BB."_

The footsteps continued, the echo made worse by being inside a suit, amplifying the sound.

_"Don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you."_

That was a bullshit line and BB knew it, sure they might not kill him, but it was in their nature to be cruel.

_"We only intend to keep you for a little while."_

How long is a _'little while'_ in Nightmare terms.

Then Nightmare Freddy lightly tapped Lefty's side, the echo it created only further unnerved BB.

_"Try not to wiggle though, you're inside something we designed, admittedly though this was not its intended purpose."_

Then his tone changed, sounding distinct and reflective, an odd tone for a monster such as himself.

_"Lefty was never made and thus never used, well at least, not the way he was meant to be used."_

_"He is ours now, our creation, with a few special features added for our entertainment."_

_"As you can see, he is just big enough for one person to fit inside, but just. . .barely."_

Then his tone went to being stern, dropping any trace of being reflective.

_"I'd recommend that you keep very still in order to keep those springlocks wound up."_

_"Your breathing and heartbeat are causing them to come loose and you don't want them to get too loose, trust me."_

And then his voice changed to smug delight, sounding like someone who knew a dark secret about someone else.

_"You've seen it too often to know what the outcome is, haven't you?"_

Balloon Boy knew the answer, although he wouldn't say anything, largely because he didn't wish to set the springlocks off by accident.

_"Still, are you feeling comfortable BB?"_ Nightmare Freddy asked, now sounding humoured, being the one in control.

Having Lefty's mechanical _'organs'_ poke and press against his skin had frozen most of BB's mind with fear. The ever present presence of death by spring locks kept him on edge and unable to think straight. Obviously though, he would say no given his position. Having not given Nightmare Freddy an answer to his question, the Nightmare again lightly tapped the side of the dormant Lefty. The sound created a hollow echo inside, further putting Balloon Boy on edge as he eyed the mechanical joints, although he couldn't fully see them.

_"I can understand your silence BB, afraid of those spring locks, you are very wise to remain perfectly still."_

The Nightmare's tone dropped to a more serious tone as he made his way round to Lefty's front.

_"The slightest motion can set them off, they were never made for human use, thankfully."_

_"Well, apart for the new version of SpringBonnie, Springtrap's replacement, is his name still Springtrap after all these years?"_

It then dawned on Balloon Boy that Nightmare Freddy didn't know that Springtrap was dead, his use of the present plural rather than the past spurred his thoughts.

Yet he kept his mouth shut.

_"Such a brutal creation, you can imagine how much pain those things can cause when used by the wrong hands,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered casually, leaning against the deactivated Lefty.

Then in a soft almost innocent whisper, he said.

_"You know what they can do BB, you used them yourself with the others, all those years ago. . .and you loved it."_

He then chuckled, his amused laughter echoing around Lefty's insides, making BB even more paranoid at the risk of the springlocks being set off.

_"Yet I'll take a guess that it has been such a long while since you've seen them in action, so allow me to refresh your memory."_

_"I'll tell you now BB, that despite everything that I have seen over the years which is an awful lot, death by springlocks is the worst way to go."_

He leaned in closer, enough to whisper into the dark recesses of Lefty's inwards where Balloon Boy was being held captive. Now his voice took on a harsh and cruel tone that fitted his inner nature.

_"If you trigger those springlocks, two things will happen: first the locks themselves will snap right into you, making deep cuts all over your body."_

His voice spared no detail as he lay out the reality before BB, knowing what his chosen words would do to the poor boy's mind.

_"A split second later, all the animatronic parts, all that sharp steel and hard plastic will instantly be driven into your body."_

BB's eyes instantly darted around, just making out the faint outline of what were springlocks, the only things holding back the iron maiden.

Nightmare Freddy continued, giving life to BB's worst fears.

_"You will die, but it will be slow, you will feel your organs punctured, the suit will grow wet with your blood and you will know you're dying for long, long minutes."_

Then there came a reddish light from one of gaps in Lefty's suit which immediately got Balloon Boy's attention. He knew that it was an eye and that it belonged to Nightmare Freddy, although he couldn't read his expression. Baby blue stared back into dark red, with one watching the other.

Nightmare Freddy continued, his voice was soft, but always cold.

_"You'll try to scream, but you will be unable to, your vocal cords will be severed, and your lungs will fill with your own blood until you drown in it."_

He then lightly tapped Lefty's chest with his fingers, the sound echoed inside. There was a slight mechanical groan, only a small one, but it was more than enough to make BB's heart skip a beat and his blood go cold.

_"So, I would sit tight, if I were you and listen. . .ok?"_

BB didn't say anything, staring back at the Nightmare, he was too scared to open his mouth. Now that the glow from Nightmare Freddy's eye had died down, he could see it more clearly.

The dark red pupil expressed a powerful feeling of control.

Then Nightmare Freddy sighed slightly, before muttering.

_"I'll accept your silence as confirmation, you're smart enough to understand the dire state of your situation."_

Then he stepped back, with his eye disappearing from the hole, leaving BB in the dark once more, surrounded by a metallic death trap. Nightmare Freddy clapped his hands, seeming to shout with his voice echoing around the room.

_"COME OUT, COME OUT, WHERE EVER YOU GUYS ARE!" _

The sudden noise nearly jumped BB out of his skin, but he was just able to restrain himself, knowing what any sudden movement would result in. Then Nightmare Freddy's voice dropped to a more causal tone

_"BB is going nowhere."_

Balloon Boy listened; his ears primed for any sound of movement.

At first there was nothing, but a tense silence of anticipation, washing over him like a wave and threatening to drown him.

He wanted to move, to get out of this animatronic and escape. Lefty's metallic innards surrounded him like a cage, poking and crushing him into a tight spot. He could feel the rough pointy spine of Lefty's endoskeleton crushing into his back, with his ribcage pushing into his chest like a weight. His arms were also trapped by Lefty's ribcage, giving him limited space to move them and his legs were hemmed in by Lefty's knees, pressing against his skin.

He couldn't escape this prison without risking imminent death, only the Nightmares could release him, and he strongly doubted that they would let him run free. Soon multiple sounds filled the air, fully grabbing BB's attention, all of which forewarned of bad things.

The first was the sound of several animatronics powering up, joints flexing, gears grinding and motors turning.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Footsteps and heavy ones, hitting the polished floor with an impact that carried across the floor, getting louder as they drew nearer. Each one, set BB's nerves alight and yet somewhat he was able to keep himself still, but just. . .barely.

"Is the show over so soon?" a voice asked, it was clearly female, cheerful and sweet, almost bubbly even. The footsteps continued, getting ever closer.

"Pity, this whole facade was too easy for my liking."

Now it sounded disappointed.

_"It worked didn't it?"_ Nightmare Freddy answered back causally yet seeming to question the person's reason for disliking the event.

_"Didn't you enjoy the whole hide and seek part with the old night guards?"_

The footsteps got heavy with each passing second, until they seem to stop right in front of Lefty.

"Yes, that part was fun, and yes, the whole scheme did work out, Balloon Boy is smarter than I give him credit for, but now we have him. . .in one place, just for us."

So the whole hide and seek game was worthless, it was all just a poly to get him here. That reveal greatly annoyed Balloon Boy, although not that there was much he could about it anyway. Besides, where was Rachel, she had just stopped talking, maybe she was still knocked out from being nearly strangled to death.

He wanted to get in contact with her, but right now he had other priorities like getting out of this hell alive.

He could try to talk to her later on, one thing at a time.

Nightmare Freddy's modest reply to the animatronic snapped BB out of his thoughts.

_"It would have ended sooner had he simply said yes to our demands for being a messenger, but instead he said no and. . .here with we are," _he had paused briefly perhaps to hold his arms out and gesture to everything around him to make his point.

"It is his fault really, but now we can truly begin," the other voice replied, still sounding all sweet and calm. Then they sighed, with the sound of their joints being lowered.

"Just let me get out of this Chica wannabe first," they groaned, followed by the sound of the animatronic powering down, going lifeless. Then there came the sound of something hard landing on the floor with a sizeable thud, steadying itself and the voice spoke again, only now it sounded very different.

_"It feels strange being outside after having possessed that thing for a while." _

_"It is like you are wearing an extra pair of clothes, although strangely enough it doesn't weigh you down."_

The voice sounded so like that of Chica's, being sweet, warm, sarcastic and with her usual rough edge, but it held a dark undertone of sadistic delight and an animalist sense of cruelty.

_Nightmare Chica. . ._

After appearing to have lifted herself off the floor came the sound of her footsteps heading towards BB's location.

_"Now we have him, I admire his persistence to have made it this far, but the game ends here."_

That last part was said rather sharply, sending a chill down Balloon Boy's spine, he physically shivered despite trying to hold himself still as Nightmare Chica now laughed humorously. There was a slight thud that echoed inside the suit, implying that she was touching Lefty's outer shell.

_"I know what you think of me Balloon Boy," _she began, seeming to lean in close as her voice grew steadily louder.

_"I am a monster in the flesh, a walking apparition of horror with the full capability to tear you apart both physically and psychologically, I am the full definition of a nightmare."_

Her voice was one of control and yet there was something else present in her tone, which BB couldn't quite figure out, although his mind's ability to think straight was being compounded by his justified sense of fear.

Through the thin gaps in Lefty's outer shell in which small rays of light shone, he could make out something of a shadow outside. That was her, only separated from BB by two layers, one of a well-tailored suit and the other being a hard plastic shell. Neither one could provide strong protection against Nightmare Chica if she so dared to try and break inside.

Suddenly Lefty's chest area began to rattle and shake uncontrollably. Then a shaft of light appeared from a small emerging crack, as Lefty's chest plates started to open like two small doors.

_She was trying to get in!_

Lefty's chest plates continued to shake as they were slowly pried open like a safe. Very soon he would become face to face with Nightmare Chica herself and his imagination quickly filled in what would happen next. He wanted to lean forward and reach out to pull the chest plates back, but he didn't out of the fear of setting the springlocks off. His heart beat was going at the speed of a race car, thumping against his ribcage like a massive war drum.

His breathing was quick and intense, even though Nightmare Freddy had told him not to breath so quickly to avoid turning on those cursed springlocks.

And with each passing second, his fear rose as Lefty's chest plates continued to open, whilst also increasing his worry about acting out instinctively to protect himself, only to then active the deadly springlocks.

It was ironic, his fear and worry about such things could very well end up being what gets him killed. In the end, he remained where he was as there nothing he could do, but merely sit there in the dark and wait for his fate. He had no control over this situation, just like most of his life, dictated by events beyond his control and yet he and the other Fazbears often ended up suffering in the aftermath. He could hear several slight creaks that were the springlocks twitching, properly moving back and forth in small movements as he wasn't exerting enough force to make them snap. Yet it did nothing to help sooth his paranoia.

Then Nightmare Chica spoke, her now soft tone catching him off guard as he had understandably been focused on other things which were much closer to home.

_"I am a monster in the night, hiding inside your closet or under your bed, I was quite literally born in the dark, my sadistic and bloodthirsty nature is a part of me, the feel of someone's blood and inwards running through my fingers is accelerating and the chase gets my blood pumping."_

She continued to speak, her tone was still soft, yet it carried a stern edge to it.

_"It feels natural to me and it is all that I know, well. . .it once was. . ."_

That last bit barely caught BB's attention as he was still deeply concerned about the springlocks being set off and him meeting a rather grisly end.

Lefty's chest pales continued to be pulled apart, letting more light in, enough for BB to see several thin claw like fingers strongly gripping the edges of Lefty's plastic layer.

_"I am everything you fear, and I can just so easily reach in and tear you to pieces or make the springlocks active and then watch the show unfold."_

_"It is so easy to kill someone BB, and it is an urge that I have been given by the child in his interpretation of one of the children who bullied him harshly, a messed up mind can produce the most exaggerated of beings, aka me."_

In the emerging gap were light shone through, two orangey yellow eyes appeared, glowing bright like headlights as they stared back at BB. They expressed a strong sense of control, which Nightmare Chica's voice carried, but there was something else in them, it was stern, but also like her voice there was something beneath that expression and BB couldn't properly figure out what that deeper meaning was.

_"I am his creation, not that he wanted to create me of course, but his subconscious was in overdrive and I was the end result."_

_"But I am not an animal, despite my conduct and appearance, I am very much alive and free thinking, I evolved in other words."_

_"And thus I make my choice. . ."_

Then suddenly Lefty's chest plates were slammed shut, the light vanished in an instant and the darkness returned.

_"I will not harm you Balloon Boy, for I can rise above my animalistic urges and be more than what I was originally, a mindless beast roaming the hallways of a dark house, hunting for an innocent boy."_

_"Savage, beastly, a hunter prowling in the pursuit of prey, I am still all those things, but then I became sentient, self-aware and at first it was heaven everlasting, to think, talk and see the big picture."_

Then her voice suddenly took on a sad tone, coming across as sullen with a sense of loss which was unexpected from a monster like her.

_"But when I saw the big picture, I quickly realised the sad state affairs that we found ourselves in."_

She seemed to be reflecting, her voice carried the sense that she was casting her mind back.

_"We were free to think, but not completely free and I soon learnt that the greatest prison that can be built is to know that you are alive, but can't go anywhere, and it eats away at you over time."_

_"Perhaps it is sometimes better to be a mindless beast and not be weighed down by knowing your situation, it does not matter because you cannot see it."_

She then sighed heavily.

_"Now I know why they say ignorance is bliss." _

Her words confused BB, he didn't know why she was telling him this, although he could grasp what she trying to say.

_"I am a villain, it is who I am, but regardless of my origins, not all villains are simplistic shall we say."_

As she said it, BB then realised what the other expression in her eyes had been, the one that lay beneath the expression of control.

_Humanity. . ._

To put that word with a Nightmare made him feel sick to his stomach.

They weren't meant to have any humanity, how could they, after all that they had done?

How could they seek to desire something else than blood and violence?

And if that was true which he really wanted to doubt, then was she telling him all this?

_"You are probably wondering why I am telling you this, I could answer that question,"_ Nightmare Chica whispered, her voice still being soft with a slight tone of dispassionate. _"Yet I think that you are smart enough to figure it out."_

_"Everyone is complicated in their own way."_

Suddenly there was a mechanical noise of gears shifting and motors grinding from somewhere across the room. Immediately heavy footsteps followed, echoing off the polished floor each time they made contact.

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

"And yet N-Chica, some are more complex than others," a voice rang out, being both loud and clear. It was confident in its tone, yet also understanding, carrying a certain level of softness. Overall the voice itself didn't match anyone that BB knew, it was unrecognisable, but it was clearly that of a male.

"Everyone has issues," the voice stated coolly, seeming to stride across the room as judged by the swift frequency of its heavy footsteps.

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

THUD!

BB could feel Lefty's inwards shake ever so slightly as the vibrations of the stomps travelled through the floor.

Suddenly the new voice took on a playful and sinister tone.

"And issues are weakness that can be exploited, if you know where to find them."

It almost sounded as if it was chuckling to itself.

"I prefer to keep mine close to my chest."

The heavy sound of its footsteps continued to echo as it made its way through the horde of now lifeless animatronics.

"What a waste of effort these things were, never has the phrase of years to build and seconds to destroy been better suited than to the aspirations of Fazbear Entrainment."

As the new voice neared, BB was thankful that the springlocks were not twitching, giving him the time to make a mental note of the voice's words. It was a Nightmare, although he didn't know which one, but the fact that it knew of the company's sharp decline indicated that it must have read up about it somewhere.

Information that must have been private, because he certainly didn't know about all of this, all of these animatronics that were meant to be his replacements and neither did any of the other Fazbears

And there is only one person in mind with the capability to have gained access to such knowledge.

_Vincent Afton. . ._

He could gain access to anything and turn it into something beneficial for his schemes.

_He always does. . ._

Each time he came back into their lives, he would always do so with a brand new twist

_He always comes back. . ._

_He always does. . ._

"Anyway, lets get the formalities over and done with," the new voice muttered, keen to get to the heart of the matter as it reached the Nightmares.

_"I agree," _Nightmare Freddy stated almost in a statesman like manner.

He then seemed to turn round, indicated by the sound of his feet.

_"N-BONNIE WHERE ARE YOU!"_

_"WE DO NOT HAVE ALL NIGHT!"_

Slowly from somewhere far off to Balloon Boy's left came the sound of another animatronic powering up.

It's gears grinded, its joints creaked, its wheels began to spin and the cheerful sound of flashing neo lights started to play.

And then a voice called out, but it sounded lifeless, dry and old without any effort to form an emotion behind the words.

"Let me tell you a story," it began, before starting to drone on whilst making its way over to BB and the Nightmares.

"Once upon a time, there was a man who had lost all he held dear, removing all colour from his life and turning everything into an unbearable grey, unable to face reality and wishing to escape it he created a false one."

The turning of the wheels grew louder as the voice drew nearer, its plain robotic voice getting steadily louder.

"He poured all that he held dear into this new version, to desperately claw back what had been lost."

The other Nightmares had gone almost completely silent, allowing the voice to echo freely without interruption. Even the other animatronic that also housed another Nightmare, now obviously being Nightmare Foxy had gone silent too.

"He attempted to love this false reality, conniving himself that it was real and that nothing had been truly lost."

"In the end he did love them, spiritually and symbolically they had returned to him, yet no matter how hard he tried to avoid it, the physical imperfects still remain."

"In the end he couldn't avoid the mistakes, what had been minor details was now all he could see in them."

The sound of its body creaking made it come across as having a bulky frame. Its limbs seemed to groan in protest as they were forced to move along with the rest of the body with its wheels pulling it across the polished floor.

"He hated it, seeing reality slowly creeping into the world that he had worked so hard to create and no matter how much he tired, he just couldn't push them away any further."

"Yet he still loved them, or rather loved what they represented, and he couldn't bring himself to depose them, despite the pain they now brought him."

Then the wheels suddenly stopped as did everything else, save for its voice and the faint sound of flashing neo lights.

"So, to keep them safe, he locked them away, hiding them very well."

"He wouldn't let them be tainted, not by anyone, let to succumb to darkness and dust in utter silence, a purity that would never be corrupted, but never see the sunlight. . ."

Suddenly the whole animatronic powered down, briefly making noises as its gears clicked and its joints groaned slightly before going completely lifeless with its voice dragging itself out to the point of being an unrecognised sound before going completely dead. Then came the sound of something hard hitting the polished floor with a sizable thud with a few groans being muttered before pushing itself up straight.

_"And the rest of the story is for another day. . ."_

_Nightmare Bonnie. . ._

Her voice sounded an awful lot like Bonnie herself, soft like Chica's, but with a confident and serious undertone. BB knew that Bonnie had been a bit cold back in her earlier days, yet she always had a kind heart, but the Missing Children's' Incident had brought out the coldness in her to a large degree and she certainly did not take any nonsense from anyone.

Yet Nightmare Bonnie's coldness carried a sinister undertone while Bonnie's coldness very rarely did.

_"Aren't you coming out to join the fun N-Foxy?"_ she asked playfully, followed by the sounds of her footsteps, echoing whenever they made contact with the hard polish floor.

"Of course, I was just waiting to make my entrance," the sole remaining active animatronic retorted eagerly. Although BB knew that the Nightmare was merely speaking through the animatronic's voice box. Suddenly it powered down like the others, with its limbs groaning as they slowed and its other joints creaking as they let gravity pull them to their final position before the whole animatronic went completely dead. Again, came the sound of something landing on the floor, although it didn't sound as hard as Nightmares Chica and Bonnie had been, probably because Nightmare Foxy had been able to land on all fours.

He chuckled as he rose upright,

_"Good thing I watched you tired to get out of that thing and fail before I had a go, it gave me something to work on,"_ he stated humorously, earning him a light laugh from Nightmares Freddy and Chica.

_Nightmare Foxy. . ._

His voice was one of absolute confidence, sounding a lot like Foxy himself, but he didn't have the original's charm, plus there was some sadism in his tone that rightfully unsettled BB. Nightmare Bonnie's response to Nightmare Foxy's attempt at humour was merely a small growl, displaying her dislike of the Nightmare's remark towards her failure.

_"It was easier getting into them,"_ she replied coldly, and for a moment BB could swear that it was Bonnie that had said it, but his mind, the parts of it that were not consumed by the fear of the ever present springlocks sharply reminded him of the reality of his situation.

_He was not talking to Bonnie. . ._

Then the Nightmare's focus changed and not to Balloon Boy's benefit.

_"Anyway, we have to deal with our guest, who has been patiently listening all this time,"_ she stated sharply, now sounding all serious.

_"Do not move BB, do not move a single muscle,"_ she ordered, her voice was one of complete command.

_"You will not live to regret it if you do,"_ she remarked sternly with an undertone of coldness to it that sent a chill up Balloon Boy's spine.

Not even Bonnie could be this cold with him, not even on her bad days.

Nightmare Bonnie then clapped her hands twice, the sharp echo carrying out across the near silent room. Then suddenly and rather unexpectedly, Lefty activated, powering himself up with his eyes opening, although they only revealed one pupil. Balloon Boy's mind was immediately drowned in a tidal wave of fear and blind panic as he felt his surroundings shake and jostle as Lefty moved himself into an upright position.

_"Lefty,"_ Nightmare Bonnie called out, easily getting the animatronic's attention as BB could hear the joints in his neck creaking as his head turned in the Nightmare's direction.

"Yes, child would you like to sing a song with me?" he asked playfully, clearly not expressing any recognition of what was really going on, but then of course he wouldn't. He wasn't sentient or possessed, he didn't know anything other than what had been programmed into him.

_"No, but can you come closer I have a secret to share with you,"_ Nightmare Bonnie ordered, dismissing the animatronic's question.

Lefty didn't seem to think twice about her request as he began to march forward towards her.

Immediately Lefty's insides shook with BB trying very hard to not been shaken about by all the motion. He was also trying extremely hard not to scream out in fear as he could hear the various springlocks creak, whilst the rest of Lefty's endoskeleton groaned all about him in the pitch darkness of the animatronic's stomach. Lefty himself continued to walk forward until he had reached Nightmare Bonnie, who immediately held her hand up.

_"Stop,"_ she commanded confidently, and Lefty did so, with the motion of suddenly stopping nearly pushing BB forward had he not prepared himself for that eventuality.

_"Open up chest plates,"_ Nightmare Bonnie ordered, pointing at Lefty's stomach.

Instantly there was a wiring noise, followed by a few clicking sounds and shifting gears. Then Lefty's chest plates opened up with a mechanical groan, swinging wide open.

Light flooded in, while it was a fairly dim light, but it was more than enough to distorted BB's vision after being in the dark for so long.

As his eyes struggle to adjust to the brightness, BB heard Nightmare Bonnie issue one more command to Lefty.

_"Lefty, switch off."_

Lefty did so instantly, powering down, allowing his entire body to fall silent with all internal sounds ceasing. Eventually BB's eyes adapted to the surrounding brightness and could see everything clearly from inside Lefty's stomach. It still was pretty dark inside, but it was no longer an issue, but now he had much bigger problems. Multiple footsteps could be heard, approaching his position and it was obvious who they belonged to. Then two heads appeared before the widen opening, peering inside, with their eyes glowing a bright colour.

One pair was a light bluish purple, whilst the other was a deep reddish brown.

The latter was the first to speak, with BB instantly recognising the voice belonging to Nightmare Foxy.

_"Ahh, he is still alive, you have more courage than I anticipated laddie,"_ he chuckled in amusement.

_"You have earned my respect, although that doesn't mean I'll go easy on you."_

_Was that meant to be a good thing?_

From what BB could make out, the Nightmare's face bore a strong resemblance to the real Foxy, particularly with his jaw, nose and fox ears that stuck out of the top of his head. However, his eyes were noticeably different and then of course there was his set of razor sharp teeth and his snake like tongue. His hair was a fine deep red, closely matching Foxy's, despite the latter's hair being lighter in tone. Balloon Boy could now very easily see why Toy Chica had mistaken him and others for being the Originals, the resemblance was hauntingly similarly.

_"Regardless, he will do what we tell him, it isn't a difficult task,"_ the second voice was obviously Nightmare Bonnie's.

Her bluish purple eyes having now found him, stared intensely at the frighten boy. She did look an awful like the real Bonnie, especially with her cheek bones, nose, jawline and then there was her bunny ears that jutted out of the top of her head. Although they were probably more withered than the actual Bonnie's.

Her hair colour was slightly different, being a purplish blue, instead of being full blown purple like Bonnie's.

_"Mmmm, this setting takes me back,"_ she muttered, seeing to reflect backwards as she stared at BB.

_"Ahh, yes, the fear in his eyes reminds me very much of what you mean,"_ Nightmare Foxy remarked, seeming to agree with her perspective.

That sparked BB's mind, making him think, whilst also leading him to recall a particular moment for his recent past. When everyone was gathered around Jeremy's kitchen table and listening to Goldie painfully recount his tale of the traumatic bite of 1983.

He remembered how Goldie said that the Nightmares were based off the boy's wrapped mental interpretations of his bullies, who had worn face masks of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. All of which had terrified the hell out of the poor kid and had effectively hounded him until his tragic death which they caused. Then in the afterlife, the boy was unable to move on it appeared and his messed up mind gave birth to the Nightmares, leading them to chasing him in an endless torture cycle.

And his facial expression of pure horror had properly reminded the Nightmares of that poor boy.

Hesitantly with great difficulty he asked a question, even though he was scarred of their reaction.

Actually, it was a double question.

"Why are you chasing us?"

"And why can't the boy who Goldie accidently bit move on?"

Both were bold questions, especially the last one, but he wanted to hear it from them. Yet his questions had clearly startled the two Nightmares, as their eyes widen in surprise, before glancing at eachother.

_They weren't expecting that. . ._

Nightmare Bonnie reacted first, cocking her head slightly to one side, her eyes narrowed like a predator as she studied his, seeming to be contemplating her answer.

However, she finally answered.

_"You like to be direct don't you, well if it soothes your curiosity, I see no harm in answering your questions."_

Her voice was smooth and controlled, speaking with pure clarity.

_"Or although I am surpised that N-Chica's words have not resonated with you, I thought it was rather obvious what she was saying."_

She did have a point, as BB had at least registered that Nightmare Chica's story of her past, effectively implied that she and the other Nightmares actually despised their current situation and that things were not as they would have liked. It was a feeling that he knew all too well, but he despised the idea that he shared it with them of all people.

They didn't deserve let alone earn his pity.

Then Nightmare Foxy spoke, having remained quiet so far.

_"You ask some interesting questions BB, but first you must promise to do something for us."_

His voice was calm with an undertone of sternness to it, whilst his reddish brown eyes stared back at the boy, lighting up their surroundings.

_"Do you understand, a deal is a deal?"_

"Yes," Balloon Boy answered, surpised that they were going to answer his questions and also warry of any tricks that they might play. Then again, a deal was a deal and he had no capability to refuse if he wished to escape this literal nightmare. Suddenly, another pair of eyes appeared in the gap between the two Nightmares, dark red. . .Nightmare Freddy.

_"Here's the message that I want you to pass on, we want to meet the Originals at three PM tomorrow, and we will know if they don't show up."_

His eyes narrowed sharply with a cold stare and that was more enough to get his point across to Balloon Boy. He would not be killed by them here and now, but if he so pushed the thinly veiled boundaries then there would be conquences and there was no doubt that they would be severe. Balloon Boy nodded to show that he understood Nightmare Freddy's demand, only to then ask another question.

"How do you intend to meet them?"

In light of things, it was a fair point to make.

Nightmare Freddy's eyes unnarrowed, going back to a more relaxed expression.

_"In the dreamworld of course, we will meet them in their dreams. . .or nightmares."_

That last part he had said with an amused tone.

_"We will be expecting them, be sure to pass that on,"_ he demanded, to which BB nodded in agreement. He did want to ask why they wanted to speak to the Originals and not the Toys, but he felt that he would be pushing his luck if he asked too many questions, so he mentally kept his curiosity in check.

"I promise that I will tell them," he said, saying the words quite boldly, hoping that it would speed the conversation up and in particular make them answer his questions. Nightmare Freddy smiled, seeming to be satisfied with BB's answer, whereas Nightmare Foxy presented an expression of suspicion, eyeing the boy with a sense of mistrust. Seeing her companion's expression, Nightmare Bonnie leaned forward, putting her face, neck and shoulders inside Lefty's stomach which was a tight space already with BB being held inside it.

She continued to lean forward until her face was right in front of Balloon Boy's, staring at him intently.

_"I know that you think that we have no reason to suspect you into deceiving us and that you are well aware of the conquences of failing to do what we ask."_

Her voice was softly spoken, further amplified by the limited space that surrounded them.

_"You are smart Balloon Boy, but not smart enough to take the easy path when we presented it to you earlier."_

Her words threw Balloon Boy's mind back to their conversation via the array of TV screens in the security office, he mentally tossed her insult to one side, he could deal with that later.

_"Yet you know when your life is on the line, so I trust that you will deliver our request in the ideal manner."_

Her voice was quiet, small, with all he could see being her bluish purple eyes staring back at him with an expression of seriousness. Balloon Boy could feel his heart banging against his ribcage like a mighty war drum, with his back being pressed further against Lefty's endoskeleton spine in his instinctive attempts to back away from the Nightmare.

_"However, this is a taste of I will do to you, should they not turn up."_

Her eyes narrowed and all traces of softness left her voice, replaced by a sudden coldness.

_"And I will not hold back because you are a child."_

BB's eyes widen in terror, his blood went ice blood as several long bluish strings slithered out of Nightmare Bonnie's eyes. They spiralled in the air like branches of a tree or the tentacles of an octopus in the ocean, they almost looked pretty, but that didn't diminish BB's fear of them. He was shaking, although he knew that he shouldn't less he wished to set the springlocks off and he could already hear them.

Creaking and clicking sounds filled the air around him as he tired to force himself to remain still, but his instincts were screaming at him to get away and he couldn't. Yet Nightmare Bonnie remained perfectly still as her strings approached BB, aiming straight for his eyes.

_"Your mind will become my playground; nothing will be left uncovered and I already know your fears."_

Then her expression softened, although she didn't stop her strings.

_"At worst I can do to you what N-Freddy did to Chica, you saw what that was like, but it's quite another thing to actually experience it."_

The mental image that her words created frighten Balloon Boy to his core. The strings were almost upon him, bearing downward, aiming to penetrate his eyes and tear it asunder. He couldn't move, his body was frozen with fear and yet he kept on shaking, causing more springlocks to start creaking as they shifted in and out of their original position.

Nightmare Bonnie's strings were all he could see now, bright blue strings shaped like veins, filling his entire vision. . .so close.

_"But you are a good boy, so you will do the right thing to survive."_

Suddenly the blue strings immediately retracted and within an instant they were gone, having been pulled back inside Nightmare Bonnie's eyes. Then she retreated backwards, completely pulling herself out of Lefty's stomach, leaving BB alone.

_"He will do it,"_ she said, to which Nightmare Foxy relaxed his expression, dropping his suspicious gaze of BB.

_"And now it's our turn to answer your questions, you've been more than patience,"_ Nightmare Chica remarked playfully now appearing before the opening with a smile dancing on her lips. Then Nightmare Foxy smirked, seeming to move away from the opening so only Nightmare Chica remained.

She then clapped her hands and just like before Lefty turned on, powering himself up.

_"Lefty, open up fully,"_ Nightmare Chica commanded.

Lefty did so, seeming to lean backwards, before stretching himself and opening his chest plates to their widest extent. In doing so, his internal mechanical organs moved away from BB, giving him much more room to move in. More light from outside poured in, allowing BB to see his surroundings more clearly. Nightmare Chica positioned herself in front of the opening, still beaming a playful smile, although that didn't mean that there wasn't anything sinister underneath it.

It was particularly a given with her kind.

_"Ok Balloon Boy hold your breath and remain perfectly still," _she said, her tone was serious, despite her smile.

_"This will only take a moment."_

BB compelled with her demands and slowly Nightmare Chica's claws reached in, firmly grabbed BB's waist and gently pulled him out. The procedure was made a lot easier with the extra space granted by Lefty's now stretched endoskeleton. Bright light greeted BB's eyes and although it died down in its intensity, it was enough to make him close his eyes.

Once his vision had settled, he opened them, feeling his feet coming into contract with the polished floor. Upon opening his eyes, he came face to face with Nightmare Chica, whose facial features bore a striking resemblance to Chica herself, now that he could see her more clearly. Although she carried noticeable differences from Chica herself, the most obvious being the Nightmare's oversized jaw which carried three rows of sharp teeth.

Even the cupcake that was sat on her right shoulder bore down at BB with a sinister set of fangs and a suspecting gaze in its yellowy eyes.

Then Nightmare Foxy called out.

_"Lefty, switch off."_

As expected, Lefty proceeded to power down, effectively freezing himself in a stretched out pose like an ice statue that was forever frozen in place. Nightmare Chica meanwhile stared down at him, her yellowy orange eyes bore into his, expressing a sense of amusement.

_"The questions you asked are actually entwined, interestingly enough." _

Then other Nightmares began to gather round, although BB kept his focus on Nightmare Chica, but he was on edge with them being so close to him. His breathing had clamed as he assumed that they would not harm, considering what had just passed between them, but that didn't mean they would not try to scare him. His heart however would often jump whenever one of them moved slightly on the edge of his field of vision.

However, when Nightmare Chica started to speak, BB's attention was fully directed at her every word.

_"The boy was killed in a tragic incident, having his head pierced by Fredbear's teeth and then being unconscious for a week before finally slipping away,"_ her voice was slow and soft, seeming to hold no sinister undertone.

_"Yet he found himself in Limbo, taking us and the whole house with him, an infinite dark realm."_

She sighed; the upward direction of her eyes indicated that she was thinking back.

_"Time stands still there, everything is lifeless and grey, nothing happens, just a bored and drawn out existence."_

Then her gaze shifted down to BB, she smiled a little, although if it was genuine then it didn't match her nightmarish features.

_"You do know what limbo means?"_ she asked curiously.

BB nodded; he knew that it was a place where the souls of people who could not pass on resided until they were able to find peace. Nightmare Chica's smile widen slightly, probably glad that she could skip that part. Her cupcake however stared at BB suspiciously from its perch on the Nightmare's shoulder, for what reasons BB couldn't understand.

Nightmare Chica continued to speak.

_"We were beasts at first, chasing him down, trying to break into his bedroom and kill him, although we never got to do so."_

_"He feared his bullies so much that he always assumed the worst whenever they were able to corner him, and he passed that fear onto us."_

Her tone was still soft, yet there was now an underlying sense of coldness to it, stating her words as hard facts.

_"Over time we achieved sentience, becoming self aware and learning how to speak much to his horror."_

Nightmare Foxy who was standing right behind BB let out an assumed chuckle, most likely recalling a moment from that time when he was still hunting the boy.

Then Nightmare Chica's voice changed to one of annoyance and thinly veiled anger.

_"However, our happiness was brief as we discovered that we couldn't actually leave the house, there was a barrier around it, keeping us inside."_

Although he wasn't looking at them, BB could sense a growing sense of frustration from the other Nightmares.

_"No matter how hard we tired, we couldn't not break through, each attempt was painfully, and any further risk could warrant death."_

_"It's a pity that you didn't continue to try,"_ BB mentally muttered sarcastically.

_"Then we realised, or rather Nightmare Fredbear did, that while we were all separate individuals, we were still tied to the child somehow," _Nightmare Chica continued.

_"We were not fully formed souls, incomplete, and whatever happened to him would affect us."_

Then her eyes narrowed, and her smile vanished, her expression now matched that of her cupcake, glaring down at BB.

_"We need him, for without him we cannot exist, we are still his creations,"_ she muttered coldly, clearly expressing her immense dislike of being in that position.

_"Yet we desire freedom, to experience life to its fullest, otherwise what is the point in being self aware if you can never be free."_

_"We will break the chains, we will escape our prison, just like you Balloon Boy, we want to be free."_

Her words had opened a door in Balloon Boy's mind that contained a thousand questions, yet he didn't know which one to ask.

How exactly were they tied to the child?

Does having the child around mean that they are effectively immortal?

How does one travel from Limbo to here?

In fact, how did they break out of Limbo, he had some idea as to how based largely on what Goldie had told him and the others, but he was sure that there was more to that. He needed to speak to Goldie, he needed to let the others know. However, Nightmare Chica's words had given him some answers. They needed the child to survive, they could not exist without him, it would be their death sentence if he was able to move on. Therefore, they could not get through to the real world without a vessel, a body.

Is that why they sided with Vincent, because they needed his help?

That question instantly brought up another one.

With Vincent helping them break out and giving them bodies to use, then what did he want in return?

Each answer he got only seem to give birth to another question, it mentally frustrated him. However, Nightmare Chica's admission that they had a weakness filled with him a triumphant joy of sorts. He could easily imagine that for all their confidence, aggression and power, the very thought that they possessed a fatal weakness terrified them to their cores.

Just a little bit. . .

And there was only one place where bad souls go to suffer for all eternity.

He mentally smiled at the thought, after all the shit that they had done to him and his family, it was the very least they deserved. He could see it now in his mind's eye, the moment when they discovered that fatal hole in their collective armour. . .

* * *

(Begin the song here if you wish.)

_We see Tommy exploring one of the darken rooms of the FNAF 4 house with a flashlight._

_We then see the light _ _from the flashlight fall upon four life sized plushies of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, all resting against the far wall._

_Tommy stares at them curiously, unsure of what to make of them._

_Then suddenly the plushies start pulsating, twitching and jerking rapidly in all directions, like there is something alive inside of them, trying to escape._

_Their bodies burst wide open with cotton stuffing flying everywhere as several figures fall to the floor._

_Tommy's eyes go wide with fear, he trembles as the figures pick themselves up, recognising them as nightmarish versions of his plushies._

_The Foxy lookalike instantly spots him, his eyes filling with bloodlust._

_The other three nightmares also notice him, instantly adopting an aggressive stance._

**"And so, it begins. . ."**

_Footsteps hit the floor as Tommy runs._  
**"Here we are,** ** in ** **this dark reminder."** **  
** **"If you were wise, you'd step away."**

_The Nightmares give chase._  
**"As I would like to begin** ** my** ** ascension!"**

_Tommy's interpretations of his bullies have been infused into their very beings.  
_ **"Relive the dark times, living your mind in decline."**

_Surely this is hell. . ._  
**"For every part that's missing,** ** you** ** will surely be mine."** **  
** **"What can we use?"** **  
** **"There is nothing to lose."**

_He dived through the bedroom door._  
**"But when the timer starts ticking** **, y** **ou won't survive, bring me to life!"** **  
** _He slams the door shut before the Nightmares can reach it._

_They encircle his bedroom, their frustration growing as they bash against the doors.  
_  
**"Let me out** **, let** ** me out of here."** **  
** **"I'M GOING IN CIRCLES!"**

**"Don't you wanna be free?"**

_They know only their instincts._   
**"Don't you wanna be hook, line, and sinkered?"**

_Anger and hatred dominate their thinking._  
**"Listen to the voices** **, telling** ** you your choices."** **  
**

_There is no such thing as freedom._

"**I'm telling you that**** running ****ain't a choice**** for a**** cold, dead parasite!"****  
**

_Their eyes express a deep seated bloodlust._   
**"Look beneath and you'll find my demeanour."**

_Trapped in a house with endless nights._ _  
_ **"Swallowed by a monster, trapped within a blunder."**  
**"I'm telling you that ** **hiding ain't a choice** ** for** ** a cold, dead parasite!"**

_As the nights progress, they get smarter and quicker._

**"Beware of the wires, can't be helped."**

_Shows the house decaying._

"**I'm falling apart."**

_Yet it becomes darker and more traitorous._   
**"A whole infestation awaits."**

_Giving birth to new terrors._   
**"I witnessed more than you in this corruption!"**

_Tommy barely escapes an attack by Nightmare Bonnie, slamming one of the doors shut.  
_ **"So if you're late** **, ** **I would hate to parade your mistake."** **  
** **"If you react a little slower,** ** death** ** will be higher made!"** **  
** **"We were devoured by a suit from hell."**

_We see a life size plushie of Fredbear twitching uncontrollably._  
**"And if you know what's good for you, then you'll comply as you bring me to life!"** **  
** _The plushie explodes as Nightmare Fredbear bursts forth._

_His scarlet red eyes express a desire for freedom.  
_ **"Let me out,** ** let ** **me out of here."** **  
** **"I'M GOING IN CIRCLES!"** **  
**  
**"Don't you wanna be free?"**

_He starts to see the big picture._   
**"Don't you wanna be hook, line, and sinkered?"**

_This reality is not permanent._

"**Listen to the voices**** telling**** you your choices."**

_He realises a terrible truth._  
**"I'm telling you that** ** running ** **ain't a choice for a cold, dead parasite!"**

_His eyes express a newly found fear._   
**"Look beneath and you'll find my demeanour."**

_If Tommy is able to move on._ _  
_ **"Swallowed by a monster** **, trapped ** **within a blunder."**

_Then they will all cease to exist._   
**"I'm telling you that hiding ain't a choice for a cold, dead parasite!"**

_Nightmare Freddy cowers in terror._   
**"I CAN'T BREATHE!"**

_They are not truly free._   
**"Hold on, hold on, never hold on!"**

_Nightmare Bonnie screams in frustration._ _  
_ **"I CAN'T SEE!"**

_Their collective outlook grows.  
_ **"Darkness is born, terror evolves!"**

_Nightmare Chica covers her eyes in denial._ **  
** **"TAKE OUT HER EYES!"**

_Their hands are tied.  
_ **"Your freedom awaits, you're tied up in chains!"**

_Nightmare Foxy howls in fear._   
**"THERE'S NO MORE TIME!"**

_They fear the fires of hell._ _  
_ **"You'll be burned alive, just like old times!"**

_They could lose everything._ _  
_ **"No more nights, you're full of fright!"** **  
** **"YOUR BLOOD IS THEIRS, AND THEY ARE YOU!"**

_We see plushies of the Nightmares chained to a plushie of Tommy._

**"Can you hear me now?"**   
**"You've just been hook, line, and sinkered."**

_There is no way out._   
**"Listen to the voices, hovering our corpses."**

_They are trapped._   
**"We won't make it out!"**

**"Don't you wanna be free?"**

_We see Vincent powering up a certain machine._

**"Don't you wanna be hook, line, and sinkered?"**

_He looks exhausted._

"**Listen to the voices**** telling**** you your choices."**

_Yet he must do this._

"**I'm telling you that ****running ain't a choice for a cold, dead parasite!****"**

_He grips a handle._

"**Look beneath and you'll find my demeanour."**

_He briefly hesitates._  
**"Swallowed by a monster** **, trapped** ** within a blunder."**

_Before sharply pulling it down._

"**I'm telling you that**** hiding**** ain't a choice for a cold, dead parasite!****"**

_He must help set them free._

_The machine actives, letting the Nightmares into the world._

"**For a cold, dead parasite!"**

_Unholy screams fill the air as the unwilling hosts are completely possessed by the Nightmares' spirits with their bodies, painfully transforming to match their forms._

_Four pairs of eyes slowly open and wearily gaze around._  
**"Don't you wanna be free?"** **  
** **"Listen to the voices** **, t** **elling you your choices."**

_Is this freedom?_  
**"Don't you wanna be free?"** **  
** **"Running ain't a choice** ** f** **or a cold, dead parasite!"**

_Can they break their bonds with Tommy?_ _  
_ **"Don't you wanna be free?"**  
**"Swallowed by a monster** **, t** **rapped within a blunder."**

_Their fates are tied to his. . .for now._

_(The song fades out.)_

* * *

It made sense in the end; the Nightmares wanted freedom because they hated the idea of being bound to someone to the point where the disappearance of the source of that bound would be fatal. He had to laugh, mentally of course, but these monsters had proceeded to pretty much kill everyone they came across and laugh at it like it was just a game. They had tortured Freddy, Puppet, Chica, Goldie and countless others with a smile, loving the pain that they created. It was ironic, they loved to inflict death, but feared having it inflicted on them.

If karma was a thing, then it was obvious what kind of fate should befall them if it ever did. Suddenly, Nightmare Freddy appeared right before BB, coming out of the edge of his field of vision, starling the boy out of his thought bubble.

_"I know what your thinking Balloon Boy, you've found a weakness that can be exploited, and you think that it is only right that we suffer, given everything we've done to you."_

He literally spoke BB's mind and he was unable to stop himself from going wide eyed, which only made the Nightmare smile in satisfaction at being right.

His dark red eyes shone with delight.

_"Do you really think that we will allow you to have a chance at beating us, because this is where your other question comes into play."_

His smile grew at the expense of BB's confidence.

_"And you will regret asking it."_

BB looked about him to see the Nightmares smiling coldly at him, they knew the answer. The feeling of immense dread exploded into being inside of him, his nerves were alight again, making him fear the worse.

He felt sick to his stomach.

Judging by their facial expressions which were borderline sinister, the answer became obvious to him. Even before Nightmare Freddy opened his mouth to speak, his conscious clicked into gear and said it instead.

_'You. . . you have to die.'_

_'Them, the other Fazbears have to die.'_

The Fazbears had to die for the boy to move on, if he or rather the part of him that judged Goldie to be the one responsible for his death, then he had to die. Of course, Balloon Boy himself and the others wouldn't let that happen, so they had to go too, everything had to be wiped off the board if it was to be final and stand any chance of success.

Slowly, he turned to look at Nightmare Freddy, staring longingly into his dark red eyes. The Nightmare's eyes widen slightly upon seeing Balloon Boy's expression.

_"You understand don't you, how the game is played?"_ he said slowly, his tone now being plain and detached.

_"For the child to find peace, we must carry out what he lacks the will to do, Fredbear and everyone connected to him must die."_

He slowly walked towards BB who stood still, trying to deal with his horror at what must be done.

_"There is no way in which this game ends with everyone getting a happy ending."_

He reached with one hand and placed on BB's head, feeling the boy tremble under his touch.

_"You know this, the ghost children searched for a way out with killing the night guards and they in return hunt you in their attempt to find salvation."_

He gently stroked the brown curls of Balloon Boy's hair, the Nightmare's voice carried no feeling of confidence or sadism, only a sense of understanding which seemed odd for a creature of his nature.

_"You and your family want Vincent dead for the pain and devastation that he had inflicted on you and we want to kill you to gain our freedom and in doing so we will free the soul of a traumatised child."_

Raw emotion that had been bubbling away inside BB burst forth in the expression of tears and quiet sobs that steadily grew louder with each passing second.

"That's. . .that's not fair," BB cried unable to control himself as the horrifying realisation swept across him like a dark cloud. Nightmare Freddy's expression did not harden as expected, instead he merely spoke in a soft tone.

_"Who said that life is fair. . ."_

Balloon Boy knew his words to be true given everything that had happened over the years. He briefly glanced around, seeing the expressions of the other Nightmares and although the light was dim, he could still them clear enough. Nightmare Bonnie's was plain, but her bluish purple eyes almost expressed a sombre expression, there was no sign of confidence in them. Nightmare Foxy looked cold, but even his eyes shown a sense of understanding to BB's dilemma.

After all he did said that BB had earned his respect for surviving their game, but then again, he did also say that he wouldn't go easy on him.

Turning over to Nightmare Chica, BB could see that her expression held the most sorrow or was that pity?

After all BB had seen the humanity in her eyes before, although the idea of her having any still made him feel sick to his stomach. Nightmare and humanity, they didn't go together, given how they were 'born' so to put it. Yet, everything that they had done, how could they feel or express pity, sorrow and understanding, they should lack the capability to do so.

Unless, they had somehow learnt to feel it.

Nightmare Freddy continued to speak.

_"Death is merely a process to me, I can make it long or short, painful and or painless if I choose to, but you know how I like to inflict it."_

_"I am a monster, it is infused into me and I cannot help it, but even a monster can learn to feel things that go against its inner nature. . .even a monster like Vincent Afton."_

_"But we will break free of our chains."_

He then learned down and whispered softly, but also sternly into Balloon Boy's ear.

_"So, don't hold it against us. . ."_

Balloon Boy trembled even more at the Nightmare's words, but he understood the reasoning behind them as he himself had expressed it in the past. . .during those dark days in the nineteen nineties.

Then Nightmare Freddy withdrew completely, stepping away from Balloon Boy.

BB's head was swimming with thoughts and questions, just what had he gone through in the past few minutes?

A part of him couldn't believe the idea the Nightmares could feel anything other than their own wants and desires, it just didn't make sense, it all had to be a lie. Yet he could sense no underlying tone in Nightmare Freddy's voice, although he withheld his suspicions.

However, the words from _'David'_ earlier on, spoke through his degraded voice box came rushing back.

_"I would say the same thing about the Nightmares, trying to force an outcome, wanting to break their own chains."_

The death of himself and his entire family were the forced outcome that he had been referring to. Although Nightmare Freddy hadn't specified how it would all work, but right now his shock and horror were overpowering his ability to think clearly. Seeing the boy's apparent distress, the four Nightmares passed several nods of understanding between eachother, seeming to speak silently. Then Nightmare Bonnie turned in Lefty's direction and clapped her hands, but the loud sound didn't make BB jump, he was too lost in his own thoughts to react.

Not even the mechanical creaks and groans of Lefty powering himself up and retracting his chest plates had startled him.

_"Lefty take our guest to the front doors, it's closing time,"_ Nightmare Bonnie ordered to which the animatronic immediately proceeded to carry out.

She then turned to Balloon Boy, speaking in a soft, but stern tone.

_"You have earned our respect BB, truly you have, so we might be merciful to you, as for the others I cannot say."_

The sound of Lefty's heavy footsteps hitting the polished floor didn't jolt BB out of his thoughts, the boy was too lost in them to realise what was happening.

He only came out of his thought bubble when Lefty grabbed him by the waist and lifted him up off the floor. Lefty then proceeded to carry BB across the room towards the front entrance, passing by rows upon rows of dormant animatronics. Even though the feel of being in Lefty's hold had startled him, BB was still consumed by his inner turmoil, still struggling to make sense of what he had just been told. He didn't even look at the lifeless animatronics, who all stood silent as Lefty merely passed them by with the Nightmares following on behind.

He heard an audible snap of fingers, probably from one of the Nightmares and soon he saw why. The front doors of the pizzeria swung open wide, revealing an entranceway that glowed bright white, so bright that nothing could be seen beyond it.

Yet BB knew it to be the exit, the way out from this nightmare.

Lefty upon reaching the doorway stopped before it, although he didn't let go of BB, keeping him in mid air. He could feel the humming sounds of Lefty's internal machinery rumbling through his suit. Being so close the brightness forced BB to close his eyes as its intensity was so high that it stung his pupils. The hard fall of footsteps beside him heralded the Nightmares' arrival, he opened his eyes.

_"In the end BB, this is a game with deadly conquences for the loser, you just didn't know that you were playing,"_ Nightmare Foxy muttered, his tone was direct with a sense of coldness to it.

_"Now that you know what's at stake Balloon Boy, we expect a challenge,"_ Nightmare Chica remarked plainly, although there was a glint of delight in her eyes at the prospect.

_"I hope that we answered your questions BB,"_ said Nightmare Bonnie, giving the boy a small smile of amusement.

_"Did you like the answers though?"_

Balloon Boy didn't answer, he was just too lost for words.

_"I can see your shock laddie,"_ Nightmare Foxy chuckled.

_"I'm sure the others will have a hard time believing it too."_

Then lastly Nightmare Freddy turned to face him. His expression was a mixture of determination, coldness, confidence and what one could describe as understanding.

_"You can kill us as many times as you like BB, but we will always come back."_

His dark red eyes narrowed, and his ruthlessness returned.

_"You however can only die once."_

Then he smiled sinisterly, the monster within him had returned, that previous flicker of humanity was gone, swept away like the tide.

_"Game over. . ."_

He then clicked his fingers and Lefty instantly without warning threw BB forward into the glowing doorway. The whiteness gave away to nothing, but an infinite black void as he fell forward into utter darkness. The sensation of falling into nothingness filled him with dread as various voices repeatedly echoed around him.

_"WE WILL FIND YOU!"_

_"Let me tell you a story."_

_"You have to die."_

_"You can only die once."_

_"Game over. . ."_

_"But we will break free of our chains."_

_"Even a monster can learn to feel things that go against its inner nature. . .even a monster like Vincent Afton."_

_"So, don't hold it against us. . ."_

The voices got louder and louder, until they were all screaming at him nonstop. In the end he couldn't take it, the sensation of falling to nowhere, the screaming voices and the horrifying realisation of what the Nightmares were truly after overcame him. He screamed in fear and pain as he fell into the void, he cried to make the voices stop, to drown them out with his own as he dived into the unknown.

He didn't know if they had stopped or not, so he kept on screaming as the feeling of pure terror washed over his body.

He couldn't stop even if he wanted to and he simply wouldn't.

Hence why he woke up screaming and awoke the whole house in the process. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even monsters can feel things that are contrary to their nature.  
I picked the song Parasite as I felt that it best symbolised the Nightmares' feeling of being trapped inside something that they can't escape from.  
They are parasites, unable to survive without latching onto something, greatly limiting what they can do, hence why they are incomplete souls.  
I did initially intend to split this chapter in half given the word count, but I decided that it would be better to wrap it up, as it would feel disjointed if I were to finish it at the beginning of the next chapter.  
So, what do you think about the Nightmares' explanation for why they are hunting the Fazbears?  
Please Review, your feedback is appreciated.


	39. A Twisted Purple Cloud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here's another chapter.  
This one is longer than I would have liked, but I needed to space things out and slowly let things sink in, this plot mostly moves slowly.  
If you guys have an issue with the large chapter sizes, do let me know in your reviews, and I'll try to keep them below 10,000 words.  
In addition, if anyone has any song suggestions, FNAF or non-FNAF, please do include them in your reviews.
> 
> There is another sing along song in this one and its 'Wanna Be Twisted' by Tryhardninja, he did an amazing video for this song and I highly recommend that you check it out.

** Chapter 39. **

** A Twisted Purple Cloud. **

_ **"You may not recognise me at first, but I assure you, it's still me. . ."** _

**William Afton from Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator.**

The kitchen was completely silent, everyone was looking at Balloon Boy with wide eyes and some with open mouths. Yet the aura of shock filled the air, suffocating out everything else, and hanging over everyone like a dark cloud. Balloon Boy looked more traumatised than he did before, having to recall his experience had made the boy go pale in the face. His baby blue eyes were wide with shock, mentally he was far away and back in the nightmare, being trapped inside the innards of Lefty.

Everyone else was looking at him, but his focus was elsewhere, he was fighting to repress those memories.

_The dark and gloomy hallways of his old home. . ._

_The blaring static of the multiple rows of TV screens._

_The robotic inhuman screams of the possessed prop suits, as they wandered through the halls hunting for him._

_The creaks and groans of their worn out suits, heralding their approach._

_The demented smile of Lefty as he towered over him._

_The loud sounds of the other animatronics as they sang that hellish song. _

_Being inside a metal cage that was a literal death trap and could have gone off at any given moment._

_Then meeting the Nightmares face to face and having himself scared to death on more occasions than he would like to admit._

_Only to then be thrown into the dark, and left to fall for what felt like entirety, as the voices of both the Nightmares and Possessed Prop Suits screamed around him._

He would like to forget all of that an instant, but he just couldn't burry it, no matter how hard he mentally fought against it. The hot chocolate that Jeremy had made for him was now cold, he hadn't even touch it since he started talking. Balloon Boy seem to stare out into the distance, too lost in his thoughts to continue on interacting with those around him.

Although they had registered the significance of his words, they were struggling to absorb it.

Toy Freddy visibly looked the most shocked and probably was the second most enraged at what he had just heard. Yet his eyes gave away his feelings the most, his blue pupils were wide, but his eyes were narrowed, although he seemed to be keeping his anger in check.

He was the head of his family unit, and one of them had been seriously harmed, he couldn't let that slide.

Toy Bonnie also looked mad, but mostly sad if anything else. She was probably struggling to accept the very idea that her death was required to free the soul of a child. BB's revelations about the Nightmares' goal and thinking had sent her into a mental labyrinth devoid of answers. Her eyes expressed a strong sense of confusion, anger yes, but mostly confusion and bewilderment. It went against everything that she believed, they were trying to free the souls of children by killing Vincent, it was a complete shock to find that it was the other way round.

Toy Chica looked dumbfounded and scared at the idea of combining the Nightmares' ability to interact with anyone's dream and their intended objective. They were in fact invincible, regardless of their new discovered weakness. In a sense it was effectively useless as they had no way to get to Limbo and even then, they didn't know what would await them there, the fear in her eyes underlined that understanding.

Mangle was visibly disturbed, perhaps more so than Toy Freddy. Her eyes were wide, and she seemed to be breathing tensely. No doubt her fear came from what BB had just told them and the memories of the infamous Bite of 87 that had unearthed themselves from the depths of her subconscious.

She still blamed herself for the incident, despite the fact that she was a victim of Vincent's schemes, using her as a distraction so he could lure away five more children.

_Luring them into their graves. . . _

Although of course, the Nightmares' confession had scared Mangle as well, but the memories of 1987 had come back to haunt her with a vengeance.

Jeremy Fitzgerald seem to be dumb shocked like Toy Chica, but he didn't look as scared as she did. Instead, his eyes expressed an aura of deep thought, trying perhaps to find a way out of this chaos. However, he was rightfully afraid of this new development as it only served to make them all even more of a target.

He possessed good foresight, but this case was beyond him.

Foxy was clearly unnerved, which only further expressed the direness of their situation. He looked afraid and was struggling to understand how the Nightmares could understand humanity if they obviously ignored it in their actions and intents. The fact that he didn't look mad as he would usually would in such circumstances only serve to underline the dire straits that was facing them.

Chica seemed to be just simply terrified by everything that BB had told them, her eyes were frantic and held immense fear in them. It was obvious that the Nightmares wanted to kill them, but the reason had clearly shaken her, because it felt. . ._relatable._

At the same time Bonnie seemed to wear a plain expression, but her purple reddish eyes told a very different story. They were alive with both anger and fear. Anger over what the Nightmares had done to BB and fear over the strong possibility that when the Nightmares came again, they would kill someone and start bumping them all off one by one. It simply wasn't fair for the odds to be stacked against them and she rightfully hated it. She didn't seem to be shocked when compared to the expressions of those around her, yet she was probably feeling shocked internally, maybe it hadn't fully registered with her and considering what the revaluations meant, it was easy to understand.

Freddy seemed to be a mixture of things, looking both enraged, shocked and horrified at BB's story. Like the others, his emotions stem from multiple sources. His rage being the Nightmares having shamefully attacked a child and then threatened to further torture him, should they not go to this _'meeting'_ of theirs, which he was pretty sure was just a trap. His shock came from the revelation that the Nightmares could understand humanity, let alone relate themselves to the plight that he and his family were going through.

His horror came from the idea that his death was needed to free the soul of a tormented child, like Toy Bonnie he was struggling to accept the idea because everything that he had been trying to achieve over the years was to ensure that the children who Vincent had murdered in cold blood found peace. He was the victim, they were all victims, they didn't need or deserve to die. Yet the Nightmares' confession presented him with a dilemma, would it be selfish for him to allow a child to exist in a never ending hell because he didn't want to die in order for him to be able to move on.

It was a question that he never expected to be asked for obvious reasons.

Mike Schmidt looked mad, shock as well, but mostly mad at what BB had been forced to undergo. Like the others, he didn't find it fair that the Nightmares had an easy run at them when they couldn't even mount a defence. Although the information that BB had been given was helpful to an extent, it was particularly useless as they had no way of acting on it. Sure, the Nightmares could be killed as he was already aware, but with Vincent still around, he would just keep on bringing them back.

A never-ending cycle as BB was told.

_"You can only die once."_

_"Game over. . ."_

The reality of it was depressing to Mike and despite everything that he had done to help his friends, it didn't seem to have paid off. He went through trials to get them on side and he even had to convince himself on multiple times that the risk to his life was worth it.

Having signed up for the vacant post of security guard at a once famous pizzeria that was on its last legs, he had no idea what he was in for.

And even now he still didn't know, the only difference being that everyone else was as clueless as he was.

He hated the thought that everything could slip backwards, he remembered vividly that invisible black cloud that had hung over the Fazbears when he arrived in nineteen ninety three.

Maybe to call it a purple cloud was more fitting, given Vincent's responsibility in making this all happen.

It still lingered, he could see it in their eyes at times, but recent events, especially with the revelations from BB's encounter with the Nightmares now seriously threaten to reform that black cloud. Goldie's dark red eyes merely expressed two emotions, fear and a deep concern. The rest of his face was a blank canvas, unreadable by those around him, however his eyes gave way to his inner thoughts.

He didn't know what to believe, but he couldn't deny BB's words. In truth he had some suspicion that the Nightmares' alliance with Vincent Afton went deeper than it had first suggested. He had even questioned Nightmare Fredbear about it when he was battling him to regain control of his mind. Yet the Nightmare had merely replied with.

_"Deeper than you could ever imagine Goldie, involving secrets that are best left forgotten, like the child you bit." _

The Nightmare's words echoed throughout his head, smug, condescending, and expressing an enjoyment of knowing something that Goldie himself did not.

And the fact that he didn't know only served to annoy him, but at least they had something new to go on now.

Still. . .knowing the truth about the Nightmares' intentions scared him immensely, although he only let his eyes show that.

He knew that it would be best for everyone to keep a calm head.

Puppet was a mixture of many things, fear was perhaps the most visible expression on her face, but her white dots for eyes were a swirling maelstrom of anger, sorrow, confusion and remorse, neither one being dominant. Originally, she had been seated across from BB, but once he started to share the inmate details of his unfortunate encounter with the Nightmares, she had moved over to hug him. Her hands were wrapped tightly around him, with her raven black hair intermingling with his light brown as she held him in a tight embrace, although her close presence didn't seem to bring BB out of his internal turmoil.

She had been gazing into BB's eyes, but now she had merely buried her head into his shoulder, gently rocking the boy in a soothing motion.

Yet her own mind was arrack with mixed feelings, but each one had their reasons for being present and there was no doubt in everyone's mind that Puppet would blame herself for the possessed prop suit existing in the first place.

She was angry at what the Nightmares had done to Balloon Boy, the tricks that they had pulled all for their sick form of entertainment. Including the fact that they seem capable of doing anything they liked in the dreamworld, there they had no equals it seemed.

Save for Goldie that is. . .but there was only one of him.

She felt immense sorrow at not being able to escape their past, particularly her past, all the things that BB had described involving the animatronics, all reminders of Fazbear Entertainment, a company which she despised immensely. Now it seemed that everything associated with Fazbear Entertainment had become mere tools of the Nightmares and Vincent Afton.

As Nightmare Freddy told BB, this was all part of a game and the deck had always been one sided.

Her confusion stemmed from the existence of the animatronics themselves, if what the Nightmares had said was true, then Fazbear Entertainment had been up to its old tricks as usual. She certainly held no knowledge on the company's plans, being a performer, she wouldn't be privy to such information, but there would have been some indication towards her being replaced.

It didn't make sense and the level of detail that BB had used to describe the animatronics, all in different shapes and colours clearly suggested that they had to exist somewhere in the real world, or there were blueprints for them.

Blueprints which could only now be in the hands of one man.

_Vincent Afton. . . _

She internally sighed, only further fuelling the mixture of raw emotion that threatened to surge throughout her mind. There was nothing that was beyond his reach, innocent children, animatronic suits, blueprints and of course the Fazbears themselves. Through the Nightmares he could indirectly attack them without needing to be present, it was the perfect scheme.

Each time he delivered suffering to the pizzeria, he always did so with a new trick, or a new piece of information that he ruthlessly exploited for all that it was worth.

Being a staff member at both pizzerias, he would merely observe everyone about him, noting their daily routines and what they were like on a personal level. He used his knowledge of the pizzeria staff's timetable and that of the SpringBonnie suit for the first Missing Children's' Incident in June 1983. He then used Mangle's feelings of isolation and resentment to cause a massive distraction in order to carry out the second Missing Children's' Incident in November of 1987. Now he was using the supernatural to attack them as well as an army of endoskeletons, where he got those from Puppet didn't know, but she suspected that they were probably originally intended to be for all the animatronics that BB saw.

She felt further confusion from the various questions that buzzed around her head and just like everyone else she had no ability to explain any of it.

The Nightmares believed that their deaths would grant them freedom, proper freedom which no doubt they would use for destructive purposes. Is that what Nightmare Freddy meant, when he said to Goldie about what four of them could do?

The trail of utter destruction that they had left in Chicago city centre yesterday was a clear indicator to their collective mindset, they were monsters. They would and could not change themselves, despite their displays of sentience and intelligence, they were at the end of the day still feral beasts

And just like feral beasts, they deserved to be put down.

Yet despite getting an answer out of them, it only created more questions, four of which stuck out like a sore thumb.

How would their deaths make the child become able to move on?

Would the Nightmares know how to gain freedom without the risk that the child moving on won't endanger their existence somehow?

Then with the Nightmares wanting to kill them all, which according to BB they expressed in very clear terms so that their intent could not be mistaken, why they were waiting around then?

They had in the past possessed several opportunities to kill them.

Even Nightmare Freddy when he first turned up could have just wiped them all out in a single night, by entering their dreams and slitting their throats.

If they wanted freedom so badly, then why beat about the bush?

Were they toying with them, before going in for the kill?

Or was there another reason for their delay in sadistic gratification?

After all that had happened to her, Puppet had to believe the latter, because it was often proved to be correct.

And then finally there was the fourth question that stood above the rest, as it nagged her the most.

If their collective demise was what the Nightmares wanted, then what did Vincent aim to gain out of all of this?

What was his motive?

That question alone really confused her, because until recently she had always held the understandable assumption that Vincent did what he did because he was at heart a serial killer, a murderous psychopath who had a _'thing'_ for killing children.

Now given everything that had happened and what BB had told them, she didn't know what think about Vincent. He was a still a monster in her eyes and rightfully so given everything that he had done, and he had done it all with a smile on his face. However, there had to be something more to Vincent's motive, maybe running alongside his serial killer nature, but it could not be as simple as being a child murder, like she had originally believed for so many years.

He wanted something out of all this chaos, his dedication to hounding them so long after the Missing Children Incidents clearly indicated that there was something else at play.

And yet again not knowing frustrated Puppet, she hated having circles being run around her and being kept in the dark all the time.

It was not fair. . .

Seeing the swirling storm that was building in her eyes, Goldie sighed loudly, catching everyone's attention.

The tension that hung over the room waned with everyone now looking at Goldie, but it didn't die.

He then spoke with a slow, but calm tone.

"So, we now have another group to concern ourselves with."

Everyone knew that he was immediately referring to the former Night Guards who were now housed inside mechanical death trap that served as their vessels, firmly anchoring them to the physical plane. They had been buried outside the pizzeria in the morning following their demise the night before at the hands of eleven enraged and murderous dead children possessing the Fazbears.

Once the Fazbears had woken up, often after crashing back on their beds once the ghost children had satisfied their bloodlust, they would immediately proceed the ghastly task of burying the victim in a grave out back. They made sure that it was deep enough and that all incriminating evidence had been removed, even the cars that some had arrived in.

Burying one car was certainly a difficult task but compared to burying several it looked effortless.

Freddy spoke next, he was direct, but his tone revealed his concern and his eyes expressed a deep sense of fear in them.

"Do you think that they. . ."

He paused briefly; images of people being forcefully shoved into suits flashed in his mind, before he was able to subdue them and talk again.

"That they have escaped from their graves and are up and about?"

"They did tell BB that they will come and find us," he added, trying to keep the dreaded thoughts that racked his mind in check, although visibly he looked terribly concerned about the prospect.

"They can't get out can they?" Toy Bonnie asked, she looked more terrified than Freddy did.

Her green eyes darted from one face to the next, reading their expressions of fear, doubt and sense of exhaustion.

"We buried them deep right?" Toy Bonnie asked, her voice became more desperate and fearful, she was clearly distressed.

"Yes," Chica answered softly, her tone was low, but audible.

She was now gazing down at the table, her facial expression was plain, save for her green eyes which expressed a deep-seated fear, evident of the internal war going inside her mind with her emotions that were wanting to break free from their holdings. Clearly, what BB had experienced with the Nightmares and the Possessed Prop Suits scarred her greatly, and Foxy for one could easily understand why, given the inmate conversation that they had shared much earlier in the evening.

When she expressed to him her deepest fears about being found out by the police should they ever look deep enough into the multiple cases of missing people at the pizzeria. if they, the former night guards ever crawled out of their graves then it would be fairly easy for someone to uncover the Fazbears' guilt.

It was an outcome that Foxy greatly feared as did everyone else, only now it seemed closer to becoming true.

Slowly, he reached across the table with his hook hand and slotted it between Chica's fingers. She instantly gripped it, seeming to take immense comfort in his presence.

This new revelation shook him to his core, as all his fears had previously been held in check by the comfort that it would be impossible for the night guards to break out because they didn't actually possess the prop suits, and at the very least they would struggle to operate them.

Chica's tense voice caught his attention.

"We buried them deep, more than enough to ensure that they could not be found, but we never envisaged that they could come back."

Her voice was small, but it rang with intense emotions that were threatening to break through and turn her into a wailing mess.

"How could we be so naïve, if the murdered children could remain past death, then why didn't we think that they could do the same?"

"Because back then we were only concerned about our immediate survival, getting through one day to the next without much care for anything else," Toy Freddy answered slowly.

His shock which was clearly visible earlier had greatly subsided to be replaced with a grim expression of dread and sorrow.

His blue eyes displayed a sense of acceptance that seemed painful to him.

"We didn't have a choice in the matter, we had to hide the bodies for our own safety, whatever mess the children created we had to clean it up, even if it meant. . ."

His voice trailed off and only Toy Bonnie and Mike who were seated by him could catch his next words.

"Putting them out of their misery. . ."

Sometimes in the morning when the went inside the parts and services room, they would find some the night guards still alive, but only just. . .

They did what they had to, for if the truth got out then the fallout would be devastating to say the least. So, they buried them to protect themselves from the abyss that they were one step away from tumbling into. Ty Freddy looked pained as he relived memories that he wished to forget. His mind was a dam and the memories were a flood threating to break loose, the vivid images of battered suits leaking blood and gore, some with strained moaning coming from within. is hands were trembling as the images became more and more real, yet he didn't notice, but Toy Bonnie did.

Slowly, she reached across and took hold of his hand, interlocking her fingers with his and squeezed it slightly for comfort. The act provoked a response, with Toy Freddy's eyes immediately darting over to Toy Bonnie.

"I know what you are feeling, the memories terrify me," she muttered, her voice was soft, but her eyes were wide with concern.

"Knowing what we did and what might come of it is scary, but we are still alive, and we should focus on that instead, however bad things are right now."

Toy Freddy stared at her, the warm sensation from Toy Bonnie's hand seemed to flow through his body and rendered him speechless. Looking into those pretty green eyes that were filled with concern for him made his feelings of dread subsidise. It didn't die, but it's grip on his mind was drastically loosen as the smoothing sensation of Toy Bonnie's touch calmed his mental state, pushing the tide of horrid memories back.

"Yes, you are right Bonbon, we are still alive, and they haven't reached us yet," Toy Freddy remarked, finally finding the ability to speak again. He smiled with his blue eyes expressing a sense of gratitude which Toy Bonnie blush, although she did her best to hide it.

She slowly turned away, not wanting to look disrespectful.

Toy Freddy's use of her nickname Bonbon had spurred her thoughts.

_"Is he noticing me at last,"_ she wondered, as her blush deepened despite her intentions for it not to.

Mike had noticed the display of affection out of the corner of his eyes, but he gave no comment on the matter, rather focusing on the issue at hand.

He thought of the Nightmares and then expressed his opinion.

"So. . . they want to meet us, how nice of them to leave a message," he muttered under his breath.

"Bastards."

"The most important thing is that Balloon Boy is still alive after all of that," said Goldie, putting his hand on BB's shoulder for comfort.

The boy responded slightly with a noticeable twitch, but he remained as he was, lost in his thoughts. Mike leaned forward, placing his hands under his chin, as he tired to piece everything together into an understandable process. Prop suits possessed by murdered night guards walking about in a nightmare based on the Toy's Pizzeria.

New animatronics which no one he knew had heard about before now existed. The Nightmares it seemed were Gods in the dream world with the power to create whatever their twisted hearts desired.

Yet in an ironic twist it seemed that they were just as much trapped as everyone else was. Although technically speaking they were immortal with the boy that Goldie had accidently bit still residing in Limbo, and unable to move on.

Was it really all down to his inability to pass on, or was there something else at play?

Various thoughts related to all three developments tossed and turned about in his head like a raging sea, which didn't help. Mike sighed and turned to Bonnie, who had kept quiet so far, but her eyes remained unchanged, filled with a deep burring anger and fear. Her face looked plain and calm, but underneath there was clearly a whirlwind of emotions taking place.

Mike was hesitant to ask given the look in her eyes, but he pressed on.

"Can you recall any mention of animatronics, especially those that BB described?"

At first Bonnie didn't answer, but instead slowly leaned back in her chair.

"No," she replied firmly.

"I cannot recall anything to do with them, but then again Fazbear Entertainment always had something going on behind the scenes."

"In all honesty, despite being replaced once, the fact that they were going to do it again hurts even more."

She turned to looked at Mike, their eyes locked, purplish red stared into a dull blue.

"And I've been through a lot of pain since 1983, but despite staying on side until the very end, they were just going to throw me under the bus like last time, for a lifeless animatronic, who would be compliant in everything that they asked for."

She didn't look mad anymore, the rage had faded away in her eyes, but the fear was still there.

"We gave everything to that company, yet we suffered from the fallout the most, suddenly we were shut down and everything is silent for a few years, living inside the pizzeria with the staff checking in and out morning to evening."

From where he was, Mike could see that she was reliving her memories in vivid detail, having replayed it in her head so often.

"Then in the course of one week the pizzeria is stripped bare and we were transported across the country to a random location that we never hear of."

Her voice was getting steadily faster as she spoke, and Mike could feel the emotional weight in her voice grow with each passing second.

"Then we were shown a new pizzeria, much bigger and fancier than our old one, but it is revealed that it is not for us."

"We are kept in the backroom and just left there while the Toys and everyone else got free roam of the place and then before its official opening I got badly burned, thanks to one of the construction workers accidently knocking boiling oil on me, with the fall breaking my left arm."

She was becoming visibly upset as her voice started to struggle to keep itself together and sorrow was the only emotion now expressed in her eyes.

"I hate Fazbear Entertainment for what they did, shoving us all to the side like a rag doll, they claimed that with improving success they would reinstate us as entertainers, but that never happened."

Her emotional distress was becoming quite obvious now as she sighed deeply with Toy Chica and Goldie noticing from where they were seated.

"And when the 2nd incident happened. . ." Bonnie mourned; her voice broke at several moments.

"They were going to abandon the Toys and that's when I completely lost faith in them, we were all just assets to them, despite our intelligence."

"Then we all went back to the old location, tried to revive things, but you know what happened Mike, you saw what went on at night."

She drew in a shaky breath before she spoke again; tears had started to form in her eyes.

"And then when everything finally collapsed around Fazbear Entertainment, they just fucked off and left us to hand dry in a decaying pizzeria establishment, whilst trying to cover their own dam tracks."

She was still looking at Mike, despite the fairly drastic change in her body language.

"I was mad with everything, for every time we got somewhere good, it was just ripped out from underneath us on multiple times, and I didn't even know what was stable anymore."

Then her eyes narrowed, the anger had returned like a lit forest fire.

"Given everything that I have undergone, I shouldn't be surpised with being replaced by an animatronic, it just reinforces my resentment of Fazbear Entertainment and yet like a stack of bricks I can feel the weight of my anger on my mind."

Her face had changed, looking sharper and colder than normal and Mike swore that for a second, he saw her eyes about to glow white, but they didn't, remaining their normal purplish red.

"During the nights, when we were killing the night guards by stuffing them into the prop suits. . ."

She shook her head slightly as she spoke, but her tone was nothing but cold.

"It was the ghost child inside me that was doing it with their rage and torment, but my own was there as well, somewhere inside, letting itself out."

She started intensely at Mike, whilst slowly leaning forward towards him. Mike strongly felt the urge to back off, but he kept himself steady as Bonnie spoke again, in a cold tone.

"And I probably enjoyed it Mike, every second, because for once I was in control. . ."

She then slumped back into her chair, leaving Mike in a mental state of bewilderment. He had heard the story before, Bonnie and the others had told him about it a thousand times before, but each time he still got the chills. Physically they were not longer in the pizzeria, but mentally they had never left. Still stuck in limbo because so much of their lives had been centred around that place, and the infamous events that were attached to it.

And that's what Bonnie had been doing to herself, like all the others, replaying their nightmares on an endless loop.

It was such a depressing state to be in, he was surprised that they hadn't attempt to kill themselves to break free of the purple cloud that hung over them.

Well actually. . .

His eyes briefly flickered over to Puppet.

_One of them did attempt to take that route. . .and nearly succeeded._

He remembered hearing the story from Freddy at some point.

Speaking of Freddy, he had been gazing over at Bonnie the entire time, watching the whole conversation. Seeing the memories of the past rip Bonnie apart hurt him, partly because he blamed himself for not doing enough. The pain in her eyes was clear to see and he heard her every word to Mike about how Fazbear Entertainment had repeatedly dropped them in the deep end, without so much of an explanation.

The moonlight that shone through Jeremy's kitchen windows would normally bring a sense of peace to his mind, like it did whenever he watched it from the old pizzeria's windows.

It didn't now. . .

He had tired to keep everything running back in the past, often with some help from the others, most notably Toy Freddy to keep things going in the pizzeria back in the 1990s.

Gas meters, water pipes and electricity lines, he was surprised that he was able to keep the place in an ok condition that he and everyone else could live with.

It wasn't perfect, but it was enough.

Those were dark years for everyone, and he felt that he had let them all down due to his inability to solve the problems that surrounded them like a pack of ravenous wolves.

Some, as Bonnie stated were done with Fazbear Entertainment's machinations, and that had a considerable impact on how they viewed outsiders, not wanting to trust anyone. Yet the problems caused by Vincent Afton carried a much deeper and longer lasting impact, than anything caused by Fazbear Entertainment. Having to deal with the ghosts of murdered children and forced to wander the pizzeria at night, whilst hunting for the elusive _'Purple Man' _himself, although only Puppet and the ghost possessing her knew his real identity.

When he found out what had been really going on at night, his biggest fear was being possessed during the daytime, whilst on stage preforming. In fact, that nearly did happen on several occasions to himself, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and even Goldie at certain moments.

The Toys were spared the risk, due to being kept in a hidden room during the pizzeria's opening hours.

Things were never going to be the same after 1987, given the poor state of both the pizzeria and the company, but having the equivalent of a ticking time bomb inside your chest ready to go off at any given moment, placed an immense amount of stress on all of them, especially Freddy himself.

He remembered feeling sweaty and nervous when on stage preforming before crowds after crowds of children, with adults mixed in and staff members standing off to the side-lines, keeping an eye on things. He would play his part as the main performer, but his eyes were always on the outlook for Bonnie and Chica suddenly acting out of sorts, with their eyes immediately changing into white dots for pupils.

And likewise, they were looking out for him, playing their respective roles, but keeping an eye on him, should he suddenly act in an unnatural fashion.

They looked happy and excited to be preforming and entertaining the crowds, but their eyes expressed their true feelings. Even Foxy was at risk, so Goldie had to watch him during his pirate shows from the side lines, intervening if Foxy suddenly turned, and in return Foxy had to keep an eye on Goldie for any odd behaviour. Meanwhile, they just had to trust the Toys to be quiet enough inside the hidden room, to avoid attracting any unwanted attention whilst they were all preforming.

Every day was hard, the fear was very real, and the tension in the pizzeria was so thick that a broadsword couldn't cut through it.

And Freddy's frustration that he couldn't find a solution to the problem only grew with time.

Even though they were in a very complex situation, the significance of not being able to find a solution signified to Freddy that he was failing as a leader to help his family. One could forgive Freddy for trying so hard to deal with a complicated mess that was far beyond his capability to handle, but Freddy couldn't easily forgive himself.

Even though in the end it was proved to be Vincent, with the man himself openly confessing his crimes, the weight of Freddy's inability to fix the issues facing them, only gnawed away at his self-confidence over time. Hence why he had asked Bonnie on whether he had changed during their first night at Jeremy's. His perception of himself had taken a steady beating with his failure to find the one responsible.

It was true he didn't know anything about the First Missing Children's' Incident in 1983 before it happened. However, he had a chance in 1987 to get revenge on Vincent, even though he didn't know the identity of the elusive _'Purple Man'_.

He had a chance to make things right and to stop the madness, but instead he let it slip right through his fingers.

As everyone else either openly consoled eachother or withdrew into themselves like Mangle was doing, having not said a word since Balloon Boy had finished talking. Freddy's mind drifted backwards down memory lane.

_Back to when he missed his chance to save them. . ._

* * *

_November 1987, The New and Improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, Hurricane Utah. _

_He was asleep, dreaming, of what he could not remember, because what happened next caught him by complete surprise._

_The sound of something heavy being pushed stirred him from his nap, followed by the sounds of quick footsteps and someone calling his name._

_"Freddy. . ."_

_"Freddy wake up."_

_"Freddy please. . ."_

_Bonnie?_

_Was Bonnie calling him for something?_

_It sounded feminine, so it couldn't be Foxy or Goldie._

_Chica maybe, what would she want at this time of day?_

_Although she couldn't actually talk properly still, unable to form complete sentences, given that her jaw was still healing. _

_"Freddy wake up please?"_

_"Wake up Freddy!"_

_The voice sounded urgent, desperate even._

_"I need your help!"_

_"Please wake up!"_

_Then it got even more desperate._

_"FREDDY GET UP!"_

_"CHILDREN ARE IN DANGER!"_

_"FREDDY!"_

_Freddy's eyes snapped open; it took him a few moments to adjust to the brightness levels of the room he was in. _ _Given that he had been sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, he had to look up to see the owner of the voice._

_It was Puppet, looming over him and looking very frantic to say the least with her white dots for eyes shining very bright._

_She was the one who had been calling him._

_"Freddy, I need you to help me, something very bad has happened, the children are in grave danger!" she said swiftly, in a tone of fear and panic._

_Giving him no time to respond, she instantly reached down and grabbed hold of his hand and tried to pull him upwards, although she clearly lacked the strength to do so._

_"Wait, what is going on?" Freddy asked, as Puppet repeatedly tried to pull him up off his feet._

_"Why are the children in grave danger exactly?" _

_Now that he was fully awake, he could hear immense distress coming from outside, down the hall towards the main stage area._

_People were screaming and shouting in fear, panic and shock._

_He could hear some of the staff members, probably Lauren, David and Jessica calling for help, they sounded like they were struggling with something._

_The whole pizzeria was in a state of chaos it seemed, and he had no idea why, but the Puppet's facial expression of immense concern and dread made it clear that something terrible had happened. _ _The frantic tugs of her pulling his arm to get him up off the floor brought his immediate attention back to his surroundings._

_"I saw him, I saw him lead them away from everyone else and Mangle has gone crazy!" Puppet exclaimed, sharply tugging on Freddy's arm, clearly wanting him to come with her._

_The fearful expression of her eyes bore into Freddy's._

_"Please Freddy, we need to save them from him, they are going to die if we don't stop him!"_

_She was on the verge of breaking down._

_"Please help me save them."_

_It stirred Freddy into action, he didn't know what was happening, but right now he needed to follow her, he could ask questions later._

_Pushing himself up off the cold tile floor, he staggered onto his feet, feeling a little off balance. _ _He hadn't completely adjusted to his new life here; his sight had blurred slightly, and his hearing wasn't as good as it had been._

_It was probably because of the stress of being side lined and replaced, it had greatly affected his mood since he had arrived. _

_He had also been seen sleep walking at night as well in the previous months. Again, the stress of everything changing must be making him act out in his sleep. At least that's what Goldie reasoned, although he had been suffering from it too, as had the others._

_It was a strange habit, but he hoped that it would fade in time as the stress finally subsided. _

_No sooner had he steadied himself, Puppet grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him towards the door. Not even giving Freddy the time to grab his iconic top hat. _

_"Come quickly, we need to stop him!" she was panicking and clearly afraid, not giving Freddy any time to resist as he was pulled along._

_As much as Freddy wanted to ask her who this 'he or him' was, he knew she wouldn't answer, only being focused on reaching the children in time. _ _When she dragged him out into the corridor, the screams and shouts from the stage area grew louder. _ _Children were crying and adults were screaming in both shock and fear. _ _Staff members and other adults could be heard shouting for an ambulance or the police to be called._

_The whole atmosphere was tense and frightening, very much the polar opposite to what Freddy had been used to._

_What exactly had happened?_

_Puppet did mention that Mangle had gone crazy and Freddy knew that she suffered from bullying at the hands of some of the children._

_She could be pushed, and she certainly had her moments of anger, but she wasn't the sort of person to lash out, particularly at children._

_Was she?_

_As they drew nearer, Freddy could hear some of the Toys amidst the chaos._

_Toy Bonnie was calling for help in a desperate plea, sounding like she was struggling with something. _ _Toy Chica just seemed to be crying, although it was hard to tell given the amount of voices that were yelling in unison. __He could just make out Toy Freddy shouting, maybe he was trying to regain control of the situation, not that it was working. _

_All the while Puppet firmly gripped his hand, pulling him down the corridor, bypassing several rooms on either side, with the walls lined with posters welcoming people to a place of excitement, fun and happiness. _ _Everything seemed to be a long way from that right now._

_"Please hurry Freddy, we have to stop him!" Puppet pleaded frantically as she breathed in short but tense breaths, tugging evermore at his hand._

_She was clearly terrified of whatever this person was doing, almost as if it meant the end of the world to her._

_"Help me save them. . ."_

_Then she suddenly stopped, rather abruptly in fact that Freddy had to steady himself when she did._

_Puppet was now trembling, her whole body was shaking from head to toe and despite the loud noises of panic coming from the main stage area, Freddy could hear her breathing._

_"It's him. . ." she muttered, sounding truly terrified._

_Freddy upon steadying himself, followed her gaze, and then he saw why she had stopped so abruptly._

_Only a few steps up, slowly walking out of one of the rooms was. . . Bonnie?_

_It looked a bit like Bonnie with the bunny ears, but when looking at the rest of the body, it was clearly a male._

_The man wore a smart golden suit, sporting a purple bowtie, with golden hair and bunny ears. _ _He seemed to be looking around cautiously in a manner that strongly suggested that he didn't want to be spotted. __When he turned in Freddy's and Puppet's direction, his bright green eyes widen in surprise upon seeing them. _ _He wasn't smiling, rather his face tightened with annoyance, he probably wasn't all too pleased with being noticed._

_Especially when he was holding a knife in his right hand._

_There was blood on it, not enough for it to drip from the knife, but more than enough to indicate that it had been used._

_For a moment time stood still, with both Freddy and Puppet staring at the Bonnie male lookalike. _ _Even the screams and shouts from the rest of the pizzeria didn't disturb the moment. __However, it eventually had to come to an end, once the shock had worn off._

_"No. . ." Puppet whispered, although her tone was now one of anger, instead of fear._

_The Bonnie lookalike was still giving them an annoyed expression, although he had relaxed a little in his stance._

_Yet seeing the man set something off inside Freddy._

_There was an air of familiarity about him, even though Freddy knew that he had never seen him before. _ _There were only two Bonnies he knew off and both were female._

_So, who the hell was this guy?_

_Yet the feeling of familiarity didn't fade, but rather it grew, rushing to the surface of Freddy's mind._

_Behind it came other feelings, ones that didn't make any sense to Freddy. __Fear, he felt scared suddenly, so much that he was actually trembling. _ _He briefly glanced down at his hands; they were shaking as the feeling of pure terror washed over him like a wave._

_Why was he afraid of this man, he didn't know him?_

_The knife he was holding was off putting when considering that Freddy was unarmed, but this level of fear was unknown to him. _

_This feeling felt foreign, like it didn't belong to him._

_Freddy felt afraid of this feeling, it seemed unnatural, like there was something inside his mind that was kicking and screaming in open terror about the man who now stood before him. _ _This wasn't him and he knew it, but he couldn't do anything to stop the endless waves of feelings that rushed through him like a forest fire._

_His whole body was shaking from head to toe, he was even twitching uncontrollably. _

_Briefly looking over at Puppet, he could see that she was undergoing the same thing. Her gaze was still pinned on the Bonnie male, but her entire body was trembling, and her head was jerking about in a mad fashion. __Her eyes, those white dots for pupils seemed brighter now, much more than they normally were. _ _She was acting like she was being possessed by something. _ _So was he in fact, at least he felt like something foreign was taking him over._

_These strong feelings of terror and familiarity was consuming him, as from the depths of his subconscious something erupted into being._

_A new emotion, and it was another strong one._

_Anger. . .rage. . .an insurmountable fury. _

_He felt his hands turn into fists and tighten, as well as his eyes narrowing. _ _Rage and hatred mixed together, becoming stronger when combined. _ _He hated the man that stood there, but he couldn't work out why._

_It didn't make any sense to him, this feeling didn't belong to him, but he still felt it, nonetheless._

_Puppet seemed to be in the same mood, judging by her facial expression of extreme hatred. __Freddy could feel himself mentally slipping, his sense of awareness was letting go somehow, like something else was deliberately taking control of him. __He didn't know it then, but his blue eyes were changing into two bright white dots, like those of the Puppet's. _ _The Bonnie male's expression had been changing, whilst the two of them had undergone their mental breakdown._

_At first it was amusement, seeing them shake in fear, but then as they began to twitch in an odd fashion, he looked shocked and surprised. However, it was when their eyes changed that his expression turned to fear, with his green eyes visibly expressing a feeling of terror._

_Upon seeing the Bonnie male's expression, Freddy now only felt one thing. . .attack._

_He charged, Puppet too at breakneck speed, heading straight towards the Bonnie male._

_Freddy just felt the desire to rip him in two, to break every bone in his body, and then look him in the eyes as he killed him in a brutal fashion. _ _Again, the feeling felt foreign, but it also felt so right, as he finally pieced two and two together._

_This man with the knife had harmed or worse killed the children that Puppet had been referring to in her panicked demeanour. She had seen him lure them away to an isolated place, and then rushed off to get help._

_Murdering innocent children, he must suffer for that. . ._

_However, as he and the Puppet neared the man, his expression changed once again. _ _Instead of continuing to look terrified he smiled, as if in enjoyment of what was to come. _ _Freddy deliberately slammed into him, aiming to knock the man down, even though he was holding a knife._

_The man however didn't go down, although he was knocked back several steps._

_He then attempted to swipe Freddy with his knife, but Freddy merely jumped backwards with the knife slicing nothing but air. _ _Puppet meanwhile had skirted round and banged into the Bonnie male from the side, nearly pushing him against the wall had he not steadied himself._

_"YOU!" she screamed, it was in her voice, but there was something else in that tone of hers, it sounded distorted a little. _

_Almost boyish. . ._

_She prepared to land another blow against the Bonnie male, but he shoved her away hard and prepared to attack her with his knife, but Freddy intervened._

_Grabbing his knife hand with one hand and shoving him against the wall with the other, he gave Puppet time to recover._

_Now that they were close enough, Freddy could see the man's eyes. They were bright green and expressed fury, probably at being stopped from doing what he wanted, by them turning up unexpectedly. _ _Freddy could feel the hatred inside him build to unfelt levels, he screamed at the man expressing his inner rage._

_Yet that scream didn't sound like him fully, there was something else in his voice that he couldn't quite place his finger on, not that he had much control over what he was doing anyway. _ _The Bonnie male didn't respond verbally, instead his eyes widen, expressing surprise again, before narrowing with a strong sense of determination._

_He was still holding his knife, but he broke his other hand free and proceeded to punch Freddy in the stomach, before delivering a hard kick to it as well. __Freddy stumbled backwards, with the Bonnie male landing another punch with his knife hand to Freddy's chest. _ _Freddy felt his back sharply impact the opposite wall, as the Bonnie male was about to throw another punch, this time at his face._

_However, Puppet suddenly jumped at him from the side, attacking him in a manner that would best suit a wild animal. She kicked, punched and thrashed him, desperate to get him away from Freddy._

_She kept her attacks up, with the Bonnie male having to step back to recover from her blows._

_Judging by the look in his eyes, he was very annoyed by her actions. _

_As Freddy pushed himself off the wall, the Bonnie male caught Puppet by the hand and tightened his grip, deliberately hurting her. _ _With his other hand he punched her right in the stomach, and Freddy could see the blow travel through her. __Puppet fell backwards, and the Bonnie male continued his attack with a quick kick to her leg, making her fall to the floor. _ _The Bonnie male stepped forward, about to raise his knife and stab her, but just as he was about to do so, Freddy launched himself at him to protect Puppet, the man suddenly turned in his direction._

_He had been expecting Freddy to do just that. . ._

_When Freddy came into contact, he aimed to smack him in the chest, but the Bonnie male caught his hand and stopped him in mid motion. _ _He had intended to use his knife for deadly effect, probably to stab Freddy, in either the arm or the chest. Yet Freddy had been able to grab his hand by the wrist and stop him._

_Now both men were struggling against each other in a competition of strength, with their hands effectively tied._

_Vibrant white dots stared back into bright green pupils, the former expressing strong emotions of murderous rage and cold hatred; while the latter expressed emotions towards a deep seated surprise, and profound annoyance that border lined anger. _ _Neither could overcome the other, both being equally matched, although if the Bonnie male could get his knife hand free, then the odds would quickly turn in his favour. __He tried to break his knife hand free by pulling away sharply, but Freddy merely tightened his grip, not wanting to let go._

_Freddy could feel the Bonnie male push forward with his other hand, bending Freddy's hand backwards. __Being so close to each other, they could feel each intake and outtake of air that they made, as they breathed. _ _Freddy could feel the hated and anger bubbling away inside him, it was all he could feel, and yet he had to remind himself that regardless of what this man had done._

_He didn't know him. . ._

_Was he another Fazbear?_

_If so, who was he exactly?_

_And why was he killing children for God's sake?_

_This hatred and rage as powerful as they were, all felt. . .personal._

_Like Freddy himself had an actual vendetta with this man, despite never seeing him before. _ _Yet he felt like he had, from somewhere in the depths of his subconscious the feeling of familiarity remained strong._

_Then Freddy spoke, although he didn't will himself to speak._

_"It's me. . ."_

_And again, there was some distortion in his voice, it was as if someone else was speaking through him._

_Yet the words had caused a reaction from the Bonnie male, with his eyes widening in surprise once more, there was also a sense of fear in them._

_Then suddenly, another distorted voice spoke._

_"It's me too . ."_

_The Bonnie male only had to look to his left to see an enraged Puppet charge into him, actually jumping onto his back, with her face ending up between his two golden bunny ears._

_Wrapping her hands under his shoulders and her legs around his waist, she pulled back sharply, seriously threatening his balance. _ _Then Freddy pushed forward, throwing the Bonnie male off balance completely, and they all fell to the floor. __Puppet of course felt the impact the hardest, as she hit the floor, only then to have the two men fall on top of her._

_Yet that didn't stop her, as she tightened her grip, quickly moving her hands and legs around the male Bonnie's arms, and pinning them firmly in place using her strength._

_The Bonnie male couldn't use his knife, nor his other hand, with him clearly being frustrated because of it. _ _He could kick his legs, but his arms were being firmly held in place by the Puppet, although she wouldn't be able to hold him back for long. __Freddy fell on top of him, but he was able to steady himself. __Seeing his opponent pinned, he was about to deliver a hard punch to his face, but Puppet spoke, catching his attention. _ _Her voice sounded like a mixture between herself and someone else, whose identity again, Freddy couldn't properly place._

_"The children, save the children, save them!" she shouted frantically. _

_Pulling himself away from the strong desire to attack the Bonnie male any further. Freddy picked himself up off the man, and slowly headed towards the door that he had originally come out from._

_It was closed, but not locked, and the children Puppet was referring to should be inside._

_As he reached for the door's handle, the Bonnie male spoke. . ._

_"No!" he announced, almost in defiance._

_Breaking one arm free from Puppet's grip, he then viciously elbowed Puppet in the face repeatedly, loosening her grip on his other arm. _ _Pulling that arm free, he brutally elbowed her again with it, making sure that she couldn't stop him from getting up. _ _Once he was on his feet, he sharply stomped down on Puppet's stomach and then kicked her away to the side. The double impact of his actions had her coughing and gasping for air, as she slowly dragged herself upright, using the nearby wall for support._

_Freddy gripped the door's handle, pushed it down and –_

_Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed him, one wrapped itself around his neck, but the other, the one holding the knife swung in from the side, but Freddy reacted quickly, catching it in mid motion. _ _He had to let go of the door handle to grab the man's knife hand, with his other hand trying to tear the man's arm off his throat._

_The male Bonnie was strong, pushing back against Freddy._

_"I only want to kill as many as I need to," he whispered sharply into Freddy's ear._

_"And you are disrupting things!"_

_Freddy didn't recognise the voice's owner, but it only made him even angrier. _

_Seeming to sense Freddy's rage, the Bonnie male uttered another line, which just served to rub salt into the wound._

_"You may not recognise me at first, but I assure you, it's still me. . ."_

_Freddy's rage hit critical levels, but before he could act, the _ _Bonnie male was able to pull him away from the door, and then he kicked Freddy hard in the back, releasing him from his grip. __The act of doing so had Freddy stumbling forward, nearly hitting the floor face first had he not steadied himself in time. _ _He turned around to face the Bonnie male, expecting him to press his attack, but the man hadn't._

_Instead he was standing before the closed door, looking back and forth from Freddy to the Puppet._

_He expressed a look of caution for obvious reasons, but he also looked curious, appearing to exam both Freddy and Puppet in detail, almost as if he hadn't laid eyes on them before._

_Puppet had dragged herself back up to her feet, leaning against the wall. _ _Yet she looked ready to try again, seeming to be waiting on Freddy's signal. _ _There was still screams and shouts coming from the main stage area, it seemed that the entirety of the people in the pizzeria were in that one place._

_Perfect circumstances for anyone wanting to sneak about unnoticed in the rest of the building._

_If the Bonnie male was worried about getting caught by someone else wandering in on the scene, then he voiced his concern._

_"As entertaining as this has been for all of us, I cannot afford to let it last any longer," he said, his voice expressing only sheer determination, as he gripped his knife tightly._

_"Save. . .save the children, save them," Puppet muttered, seeming to be out of breath._

_Freddy narrowed his eyes and charged; his hatred was burning like a forest fire that couldn't be put out by anything expect for seeing this man suffer._

_And again, it all felt personal. _

_He charged at the man, aiming to slam him to the floor, or better yet, shove him through the door to the room where the children were, opening the way._

_Instead the Bonnie male only smiled, seeming to enjoy Freddy's display of rage._

_As Freddy neared, he reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a device of sorts, flickering a switch._

_Just as Freddy was about to attack him, the Bonnie male thrusted his arm forward with the device, making physical contact with Freddy._

_Suddenly a sheering pain flowed throughout Freddy's body, making him twitch violently, as his muscles suffered from multiple agonising spasms. _ _The pain was almost unendurable, but he couldn't scream as the level of pain had frozen his entire body, forcing it to go into some sort of shock state._

_He fell onto his knees, as the Bonnie male firmly pressed the device which was now obviously a taser into him._

_Falling onto the floor, still suffering from many spasms, Freddy felt nothing but agony._

_His rage, hatred and everything else that he had been feeling previously was wiped away like the tide, as the pain overwhelmed him._

_He couldn't even breathe probably, as he laid there on the floor. _

_If the Bonnie male wanted to continue in his torture of Freddy, then he was immediately disappointed by Puppet, slamming into him from behind, nearly throwing him off balance. _ _However, her attack only lasted momentarily, as the Bonnie male turned around and smacked her in the head, before delivering another punch to her chest._

_Then with his taser he jammed it right into her stomach, she emitted a cry of pain, but the agony quickly overwhelmed her. _ _However, the Bonnie male pulled the taser back, releasing Puppet from the immense pain, only to then kick her to the floor. _ _Yet she wouldn't go down quietly and gripped his taser hand, pulling him down so she could pull herself back up._

_Upon doing so she grabbed his other hand, the one holding the knife, but he resisted and kneed her hard in the stomach._

_As he pulled his knife hand free from her grasp, Freddy was trying to reach up, but he found that he lacked the strength to do so, because of the agony that he had been subjected to. _ _The Bonnie male delivered another hard punch to Puppet's chest, knocking her backwards before kicking her legs out from under her._

_She fell to the floor and this time, the Bonnie male made sure that she stayed there by stomping on her stomach, and again the blow travelled through her, leaving the girl breathless. _ _With Puppet taken care of, the Bonnie male, who was also breathing rather heavily given the level of physical exhaustion he had to endure, finally turned to face Freddy._

_Meanwhile there still came screams and shouts from the main stage area, although they had now grown quieter, perhaps events were coming under control._

_Freddy was still struggling to get up off the floor, reaching up towards the Bonnie male with one hand outstretched. _ _The Bonnie male just gave him a cold stare, with his bright green eyes bearing down at Freddy, who seemed so helpless. _ _He could use his knife or taser again to deliver further harm to Freddy and yet he didn't, choosing to just stand there. _

_Then Puppet spoke, breathing rather heavily as she did._

_"Save them, save the children. . .save them."_

_Her tone was one of desperation as she tried to pick herself up, but the act of fighting non stop for several minutes had clearly worn her out._

_Puppet's words, however, did get a reaction from the Bonnie male. _

_A small smile formed on his lips._

_"Save them. . ." he muttered slowly, yet sounding amused at the same time. _

_He then sharply kicked Freddy's outstretched hand away, before raising his own foot above Freddy._

_His smile grew as he spoke again, this time with determination._

_"You can't!"_

_Then his foot came down and it came down hard, enough to knock Freddy out cold, his head hit the floor and he knew no more._

_Apart from one other thing, as he swiftly disappeared into the depths of his unconsciousness, he heard one last worded barb from the Bonnie male that underlined his failure._

_"That was easier than I thought it would be. . ."_

* * *

The next thing Freddy knew, he was waking up in the Parts and Services room with Bonnie, Chica and Foxy by his bedside.

He remembered how Bonnie and Chica just hugged him tightly the moment he pushed himself upright, with Foxy immediately launching a thousand questions about what had happened to him. Goldie was off to one side engaged in a conversation with one of the staff members, properly Richard or Henry, asking them for details on what the hell had just happened.

Apparently, Freddy had been found in one of the party rooms near the security office, completely unconscious, lying on the floor.

He struggled to remember what had occurred, only being able to recall certain scenes, but not enough to follow any leads.

When he could fully remember, it was far too late to do anything about the incident.

Puppet had also been found safe and sound in the party room opposite to the one that Freddy had been found in. Although she was already conscious and had just got to her feet when Goldie found her, as he and Foxy had gone on a search for Freddy.

However, it didn't take long for the details of that dreadful day to become abundantly clear.

Five children had gone missing, no bodies were found in the search, and there was no trace of where they might be. Mangle had apparently gone into a bloodlust rage and had viciously attacked one of the staff members, that being Helen Dudley. The attack had left her with a serious head injury, after Mangle tried to bite her, which soon would be dubbed the 'Bite of 87'.

There was an immense public outcry in the immediate aftermath; and it didn't take long for protests to appear outside the Pizzeria calling for its shutdown and for the police to find those responsible for committing such a hideous crime. Fazbear Entertainment had quickly decided to cut their losses and to relocate back at the original pizzeria. They intended to take nearly everything with them, including the Originals, who would be reinstated as the frontrunners.

The Toys however were to be removed, which initially Freddy and the others thought to mean being fired. Yet Jeremy Fitzgerald, the current nightguard at the establishment soon found out the company's real intentions.

The Toys faced most of the torment and blame for not doing enough to ensure children' safety in the building. So, the company decided that they had to be cut out of the picture in order to save itself from any further damage.

Even if that meant _'putting them down',_ but it would remove a major problem for them.

In the end, the Originals got what they wanted, to become children entertainers again, although obviously this wasn't the way they had envisioned it. However, with Jeremy's help, they were able to sneak the Toys away with them and then hide them in one of the pizzeria's secret rooms, until the heat had finally died down.

However, Freddy could never forget that day, he had come so close to stopping Vincent, and even if the children were dead by that point, then he could have exposed Vincent before everyone.

He could have brought the nightmare to an end, but instead Vincent walked away free, and he sank deeper into darkness and his own despair. By the time the Originals' pizzeria had reopened, everyone was so downtrodden or depressed, feeling angry, abandonment, sorrow and regret, that they didn't care about anyone else outside of their group.

They were trapped inside a hell that they couldn't escape from, going from a depressed state in the daytime with fake smiles and happiness when on stage, to a murderous and cold state of mind at night, when the ghost children took their vengeance out on the unfortunate night guards.

They couldn't find their killer, but that didn't matter.

Because of his failure that day combined with the preceding failures Freddy felt responsible for not being to protect the ones he loved; he was wracked with immense guilt that often displayed itself during the night when he was being possessed by the vengeful ghost child that resided inside him.

Like Bonnie had told Mike, somewhere during that bloodlust rampage his own feelings were present deep inside, fuelling his actions and making themselves manifest as he engaged in brutal murder.

The act sickened him like it did with everyone else, but there was nothing they could do about it. In the end, their collective sorrow, regret and pain was hidden behind their rage and coldness, only being expressed at rare moments when they let their guard down.

In the end they were still trapped underneath a twisted purple cloud. . .forever.

Freddy now found himself mentally drifting back again down memory lane, remembering the events of the 1990s, which had just blurred themselves together because they were all the same.

Back when they all embraced their inner darkness. . .

* * *

_(Begin the song here if you wish.)_

_We see the security office without any power and a terrified night guard shaking in the office chair, awaiting the inevitable._

_Then suddenly a shadow looms over them, revealing itself to be a possessed Freddy, looking rather vengeful._

**"Look me in the eyes and tell me honestly."** **  
**

"**What kind of monster you see?"**

_Freddy unnarrowed his eyes._

**"An angry ghost, a mask?"**

**"The symptoms of my disease."**

_He looks genuinely hurt._

**"Is that all that you think of me?"**

_Then his anger swiftly returns._

**"But what about, what about broken, scarred, betrayed, alone?"**

_His eyes tell a thousand painful stories._

**"What about the real me, that I want you to know?"**

_We see a possessed Bonnie roaming the hallways._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be twisted!"**

_We see a possessed Chica viciously banging on the office door._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be cold!"**

_A possessed Foxy charging down the hallway._

**"This world's forcing my hand!"**

_A possessed Goldie looking back through the cameras._

**"Can you just understand?"**

_Freddy grabs the night guard by the neck, strangling him._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be twisted!"**

_He smiles in sadistic enjoyment._

**"But I am!"**

_We see a possessed Toy Freddy slumped against a wall._

**"The one you see today. . ."**

_He looks seriously depressed._

**"It's not like I had a choice, when my life was dragged to the dark."**

_He wanders about aimlessly._

**"For years my heart in chains."**

_He feels trapped in every sense of the word._

**"Like trying to scream without a voice** **, n** **o wonder my mind came apart."**

_He looks abandoned, hurt and even afraid._

**"But what about, what about broken, scarred, betrayed, alone?"**

_The dark things he has done to keep his family safe._

**"What about the real me, that I want you to know?"**

_We see a possessed Mangle crawling along the ceiling._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be twisted!"**

_Possessed Toys Bonnie and Chica banging on the office doors._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be cold!"**

_Possessed Balloon Boy looking back through the cameras._

"**This world's forcing my hand!"**

**"Can you just understand?"**

_Possessed Puppet jumpscaring a nightguard._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be twisted!"**

_Her eyes narrow in open rage._

**"But I am!"** **  
**  
_We see the insides of an earth pit with many rusted metal humanoid bodies buried alongside eachother._

_A metal hand twitches in the dark. _

**"Can you understand?"**

_Suddenly joints creak and gears groan as the bodies rise up slowly._

_Through their degraded voice boxes, they whisper._

**"I don't wanna be. . ."**

_Then their face plates swing open. _

**"But I am!"** _  
_  
_We see the Possessed Prop Suits roaming the Originals' pizzeria._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be twisted!"**

_Searching for their killers._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be cold!"**

_Expressing their profound sorrow and rage._

**"This world's forcing my hand!"**

_They just want to be free._

**"Can you just understand?"**

_There is no alternative way out._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be twisted. . ."** **  
**

_We see Vincent in the SpringBonnie suit._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be twisted!"**

_The echoes of screaming children surround him._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be cold!"**

_He holds up a blood covered knife._

**"This world's forcing my hand!"**

_He looks directly at you sincerely._

**"Can you just understand?**

_Almost as if he is pleading._

**"I don't want, wanna be, wanna be twisted!"**

_Suddenly, he smiles psychotically. _

**"But I am!"**

(Song fades out as everything disappears into darkness)

* * *

A single tear rolled down Freddy's face, he quickly wiped it away before anyone could see.

He was twisted, not evil, but he would forever be affected by the tragedy of past events. The psychological weight it bore upon his mind would never leave, it might subside over time, but that purple cloud would forever remain.

Vincent's words from his memory came back, sparking his thoughts.

_"You may not recognise me at first, but I assure you, it's still me. . ."_

He had been toying with Freddy when he said that. Teasing him about his identity and being the same man who about two days later was sitting alongside Freddy and the others on the long bus ride back to Greenfield Indiana.

Then another sentence caught Freddy's attention.

_"I only want to kill as many as I need to."_

Was Vincent Afton truly a serial killer, like they had believed over the years, or was there something more to him?

Nightmare Freddy's words to Balloon Boy further supported that notion.

_"I am a monster, it is infused into me and I cannot help it, but even a monster can learn to feel things that go against its inner nature. . .even a monster like Vincent Afton."_

In that moment, or at least the way BB had conveyed it to him and the others, it didn't seem like Nightmare Freddy was lying.

Could there be more to Vincent's motive outside of the obvious reasons for doing what he did?

Freddy didn't want to admit it, because he rightfully didn't want to give Vincent any level of understanding. How could he see that man in any other light than the one Vincent painted for himself through his actions?

Freddy glanced over at the others, they were still locked in either open conversation or within themselves.

Then he saw Puppet. . .

She was still tightly holding onto Balloon Boy, but she was now looking over in Freddy's direction. Judging by the sorrowful look in her eyes, Freddy could guess that she properly saw him cry, and may have known why.

"I'm sorry," Freddy whispered, mouthing the words.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't save them. . ."

From across the table, Puppet gave a slow but understanding nod.

She had never blamed Freddy for his failure, not once, unlike Freddy himself. Puppet had been there that day alongside him, and his sense of failure was greatly overshadowed by her own. She had been trying to stop Vincent from day one and look where that got her. . . rock bottom.

But in that singular moment, both she and Freddy shared the feeling of despair and collective comfort. Then the sound of a chair being pushed back caught both their attention, as well as that of everyone else. Everyone having been jolted out of whatever they were doing turned to look at Jeremy, who had just stood up.

"Ok, from what Balloon Boy has told us, there's clearly a lot to process."

He shook his head, expressing disbelief.

"I hate to admit it, but I don't think we can find out the answers with what we've got here, I think we are going to actually have to talk with the Nightmares and try to pry the answers out of them."

"You're kidding!" Toy Freddy exclaimed, expressing his shock, he actually pushed himself up out his chair he was that shocked by Jeremy's words

Jeremy sighed before replying.

"We could try and listen to Phone Guy's tapes in my office, he may mention something useful, but I've gone through them many times, however it is worth a look."

"I'm on board with that idea laddie," Foxy said confidently, raising his hook hand in agreement.

Everyone else seemed to also agree, rising out of their chairs and ready to follow Jeremy's idea. Although the thought of having to meet the Nightmares face to face unnerved them for obvious reasons.

Then Goldie suddenly turned to face Freddy and asked.

"Freddy didn't you say earlier that you had a plan to defeat the Nightmares, at their own game?"

He seemed to be interested, his words had caught everyone's' attention, as all eyes now turned on Freddy.

Freddy's memory kicked into gear.

Yes, he remembered now, his clout of despair dispersed, but it didn't fully disappear.

If his idea worked, then they could gain some much needed breathing room, and force the Nightmares to fight in the real world, where things would be much more even sided.

Sensing everyone's eyes on him, Freddy sighed deeply. It was worth a shot, after all given everything that he had been forced to endure over the years, crazy ideas shouldn't feel so strange to him.

He slowly pushed back his chair and stood up, straightening out his top hat as he did.

Looking back at the array of curious and warry faces, he unveiled his scheme.

"Has anyone ever heard of the notion. . .about lucid dreaming?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that there are various things left unanswered, but I'll cover those lingering threads in the next few chapters.  
We're a few chapters off the hallway point, looking back I certainly didn't expect this story to last for three years since I started uploading it.  
Time does fly when you're having fun though. :-)  
Please Review, your feedback is appreciated.


	40. Cloak and Dagger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, I did originally post this chapter on Fanfiction on FNAF's 5th birthday. 
> 
> Happy fifth birthday Five Nights at Freddy's, it's been a good five years of immense enjoyment and outright terror.  
I was going to say this at the story's end, but now feels like a good enough time with it being FNAF's fifth anniversary.  
I first got into FNAF when FNAF 1 was released and I watched Markiplier's playthrough of the game. I became a full time member when FNAF 3 dropped. Since then I've been watching gameplay, music, animation and theory videos nonstop. Game Theory has been a tremendous help in establishing the lore, as complex as it already is.  
It was also around FNAF 3's release that I started to write this story, after seeing people write their own I decided to give it a go. I really didn't expect for it to get this big and to go on for so long, but I am glad that I took my time with it, given how the story and lore has evolved over the years. :-)  
Now this chapter was meant to have a song in it, like I've done in recent chapters, but I decided that the content alone should be more than enough to entertain you. I am pretty sure that you guys will be surpised or shocked when you read certain parts of this chapter and figure out what I am implying or foreshadowing.  
Rest assured, things will eventually make sense, but until then I'll leave you to speculate. ;-)  
I'll be sure to put a song in the next chapter, in fact I already have one lined up.  
Enjoy. . .

**Cloak and Dagger.**

**Chapter 40.**

** _"Fascinating. . .what they have become."_ **

**William Afton from Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator.**

Thoughts and memories tossed and turned, mixing together into a fine mess that suited Vincent's current state of mind.

He was still in the airship's cockpit, slumped forward in the chair, with his hands clasped together, giving off the appearance of being in deep contemplation.

His eyes were closed, with his facial expression being completely blank, and his breathing low and relaxed.

The gentle sound of soft music emitted from a small dancing figure that had risen out of a small, but highly decorated wooden box. It twirled in a graceful gesture, as it sat on the desk before Vincent. He didn't react, but merely listen to the sweet, soothing notes that were to a degree able to calm his inner thoughts. His mind was fixed on trying to fully flesh out tomorrow's events, or at least what he intended to have happen.

Everything had to be perfect, like it had been before, nothing could be allowed to go wrong, and yet the possibility of it doing so deeply concerned him.

He was taking a lot of risks to pull this plan off, especially with the part that he was yet to play.

The Nightmares by comparison had a much easier job to undertake, although the role that Vincent would play could only be performed by him.

And it was a crucial role.

Everything had to go right. . .

The soothing sound of the music box calmed his thoughts enough for him to break off his intense mental session, as he opened his eyes and slumped back into his chair. He now found himself staring at three soft objects that were situated on his desk, alongside the music box.

Relics. . .that is all they ever were, being one of Vincent's few links to his past.

He stared at them longingly, not wishing to part with them in favour of anything else.

Alongside a few things, they were all he had left of his previous life. The majority of which were back at his house, but he had accepted that he couldn't take everything with him.

_He knew that he wouldn't be coming back for them. . ._

Overall, regardless of what happened to him, his legacy would live on in the safety of being untouched and uncorrupted by his actions.

They were pure and would stay that way, after all they been entrusted to good care when Vincent had left for the pizzeria a few days ago.

He knew that they weren't the real thing, in that he couldn't fully recreate who they were based on, they had flaws that he couldn't help but notice as he so longed to recreate what had been lost. Yet in the end it didn't matter.

He loved them regardless and wouldn't let any corruption befall his most treasured creations.

They were safe below ground, where memories sleep, anger wouldn't be restless, and secrets would keep. His house might look like any ordinary home to any outsider, but what lay hidden underneath its foundations would shock anyone to their core. Deep below ground another world existed, another side of himself that had been forged through immense hardship.

And the hardship had never left him, it was his personal cage, but it had to some extent become a mental home for him, just like his basement workshop had become a new physical home.

His basement workshop, where he had spent much of his time since setting it up in the mid nineteen eighties. Initially, it had been one room, but it had grown substantially over the decades as had the scope of his experiments when he put his engineering skills to the test.

Whilst the Fazbears were left in a mire of depression within that decaying pizzeria which they called home; he had been busy trying out the blueprints he had gained from Fazbear Entertainment's collapse.

Such beauty existed in the designs of the animatronics, but he lacked enough of the parts to make them and had to conserve what parts he had. He had attempted to build some of the animatronics, but he didn't get far with the projects, all of them ended up being disappointing by his standards.

He wasn't capable at building every animatronic in existence to utter perfection.

Still his skills had grown considerably, and he could always admire the level of details in the blueprints.

Some which he had taken from Henry Emily.

Well. . .actually he wasn't the one who had physically taken them out of Henry's possession.

He had got someone else to do that job for him. When his_ 'friend'_ had returned with the blueprints, Vincent was informed in quite direct terms that Henry had witnessed the act, but that he would forever question what he saw and therefore not bother them.

_They had made sure that the trail was cold. . ._

No one would believe the ramblings of a man suffering from the emotional trauma of losing his only child.

Henry had been a man of energy, creativity and his blueprints showed it.

His passion was undeniable, in a sense the second pizzeria was his masterpiece, sporting a number of his designs and even if some didn't make sense, the children loved them regardless.

He remembered when Henry unveiled some of his designs, including Lefty. . .his passion project.

* * *

_April 1987, The New and Improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, Hurricane Utah. _

_Vincent stared at the blueprints sheet on the table, his hungry eyes absorbing in the detail and his face was one of genuine surprise, much to the amusement of the man standing next to him._

_"I see you find the design for Music Man thought provoking Vincent, do tell me why?" Henry asked, giving the man a slap on the back._

_The act instantly brought Vincent out of his trance. _

_"It's his face if anything Henry, the black eyes and the wide grin, he looks terrifying, especially if he is staring down at you," he replied_ _, sounding rather unsure of the animatronic's design_ _._

_Henry chuckled as he traced the animatronic's outlines with his fingers._

_"Well, that wasn't what I had intended when drawing him up, he does have pupils in the centre of his eyes."_

_Vincent just shook his head._

_"Yeah, if you look close enough, can't imagine that many kids wouldn't want to get up close and personal with this guy," he muttered in a sarcastic manner. _ _Henry found his response to be funny, chuckling at the thought of the animatronic jump scaring a group of children. _

_"Well, if this place was a horror attraction, then in his current form Music Man would be an ideal mascot," he replied modesty, folding the blueprint sheet back up_ _ and placing it inside his trouser pocket_ _._

_From the corridor outside came the sounds of people groaning and something big being pushed. _ _Soon enough, David, Amy and Lauren appeared in the doorway, shoving Egg Baby on a roller and the effort seemed to be killing them if it were possible._

_"Christ, I'm going to pull all the muscles in my body before we get this thing through the door," Amy moaned, falling forward onto the roller's handle to rest her tired limbs. _

_David and Lauren stopped as well, appearing to be exhausted._

_"Why did we only remove it from the box, after taking it all the way inside and not doing it in the stage area?" David asked, resting against the roller's handle like Amy was doing._

_"Beats me," Lauren added, seeming to be _ _worn out_ _._

_The trio turned to see Henry and Vincent staring at them through the doorway._

_"Henry, what exactly does this 'Egg Baby' thing do?" Lauren wearily asked._

_Henry merely smiled and said._

_"The answer is inside the egg that the mini baby is holding, but it'll be up for the kids to figure out."_

_"It still makes no sense to me Henry," Vincent muttered, not that Henry heard him because David, Lauren and Amy began groaning again as they restarted their efforts to push the huge prop forward._

_"If we get this thing set up without breaking a rib, the drinks are on me," David grumbled, shoving the roller forward._

_"Fazbear Entertainment was nice enough to greenlight the creation and presentation of several of my designs, I just wish that they were more willing to take a risk," Henry remarked, turning back to face Vincent._

_Vincent smiled a little, feeling a little bit humoured by Henry's words._

_"You know how Fazbear Entertainment likes to operate Henry, they want to play it safe, cut corners and keep as much money to themselves should shit hit the fan."_

_"Despite how much investment they sank into this place. . ."_

_Henry chuckled as he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled a small piece of paper._

_"Well, I can't see them rejecting this little wonder," he said, his green eyes gleaming with pride as he unravelled it. _ _Placing it on the table, Vincent's own eyes lit up with renewed interest. The outlines were small and basic, with a few notes surrounding the animatronic's body, but its contents were truly astounding. _

_Its design was human, not the usual animal theme and it possessed many interesting features. _

_"This is my pride and joy," Henry announced._

_He exhaled a sigh of confidence._

_"Lefty, I aim to have him made before Sammy's birthday next year, he is rather complex, so I need time to make him perfect for the limelight."_

_In that instant Vincent tore his gaze away from the blueprints to look at Henry in surprise._

_"Wait, you've called him Lefty?"_

_Henry smiled, enjoying Vincent's shock._

_"I intend to give him one eye, to give the guy an identity among the rest of my creations."_

_He placed his hand on the blueprints sheet, carefully tracing the outlines with his fingers._

_"This Vincent," he stated with pride._

_"Is my masterpiece. . ."_

_"He can dance, accept song requests and even socially interact with guests to make him seem even more real."_

_He smiled as he traced Lefty's sole pupil, that being his left eye, hence the name._

_"I haven't even started laying down the endoskeleton for this guy, but I can already tell that Sammy is going to love him."_

_Henry then turned to face Vincent; their eyes locked._

_"Didn't you have some ideas for animatronics?" he asked curiously. Vincent let out a deep sigh, knowing all too well where Henry was heading._

_"Yes, four or five in particular, just some slow baked aspirations that I have been thinking about, I doubt that I'll ever make them, but a man can dream."_

_"Any design plans?" Henry enquired, seeking an answer that Vincent knew he couldn't ignore._

_Once something had Henry's interest, he wouldn't let go of it, much like a dog with a bone._

_"I do have some blueprints for a few animatronics that I scrapped years ago if you need some inspiration," Henry remarked. The man's tender nature only expressed itself even further, something that Vincent had come to expect from Henry over the years._

_Vincent rolled his eyes casually. _

_"Well, I have been thinking about giving them a circus or clown theme, but nothing revolutionary."_

_"Just something to keep me busy, you know, ever since. . ."_

_His voice trailed off, he could sense his eyes starting to grow distant , his throat clenched itself shut. Mentally, he fought against the wave of emotions that were now surging towards the surface of his mind._

_Doors had been unlocked that he couldn't quite slam shut._

_Dread. . ._

_Fear. . ._

_Anguish. . ._

_Sorrow. . ._

_Depression. . ._

_Anger. . ._

_He attempted to force it all down with pure stoicism, taking all of his mental strength to subdue it as many heart wrenching memories accompanied the wave. _

_Like a high - speed train roaring down the tracks, the sound of four memories exploded into life with Vincent's vivid memory recreating every single wretched detail for his own torment. _

_The sounds of car tyres screeching and the strong smell of burning rubber. . ._

_Something getting crushed in a sicking fashion._

_A rope hanging limply from the ceiling and a knocked over chair._

_A lifeless body on a bed amidst the sound of ambulance sirens. _

_All of it, he couldn't let that get to him now, dam Henry for pushing the issue._

_Henry himself seemed to recognise Vincent's aura of mental distress; the man's green eyes , now turning watery, revealed a gathering storm underneath._

_Henry's own eyes slowly widen as he reached his hand out to Vincent, seeing the man's agony that his stoic face could barely contain. _

_"I'm sorry Vincent, I didn't mean to push so close to home for you, obviously you would want to cherish their memory somehow."_

_Yet Vincent raised his own hand , seeming to reject Henry's outstretched one ._

_"No, it's just the association with them, it's been hard since then, but I am coping."_

_He flashed a forced smile._

_"Besides, doing this job keeps me busy, time heals all wounds as they say."_

_Yet Henry was not convinced, his eyes remained the same, yet his tone became low._

_"Vincent," he muttered slowly._

_"Are you sure that you don't want to take some time off?"_

_"I know that you stayed on despite what happened in 1983, and even when we were rocked by that missing children's' incident, but don't run yourself into the ground in an attempt to ignore the pain."_

_"Please take some time off, go to widow counselling if things become too hard to handle, I know that you are a stoic person, but it is understandable to grieve after such a traumatic loss."_

_Vincent didn't reply immediately, his initial response was to ward Henry off, but there was no need to._

_He was only trying to help him._

_Only he didn't need help. . ._

_His path was set, and he would not deviate from it._

_Nor could he change it if he wanted to._

_"Henry. . ."_

_Vincent sighed before continuing._

_"I understand your concern, but I am handling it in my own way, and this animatronic interest of mine, it's merely a coping mechanism."_

_He was being honest in that regard, getting to work on his hobby was keeping his mind distracted. Although at the same time he had already built them, not that he would tell Henry though._

_He like to have his secrets._

_Yet he would keep improving them, perfection , he would make them perfect , so the illusion could be maintained._

_It was like a never-ending dance, forever improving, after repeated trial and error._

_He would dance to forget the pain._

_Dance to forget. . ._

_"I am fine Henry, trust me, I am ok."_

_He wanted to narrow his eyes at Henry to enforce his point, but he stopped, knowing that it would only increase Henry's suspicions that he truly needed help._

_"I need this."_

_"Please trust me?"_

_Slowly, Henry lowered his hand, his gaze softened slightly._

_"Vincent, if things become too difficult and you want help, then I can extend a lifeline."_

_His words stirred Vincent's thoughts, he knew why Henry was offering, being the only person who truly knew what had happened in his past. _ _Yet he didn't need his help, for things had been set in motion that could not be undone. It was too late to turn back, and the satisfaction to be gained at the end was just too tempting._

_"Henry, thank you for the offer, really it is very generous of you, but I am coping quite well."_

_"Those tragic events just need time to heal, but keeping myself busy is one way to numb the pain."_

_Henry then completely dropped his stance and abandoned his suspicions._

_He sighed._

_"Ok, Vincent, if you are sure enough, but my offer will always be there if you need it."_

_Vincent smiled heartily at him._

_"Thank you, Henry, it's nice to have a friend in this world."_

_"DAD!"_

_"DAD!"_

_Suddenly a high-pitched voice erupted into being, followed by footsteps quickly coming down the hallway outside. Henry quickly turned to the table, grabbing and folding up his blueprints for Lefty, before putting them into his upper shirt pocket. _ _He then motioned to Vincent for him to remain quiet about the matter, and the man merely placed a finger to his lips, giving a small, but knowing smile._

_He knew to be quiet._

_Soon a child, a boy, sporting brown hair and blue eyes suddenly appeared in the doorway, having run a considerable distance, judging by his tired expression._

_"Dad, I just beat my old high score on Mid-Night Motorist!" he shouted._

_Henry turned and gave his son a big beaming smile, bringing him into a bear hug._

_"That's great Sammy!" he exclaimed, sounding very delighted. _

_"If only your son could crack the mystery of Egg Baby," Vincent muttered to himself, although no one heard him._

_"Or is it another present for him Henry?" he mentally whispered, eyeing the way which Henry dotted on his son. __On the surface he presented a smile of amusement at the interactions between father and son, it was genuinely a nice scene. _ _Yet beneath his smile and warm eyes, lay a hissing viper of jealousy, posed to strike. Behind his pupils, he glared at the two coldly, watching with interest as it stoked the fires of resentment within him._

_"I got all the special items as well!" Sammy exclaimed to which Henry tussled his hair._

_That only further served to fuel Vincent's discontent._

_He felt it raging within him, like a wildfire that burned everything it touched with a deliberate malicious intent._

_Life wasn't fair. . ._

_And he hated that._

_He could feel the bloodlust slowly rise amidst the flames of his jealousy._

_The scene before him was actually making him feel sick._

_He almost wanted to . . ._

_No. . ._

_Doing something reckless and rash now would only land him in hot water or worse ._

_It was better to wait and plan his next move in detail._

_He had the time to do so, all the time in the world in fact._

_Henry ruffled Sammy's brown hair._

_"Fancy trying to uncover the mystery of Egg Baby?" He asked to which Sammy eagerly nodded._

_"Yes, absolutely!" he replied excitedly and with that he ran out of the room, towards the main stage area._

_"Try not to disturb other people's work Sam!" Henry yelled back as the boy's footsteps faded away as quickly as they had come._

_He sighed heartily._

_"He already thinks that this place is heaven on Earth," he muttered, turning to face Vincent._

_Vincent merely kept his smile on , as his inner thoughts slowly died down like a dying ember ._

_"Well you know the iconic slogan, 'where fun and fantasy come to life'," Vincent remarked humorously. Henry chuckled at Vincent's words, patting his upper shirt pocket where he kept Lefty's blueprints._

_"Well you and I help to make that real, or at least seem real."_

_Vincent stepped forward, passing Henry by and heading for the doorway ._

_"Like I said, this job keeps me occupied," he said warmly._

_"Soon they'll be sending Freddy and his lot over here, alongside the new entertainers that they have got lined up."_

_Henry nodded, seeming to look cautious for once. _

_"Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy won't like being side-lined, but they can't afford to keep two places open, not with the investment that they've sunk into this place."_

_Vincent's smile faltered a little._

_"Yeah, given that your animatronics are going to be responsible for putting them out of a job entirely, in the long run, these 'Toys' will be the least of their frustrations."_

_In truth, he couldn't be happier to see their disappointed faces when their optimism would be dashed to pieces upon being informed that they weren't here to be the frontrunners like they use to be._

_"We'll cross that bridge when it comes Vincent," Henry muttered, patting the man on the back as he followed him out of the room._

_He then remarked._

_"As far as Fazbear Entertainment is concerned, everything is working as intended."_

_Vincent laughed, shaking his head and said._

_"Well sticking their heads in the sand is standard company policy."_

_However, having a company as shady as Fazbear Entertainment had helped him to keep under the radar. Something that he could always exploit if they didn't change their habits anytime soon. _

_"True, true," Henry replied modestly._

_He turned to gaze down the hallway towards the main stage area._

_"Well, I better check to see if David, Amy and Lauren have successfully set up Egg Baby right and to make sure that Sammy isn't trying to rig the games."_

_"You really think that he would do that?" Vincent asked, he was genuinely curious in Henry's answer. Sammy didn't seem to be like the type of kid that would try to cheat._

_Henry smiled mischievously, as he turned back to face Vincent._

_"If he has cheated, then I have to fix the fault to avoid having other kids exploiting it, and it is not as easy as it sounds."_

_Then his smile dropped, and his gaze soften once more with his eyes looking sincere. _

_"I suppose that you will be checking on the prop suits in storage then?" he asked curiously._

_Vincent nodded slightly, giving Henry a small smile. _

_"Yes, I have to make sure that everything is accounted for, as I need to fill in a checklist on the items in storage before officially finishing for today."_

_Henry seemed to nod, although behind his warm eyes Vincent could easily see that he was monitoring him for any sign of distress._

_"Well, you look after yourself Vincent," he said casually._

_"There's always light at the end of the tunnel." _

_And with that he turned and left, heading down the hallway towards the main stage area, leaving Vincent on his own._

_The sound of Henry's footsteps faded into the distance as Vincent found himself staring into nothingness. _

_Slowly his hands turned into fists, and the soft expression of his eyes shifted into a more serious gaze that suited his inner mood. Henry's optimism was far too idealistic for his own good, and yet somewhere deep inside himself, Vincent actually worried about it. . .but to an extent of course._

_There was no light at the end of his personal tunnel, there was blood on his hands that he could never wash off. He was already too far gone, and he didn't really care anymore._

_Life isn't fair, so why should he be._

_All he could do now was to keep going with this long running scheme of his._

_He would sink Fazbear Entertainment into the ground, but his real target were the Fazbears themselves._

_He needed time to work out how this establishment operated before making any serious move. _ _Time was his greatest ally it seemed these days, as he watched everyone go about their own business. Meanwhile he acted like a wolf in sheep's clothing, waiting for the right moment to pounce. _ _Internally he smiled at the prospect, remembering the satisfaction he earned as he towered over the children's corpses, with their blood dripping from his knife, as he had slaughtered them like lambs back at the previous pizzeria._

_The joy and bloodlust were overwhelming, rushing through his body like a tidal wave that gave him his happiest day. _ _The power he felt that day, he needed more, finally he was the one in charge, dictating a person's fate like he was God. _

_And he got the result he wanted, but he had already accepted the consequences of his actions._

_To him it was only fair considering how life had treated him._

_The Fazbears would be here soon enough. . ._

_They would probably hope that they had left the chaos of their old home behind._

_No. . .it had merely followed them._

_His inner smile grew to the point where if expressed he would look like a complete madman. _

_He would drag them down into never-ending despair and watch it consume them. _

_That would be his happiest day. . .to see everything go up in flames, metaphorically speaking of course. _ _He had a good idea on how to bring this place down and it would be tragic, but life wasn't fair after all, so why bother caring for anyone else. _ _Feeling his twisted inner smile force its way to the surface, Vincent turned in the direction that Henry had just gone. _

_"I am sorry Henry, what I intend to do will destroy you, but if you had gone through what I have, then you would at least understand why I did it," he whispered softly under his breath._

_"They have to suffer, and one member in particular needs to understand that actions have consequences, as I am sure my own will one day."_

_"Yet I want to have my happiest day before that happens, so don't hold it against me, even though you probably will."_

_"But I am beyond the point of caring about anything or anyone else, save for my masterpiece."_

_"It will be beautiful when it is finally finished, and only then. . .will I accept my fate."_

_Then he turned away and headed towards the storage room, as all physical trace of his twisted mentality disappeared to be replaced with a blank expression of boredom, like all the other workers here. Yet internally he kept on smiling, relishing the thought when he could bring this wretched place crashing down._

_He just needed time to figure out a moment of opportunity._

_"As you say Henry. . .everything is working as intended."_

_"But for my purposes only. . ."_

* * *

_Present Day_

Henry Emily. . .

Where was he now?

The loss of a child could split a parent's life in two, divided into two different worlds, one which was nothing but happiness, love everlasting and promise for the future. The other being cold, grey and broken with nothing but a corrosive desire to somehow go back to the old world.

Henry was no different for as long as Vincent had known him, but the spark in his eyes no longer existed when Vincent saw him for the last time. . .at Sammy's funeral.

They had a coffin, but no body to bury it with.

Was Henry even still alive or had he topped himself over the loss of his son?

If he had done the latter, then the blame entirely rested with Vincent, and he accepted that.

He had taken Sammy from Henry, and indirectly he would have taken another life, if Henry had committed suicide, even though it was not his main aim.

Henry's death, as well as those of the eleven children were. . . collateral.

He did get a bloodlust from it, a sweet satisfaction from inflicting the pain. The moment he drove his knife in he was lost in the throes of sadism with his psychotic smile and the mad glint in his eyes.

The power over life and death was addictive and to hold it in his hands was thrilling.

It was like a thin tight rope that one could so easily fall from.

Although living on the edge certainly had its benefits. . .

Like he told Nightmare Foxy, he had grown to love the feeling of deciding who lived and who died. When he was in the act, he didn't want to let go of the feeling, because in a strange sense, it numbed him. It numbed him from the chronic emotional pain that had been eating away at him for years, decades even given the length of time since. . .

Since. . .

Suddenly and instinctively Vincent burst out of his mental bubble and reached for one of the soft objects that sat on the cockpit desk. Gripping it tightly he brought it close to his chest, hugging it like it was a life raft. Mentally, he suppressed the vivid images that were rising from his subconscious, some were happy, others were sad.

Yet all of his memories collectively led to a tragic ending.

In order to cope he had to mentally divide his life into two eras, the past and the present because he was a different person back then. He could feel the memories aching to be relive, but he held them in check, slowly forcing them down as he gripped the soft object tightly.

Bit by bit, the emotional wave subsided, as he hid inside the equivalent of a mental bunker, waiting for the storm to pass him by.

Despite his lure towards sadism when the bloodlust took hold, he did give the children a quick death, a simple slit across the throat or a solid stab to the chest and they knew no more. He called it mercy, there was no need to prolong the pain any more than he felt that it needed to be.

Well. . .it was never quite as simple as that with all the blood the children's deaths created, but he had always cleaned up the mess and did his best to leave no trace of his involvement behind.

He was very thorough in his clean up.

In the end, the killing of children was a means to an end, despite the immense joy and satisfaction that it brought him. He always had a much bigger goal in mind, even though his methods were completely unacceptable. He had Henry's blueprints for all of his animatronics with him, he had even made copies to ensure that the knowledge he gained could be preserved. From the blueprints and files that he gathered; he had been able to locate the warehouse of endoskeletons that were intended for the new animatronics, that were to herald the future expansion of the company.

Instead, he found a new use for them as his servants, and they had remained so to this day.

He had tried to replicate some of the animatronics from the blueprints, but they didn't work so well, forcing him to terminate the projects and reuse the material for other needs.

And those needs were mind bending experiments, revealing things that could break man's understanding of their world.

Dark things, that were best left buried.

Secrets that were best left undisturbed, but he couldn't unknow them now, as they were deeply engrained into his memory.

Now that the emotional wave had passed, he slowly placed the soft object back on the desk, alongside the other two. He knew that the Nightmares would be back soon after making the opening move.

He just hoped that they didn't go too far in their sadism, and somehow kept an open mind on things.

Hopefully their near-death experience back at the factory had driven some sense into them, making them much more cautious than they otherwise might have been. Reality had certainly given them a slap in the face. . .or at least it should have done.

Actually, a punch in the face was a better way to describe it.

Looking at the three objects and the small music box, Vincent sighed deeply. Now was not the time to be focusing on the past, the present mattered more and he knew it.

Why else would he still be playing this complex game?

He reached over and closed the music box's wooden lid, causing the dancing figure to collapse downwards. Once the box closed shut, the music instantly stopped, only the sound of the airship's four turbines spinning away could be heard. Rising from his chair, Vincent gathered the soft objects together, opened a drawer in the cockpit's desk and placed them inside. He didn't do the same for the music box however, rather he held onto it in his hands, tightly gripping it.

Turning around to face the cockpit door, Vincent knew that things would soon be coming to a head. All he had to do was keep a strong hold on how these next events played out.

He had been excellent at controlling events in the past, masterful even, otherwise he wouldn't be alive right now.

However, things had gotten more complex lately. . .and you cannot control everything.

It was a harsh truth and Vincent had long since reasoned that retaining the element of surprise is what had allowed him to get so far.

Retreating from his own thoughts, Vincent stepped forward and pushed the cockpit door wide open, revealing the living room compartment, or rather where the Nightmares slept. Alongside numerous mechanical and electrical equipment that kept the airship flying. Walking forward, he could see the Nightmares themselves, still asleep on their makeshift beds. The ups and downs of their chests as they breathed in and out indicated that they were alive, but lost in a deep sleep.

Supposedly, when they went out on one of their _'night trips'_ or back to Limbo, their bodies would go limp, acting as if it were in a coma, undergoing a dreamless sleep.

Meanwhile their spirits would be flying about somewhere, it was in effect an out of body experience.

Heading through the room, bypassing many endoskeletons that were fully occupied with their current task of monitoring the airship's systems, being too busy to notice him. Some walked and others crawled along the floor like ants, not that Vincent cared, whatever got them to their objective the quickest would work for them.

He paused at the foot of Nightmare Bonnie's bed, seeing her lying down on it in the same manner that bodies were laid down in a morgue.

_He knew that from personal experience._

For a while, he stared at the female Nightmare, watching her chest rise and fall with each breath.

Sometimes Vincent would admit to himself that he was surprised with getting as far as he had. In addition to knowing many strange things about the supernatural and the unknown.

Admittedly the existence of such knowledge scared him to an extent, knowing that he wasn't the biggest predator on the block, and that something like a Nightmare did actually exist. From his experience, they certainly lived up to the definition of the term. Things would be very bad if he was on the receiving end, and thankfully they were on the same side. Even though he knew nothing about their existence prior to meeting them in person.

As things turned out, they contacted him, coming right out of nowhere, with their communications being one sided. Slowly Vincent's green eyes shifted from Nightmare Bonnie to the others, watching them sleep.

"_They should be back soon, I just hope that they didn't take things too far,"_ he mentally muttered.

Suddenly it was as if Vincent's wish had been granted, for Nightmare Foxy rose fully upright, opening his eyes, looking somewhat dizzy as he gazed about his surroundings.

Then Nightmare Freddy rose up slowly, waking himself up as he slumped forward, looking a little bit distorted. Nightmare Chica and Bonnie also woke up, yawning as they pushed themselves upright. They seemed to have emerged from a deep sleep as Vincent suspected and were yet to fully register their surroundings.

Then Nightmare Chica clutched her head, seeming to be struggling to reconnect with reality. She had a painful expression on her face, the surrounding lights and sounds were probably overloading her senses.

"So," Vincent began, sounding curious and giving off a casual posture.

"Did you get your message across?"

Nightmare Foxy instantly looked in his direction, cocking his head to one side, but he smiled, seeming to recognise Vincent. He wasn't being affected by the same problems as Nightmare Chica was.

_"We did, it was executed perfectly,"_ he said, sounding rather proud and pleased with their achievement.

_"Well. . ."_ Nightmare Bonnie remarked slowly, seeming to disagree.

_"I wouldn't use the word perfectly, Balloon Boy would have died at the hands of the former nightguards, had we not intervened to 'save' him."_

_"I thought that was the plan, to let him get close to death, scaring the life out of him and then snatch him out from their grasp?"_ Nightmare Foxy asked, turning to face Nightmare Bonnie with a confused expression.

_"That was the plan N-Foxy,"_ Nightmare Bonnie replied modestly.

_"Although granted we may have cut it too close, but still we got what we wanted and hopefully, they will be forced to accept our offer and come running."_

"They will obviously sense a trap, but they clearly want answers. . .knowledge is an addictive thing," Vincent muttered, now strolling between the beds.

"So, your target was Balloon Boy, I imagine that you recreated the animatronics whose blueprints I gave you?"

Nightmare Bonnie sighed confidently, as if she was relishing the memory.

_"Yes, nearly every single one, the Rockstars, Mediocre Melodies, Music Man, Funtime Chica, El Chip, Candy Cadet, and those Candy and Cindy animatronics were all there to play their part." _

_"They were fun to influence, gave the boy quite a scare, but Lefty undoubtably stole the show."_

_"Aye, lassie, he did, stole it completely, N-Freddy puppeteer him good,"_ Nightmare Foxy interjected, chuckling to himself at the memory.

Nightmare Freddy in classical fashion, adopted his smug tone as he spoke.

_"It was fun to watch the fear dance in his eyes, I think he was mostly too terrified to move, until I used Lefty's strings to grab him."_

_"He was well behaved Vincent, did everything we requested, and he will remember it for a long time."_

_"However. . ."_

The Nightmare's expression changed to one of seriousness, his smile completely vanished. This switch between his moods was a noticeable change in his personality since the incident at the factory. Maybe Vincent had also got his second wish, that reality would beat the Nightmare's ego, and force him to adapt.

_"We told him why we are chasing him and the others, and why Tommy cannot move on."_

Vincent's own eyes also went serious in their expression, narrowing even, but didn't go dark or anything that suggested he was annoyed with their conduct.

"His response?" he asked directly to which Nightmare Freddy responded with.

_"At first he thought that we had confessed a critical weakness when we revealed our connection to Tommy. However, he was deeply shocked when we told him that in order for Tommy to move on, they all need to die, that the slate must be wiped clean."_

_"As a result, the act of doing so would grant us our freedom, breaking the chains that currently bind our fates to his."_

Nightmare Freddy gestured with his claw like hands as he spoke, his tone still being serious, not losing its edge.

_"Understandably, he didn't want to accept the truth that he had to die in order to free a child's soul, but it is what it is."_

_"No doubt he should have delivered that news to the others, and I can only imagine that they aren't taking the revelation all too well."_

_"Well, that is to be expected, especially when you've spent your entire life framing yourself as the victim,"_ Nightmare Chica remarked, seeming to have largely recovered from the side effects of her deep sleep.

"I think that deep down, the Fazbears knew that they weren't victims, not really, having literal skeletons in their closets," Vincent remarked plainly, turning about on the spot.

"They all knew, but, mainly Freddy and maybe Toy Freddy as well, but certainly the Puppet knew it the most out of all of them. The first two because they were the heads of their respective groups and felt that the responsibility of the act fell to them."

Vincent continued, his tone now being direct.

"Puppet knew because she had placed the dead children's souls into the Fazbears in the first place, and therefore gave them the opportunity to go on a killing spree."

"You four brought the nightguards they murdered into play, that blast from the past should have fully ruptured their sense of safety, even though they were killed decades ago."

Vincent smiled a little, there was a mischievous and yet sinister look in his eyes.

"The past never dies it seems. . ."

His words got a small smile from all four Nightmares, their eyes glowed a little, their sadism had been kindled.

_"We are still here; we're proof enough as are the nightguards, BB was terrified to see them in the flesh,"_ Nightmare Foxy muttered, his brownish red eyes glowed with amusement.

_"They were a complete surprise, and they took full advantage of it."_

_"Not that we would actually let them kill BB. . .not yet at least."_

Vincent exhaled, mentally recalling a past moment, before speaking.

"The issue with covering up the death of each nightguard was always a source of constant worry for them, fearing that the bodies might eventually be found with them being exposed as the murderers, knowing full well what would come next."

"Obviously the dead nightguards want revenge for their deaths, and we can provide them with the opportunity."

"We will decide when that opportunity should be though, although I wonder if having been exposed to their own bloodlust, they may attempt to actually take physical control of their bodies and literally dig themselves out of their graves?"

_"There's no need to worry about that possibility Vincent, when we 'stole' BB from their grasp, we had a sharp word with them about what would happen next,"_ Nightmare Bonnie said plainly, stretching her arms and legs, feeling the bones click.

_"They know that they have to wait, although they clearly hated the idea, but they possess no power of their own,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered casually.

She brushed her messy dirty blonde hair aside, before continuing.

_"They were only there because we brought them into BB's dream, all this time since their deaths they had been wandering around Limbo in a fit of rage and agony, completely directionless."_

"And are they there now?" Vincent asked curiously, turning round to face her.

_"Yes, they'll be back in Limbo now and there they will stay, unable to find their own way out," _Nightmare Foxy stated with confidence.

He bent his neck left and right, testing out his muscles.

_"We can call upon them again, when it is required."_

"Good, I fear that they would become a wild card if allowed to run free," Vincent replied, seeming to be pleased with the Nightmare's explanation.

"They haven't been able to dig themselves out of their graves all this time, and if they cannot get out of Limbo and actually take control of their bodies, then they shouldn't cause us too much trouble."

"I hate having to deal with any lingering threads," he muttered under his breath, quiet enough that the Nightmares didn't actually hear him.

He then turned and started walking towards the back end of the airship, where his own room was located.

"Anyway, I'll be heading for bed, with it being one or two in the morning, now that you four are back, all we have to do is wait until the afternoon."

Then Nightmare Chica called out.

_"How do you know about Freddy and the others murdering the nightguards, and that they covered it all up?"_

Vincent stopped in mid step; her question had admittedly caught him unaware. He lowered his head, but instead of wearing a blank face, he smiled with his eyes glinting, seeming to give off a knowing expression.

Slowly he turned around to face Nightmare Chica, holding up one of his arms, revealing his watch tracker.

With his other free hand, he tapped it lightly with his fingers.

"Secrets N-Chica, secrets that will be revealed soon enough, although I am sure that you can guess as to how I came to know," he said confidently.

_"You like to have your secrets, don't you?" _Nightmare Bonnie enquired mischievously with her bluish purple eyes glinting.

"Yes, I do," Vincent replied in an amused tone.

Then his eyes narrowed, becoming serious in their expression as did his tone.

"It is why I have kept myself below the radar for so long, I was in this game for the long haul."

Then a thought occurred to him, related to a certain set of animatronics.

"That reminds me, I'm curious that you requested to have the only proper animatronic suits ever made shipped to Limbo, why exactly?" he asked, digging into his memory.

"The ones that were designed to look like animals and bore the Originals' names."

"You said that you wanted them for back up or future use, correct?"

_"Back up really, so yes future use, think of those suits as an insurance policy for us,"_ Nightmare Freddy replied, folding his arms.

His tone was casual, but his eyes were serious, those dark red pupils hadn't really shifted from a cold expression since he had dropped his smug tone.

_"Another means to completing our goal, should things ever go south with this enterprise."_

"You doubt our chances of success N-Freddy?" Vincent enquired, he didn't sound threatening, but there was something of an under tone of seriousness in his voice. As if he was insulted that the integrity of his capabilities was being questioned.

He was now staring at Nightmare Freddy, awaiting an answer.

_"No, just thinking ahead, should the worst outcome ever happen,"_ Nightmare Freddy muttered, but he diverted his eyes away from Vincent's gaze. He didn't wish to create tension; it wouldn't serve anything. Yet his dark red eyes were serious, and his face had now hardened.

_"Our experiences in the past have influenced our thinking, there are a few ways to kill us Vincent, only you and the Fazbears know that, not that we would ever make it easy."_

He continued, and the expressions of the other Nightmares had also changed. Facially they expressed a strong sense of understanding with Nightmare Freddy's words, but their eyes withheld a deep presence of fear. That was a rare emotion to see among their kind, and there would be a very good reason for them to show it.

_"We like to have a fall back, our first attempt to gain vessels into the real world ended in utter failure. . .you know the story."_

Vincent seemed to nod slowly, trying to remember the exact details of that incident.

They had come very close to pulling it off without a hitch, but then _they_ turned up and ruined everything. It was the equivalent of having the entire rug pulled out from underneath your feet. Because of their unexpected setback, the Nightmares had to seriously rethink their options of pursuing their goal of gaining complete freedom from Tommy.

And that led to them encountering Vincent, and although things got more complicated, they were successful in the end.

They had gained actual bodies.

Yet the Nightmares' past experiences in the nineteen eighties with the unknown had left something of a scar on them. It was a mental dent in their collective armour that had not been revisited since their brush with death back at the factory in East Chicago. Nothing can stay buried forever, and revisiting the memory had shocked the Nightmares after spending so much of their lives dominating over a traumatised child. The long period of having no immediate threats had allowed their confidence to restore itself. Plus, having a better understanding of how to avoid being noticed was the prime reason for their smug and condescending attitude.

They risked becoming complacent. . .no, they already had become complacent. Yet when they had told BB about their weakness, it was a risky move, but they understood their own weakness to a much greater degree than they did before.

It was a managed risk.

"I remember being informed about the incident, it had a lot of potential if it had succeeded, but you lot apparently cut it too close," Vincent muttered, mentally revisiting the conversations when he enquired into the Nightmares' past.

_"It was unexpected what happened,"_ Nightmare Bonnie replied, her voice being quiet, as she seemed to mentally revisit her experience of the incident.

_"Although in a way, we did gain a vital understanding of how to travel between Limbo and here, plus we gained what would later become an essential component for the machine that you helped to build."_

She chuckled slightly and her gaze soften considerably.

_"In some way, it was a blessing in disguise."_

_"Hardly lassie,"_ Nightmare Foxy retorted, he strongly disagreed with a visible expression of annoyance.

_"It was a vicious fight for survival, that's what it was, and we only just won, or at least forced a stalemate."_

"_Yeah, it was a chaotic fight, everything was happening all at once, and we barely made it out in one piece," _Nightmare Chica added, coming in on Nightmare Foxy's side.

"You four sure do have long memories," Vincent commented in amusement, catching their attention.

_"We have good reasons to have them, just like you do," _Nightmare Freddy replied casually, his eyes were still serious, although they had softened a bit.

_"A long memory is a useful tool in our 'profession'."_

Vincent chuckled; he could see the humour in Nightmare Freddy's words.

"I suppose so," he muttered in agreement.

He then sighed, before turning to leave again.

"See you four later today, since it is technically morning already."

And with that he left them to amuse themselves. Heading towards his small bedroom located at the back of the airship, he passed more endoskeletons on the way, as the latter blindly committed themselves to their preprogramed tasks. Nightmares Bonnie, Chica and Foxy fell back into open debate over the exact circumstances of the past incident that had almost got them their first human vessels, and not to mention killed. Yet Nightmare Freddy continued to stare in the direction that Vincent had gone, watching him walk away.

_"We have fall back plans Vincent because we need to be prepared for every possible outcome, we are deeply afraid of death,"_ he mentally muttered to himself.

His dark red eyes closed for a moment.

_"We cut it far too close on two occasions, and we cannot have any lingering threads that could endanger us."_

_"The first one was bad, but the second one was hell, and I wasn't even aware of it at the time, being locked in deep sleep."_

_"The four of us have been entrusted to maintain our family's security from the Fazbears, or anyone else for that matter."_

Then his eyes reopened, revealing his dark red pupils now to be narrowed, expressing a cold look.

_"There cannot be any room for serious error. . .not even from you Vincent Afton." _

* * *

Vincent could feel the weight of sleep upon his mind as he opened the door to his bedroom.

He craved the sweet embrace of slumber, even though staying up into the morning was a normal habit for him; having started doing so since the 1980s, when his _hobbies_ would carry him into the early hours, making him lose all track of time.

However, the knowledge he gained was worth the effort. Sitting down on the bed, he resisted the urge to lay back on the covers, as tempting as it may be.

Something had caught his eye.

A box. . .

To be fair his bedroom despite being small did hold several boxes, each one containing something that served his purpose one way or another. There was also a small desk with a chair for him to use, if he wished to examine something in much more detail.

And he needed to use it right now, as he forced himself to stand. Still gripping the wooden music box tightly in one hand, he walked over to the metal box in question. He grabbed it with his free hand, instantly feeling its weight as he struggled to pull it along with him towards the desk.

Sitting down on the chair, he placed the music box to one side, before turning and lifting the heavy box up and placing it neatly on the desk before him.

It was grey in colour, sporting two brass locks on its front and being fairly long in its length, not to mention big as well. Running across its surface from the back to the front were two thick brown lines dotted with steel bolts, giving the box a distinct look. It was locked, but Vincent knew where the key was, as he dug into his trouser pocket and brought it out. Upon unlocking both locks, he lifted the lid up, revealing the treasures that lay within.

His green eyes widen with great interest, as he gazed down upon another one of his creations, maybe his second or third most favourite.

The SpringBonnie animatronic/suit. . .from Fredbear and Friends.

It had been dismantled into separate parts, but not broken as he had intended it to be.

The iconic suit, plus the knife he was holding, and the sinister yet cold expression on his face would be the last thing the children would see before he killed them. He had kept it in his possession for all these years, and he hadn't worn it since 1987, yet it looked brand new as the day it was made.

Slowly, he lifted the head out, being extra careful not to drop it as it was quite heavy. Yet it looked so realistic, being the perfect recreation of SpringBonnie himself, before he became Springtrap.

His green eyes, golden hair and bunny ears had all been modelled down to the smallest detail, making the animatronic look as human as possible.

If someone didn't know that it was a robot, then it could easily pass itself off for being human, just by its social interactions alone. Pushing the box's lid shut, Vincent placed the animatronic's head on top. He stared at it, gazing deep into its dead eyes as it stared back at him like a lifeless doll. Whenever he got inside the suit, the _darker _side of him came out, he was much more in tune with his bloodlust inside its dark confines. He could be whatever he liked, and barely no one would know that it was him, with the voice box making him sound just like SpringBonnie whenever he talked.

It felt like he was someone else, but he knew that it was really just himself embracing his _dark passions. _He smiled, as he reached forward with one hand and placed a single finger against the animatronic's cold lips.

"Shhhhh," he whispered softly.

"Everything is working as intended."

"SpringBonnie will get an encore soon enough."

Then he dropped his smile and slumped back into the chair, allowing his arms to hang limply at his sides.

It was then that his mind turned to what Nightmare Freddy had referred to as the _'incident'_, but he knew the full details of what had happened.

It was quite a lot to take in when he was first told about it. Back when he didn't think much of the supernatural, despite hearing the rumours about various urban legends from his co-workers.

Still. . .it was intriguing nonetheless.

* * *

_November 1987 Greenfield Indiana. . . _

_Vincent pulled hard on the spanner, securing the final bolt into place, and enforcing the stability of the machine's rear end. _

_The metal groaned as he did the procedure, but it complied anyway. _ _He then stepped back, exhausted, but proud of his handiwork. _

_The machine was only a quarter of the way built, but they were off to a good start._

_Vincent could easily wrap his mind around the machine's structural design, having experience in that line of work. _ _It's functional purpose however eluded him still, even though he understood the rough outlines of the figure's theory._

_"Fascinating isn't it. . .to explore the unknown?" a smooth voice called out from behind him._

_Vincent turned in the voice's direction to see the figure standing by a metal table under the dim glow of the overhanging lights._

_"Despite the risks, the results can be game changing, but the risks are many, I and the other Nightmares know this from personal experience."_

_"And yet those experiences brought you to me, I am somewhat flattered," Vincent replied sarcastically, walking over. _ _He saw a brief expression of annoyance in the figure's eyes, yet the figure refuse to make an issue out of Vincent's words._

_Upon approaching the table, the figure turned round, gazing down at a sheet of paper that lay across half of the table's length._

_Walking to be at the figure's side, Vincent could easily see that it was a sheet of blueprints for the machine that they were labouring so hard to build. _

_They had both named it Soul Stealer, given the figure's intentions with the machine, once it was fully assembled._

_"So, we have got the foundation for the electric generator in place, although I think we may need to add extra support to hold it up as we begin to build the generator," Vincent commented, earning the figure's attention as their eyes turned in his direction._

_"We'll cross that bridge when it comes, mister Afton," they replied plainly, tracing Soul Stealer's outlines with their claw like fingers._

_"However, things are proceeding as planned."_

_Then their eyes turned away, now gazing at a second sheet of blueprints that occupied the other half of the table. _ _This sheet depicted the outlines for another machine, the one that had inspired Soul Stealer's design._

_Even though its function was just as complex as Soul Stealer's was, its name however was much simpler. Although unlike Soul Stealer, the name gave no indication to its exact function. _

_Ink Machine. . . _

_Its intentions were confusing to Vincent, but the figure seemed to hold a great amount of understanding on the machine's history._

_"They were so close with what they had envisioned, but the end results of that cartoon studio were. . .disappointing to put it lightly," they muttered, sounding displeased, before their tone turned to that of a sneer._

_"They say that dreams come true, well they seemed to have forgotten that nightmares do as well," they mocked, strongly disapproving the optimism of the ones behind the Ink Machine's creation._

_"Joey Drew was indeed a dreamer, but he was also blindly arrogant in the pursuit of his goal."_

_The figure then sighed, exhaling deeply, tracing the outlines of the Ink Machine with their claw like fingers._

_"The illusion of living, in the end Joey's goals were illusionary, whilst the reality of his actions created a waking nightmare in every sense of the word."_

_"I agree," Vincent muttered softly, but with a tone that expressed discomfort. He slowly turned his head in the direction of the only other lit area in the room. _ _He stared longingly at a metallic stage that was lit by colourful stage lights and occupied by four stationary figures._

_"The illusion of living is an addictive pursuit. . ."_

_The figure seemed to instantly catch his meaning, turning their head towards the stage and the four figures that stood motionless atop it._

_"Ahhh yes, your beloved creations, they are truly a work of art in their realism Vincent, that performance you showed me on my first trip down here was very believable," they said warmly, breaking out a small smile._

_"It is a pity though that their realism isn't being us-"_

_"No!" Vincent exclaimed sharply, causing the figure to immediately turn in his direction, their eyes bore into his._

_They were now narrowed, expressing an aggressive state of mind._

_"They will not be the templates for your Nightmare friends, we agreed on that!" Vincent said defiantly, his tone being direct, his own eyes were narrowed in strong opposition, and his posture matching that of someone not willing to budge. _

_He looked ready for an argument._

_The figure maintained their aggressive stance, also ready to debate the issue, but then they completely relaxed their entire posture. All traces of aggression faded away in an instant._

_"I agreed to your request, they would not become the templates."_

_They then continued._

_"I was only referring to the fact that you seem to keep them down here all the time, they could have talent in other uses," the figure commented calmly, conceding to Vincent's position._

_Yet Vincent wouldn't even entertain the suggestion that his creations should be used in such a way._

_"No, they are meant to be pure, completely free from my actions," he replied directly, still holding an aggressive stance, even though the figure made it clear there was to be no argument over the issue._

_The figure then turned away, going back to looking at the blueprints for Soul Stealer, but replied nonetheless._

_"Fair enough, I apologise for even raising the suggestion, I know why they are precious to you mister Afton." _

_Vincent sighed, allowing his moment of anger to dissipate into nothing. He had overreacted in his response, but he was dead set on keeping his most beloved creations away from the taint of his deeds._

_In the lull, his mind recalled the figure referring to knowing risk on a personal level, and he gave into his curiosity. _ _Moving to stand beside the figure, who was still gazing down at the blueprints for Soul Stealer, Vincent asked in a rather direct, but casual tone._

_"You mentioned knowing the risks of exploring the unknown, I presume that you refer to personal experience?"_

_"You have in our previous meetings given a few remarks that allures to something along those lines."_

_The figure's eyes turned to face Vincent, their expression was plain, and their eyes were unreadable. _ _For a moment, there was silence as the figure continued to stare at Vincent, not giving away any indication to their inner mood._

_However, they finally responded, turning around and resting their back against the table, giving off a casual posture as they spoke, whilst gazing out into the surrounding darkness._

_"Yes, prior to reaching out to you, there was an incident a few years back, when I tried to lure a group of children into Limbo, so we could possess them, and use their bodies as physical vessels."_

_They then lowered their head, perhaps they were waiting for Vincent to respond, but he didn't, preferring instead to keep listening, and the figure continued._

_"I admit it was hastily executed, having to force them through an out of body experience, and then enticing their spirits into the house."_

_They smiled, seeming to relish the memory._

_"It was fun messing them around, after all they were children, but one of them was strange, yet it was why I sought her as my own vessel."_

_"A girl, why was she strange, weren't the others as well?" Vincent asked inquisitively, but the figure shook their head._

_"No, they were all normal, the girl however had some magical ability."_

_They then turned to look at Vincent, and their eyes now held a serious expression, but they kept their smile._

_"She possessed the power to manipulate any physical object to her will, although the act caused her to bleed."_

_The figure's smile grew into a grin._

_"She was feisty, and wouldn't go down easily, her friends on the other hand required next to no effort to knock out."_

_Vincent remained silent, absorbing in every word._

"_We were in the process of possessing them, crushing their souls and making their bodies our own, but then. . ."_

_The figure's smile vanished to be replaced with a frown of annoyance._

_"Suddenly out of nowhere, 'they' turned up and ruined everything."_

_"Whose they?" Vincent asked, clearly curious, he was hooked._

_The figure's gaze hardened as they replied._

_"We were not the only ones interested in the children, especially the girl, creatures, monsters in every definition of the word by appearance at least." _

_"Somehow, they had been able to track their location to us, broke in, and started fighting us for possession of the children."_

_"Wait," Vincent said, holding his hands up._

_"Creatures from Limbo?" he asked, seeming to be confused, and rightfully so, given the level of detail that the figure was providing._

_However, the figure shook their head vehemently._

_"No, creatures from another dimension, from a parallel world."_

_Vincent dropped his hands, his mouth hung open, he was dumbfounded, his eyes expressed a deep-seated confusion. _ _Knowing that he would ask more questions, the figure satisfied his curiosity, and their eyes narrowed as did their posture, seeming to be angered by the memory._

_"It was a very bloody affair, a slaughterhouse, we barely survived the onslaught, trying to protect ourselves and Tommy, in the confusion the children broke free from our grasp and made good their escape."_

_They closed their eyes, seeming to reflect on the inner details of the event._

_"Fortunately for us, the leader of those creatures had the sense to call a truce, and we forged a deal, thankfully we had something to offer them."_

_"And that was?" Vincent asked, his mind was racing to piece everything into something that he could understand, but in his shock, he was struggling. _

_The figure now answered in a plain tone, and although their cold expression hadn't changed, there was a look of mischief in their eyes._

_"I'll answer that question another time, although what we gained from that deal should be very important with what we have planned for the machine, there is much to discuss."_

_"Although it wasn't easy getting the leader of those creatures to agree our terms." _

_"After that, the creatures merely departed, leaving us alive, but bloodied to say the least,"_

_The figure then turned away from Vincent, now looking at the quarter-built state of Soul Stealer, seeming to delve into their thoughts before speaking again._

_"Hopefully, at the same time. . ."_

_Without even looking back, they moved one of their hands onto the blueprints for the Ink Machine._

_"The deal that we struck with the deranged inhabitants of Joey Drew Studios, should enable us when combined with what we gained from those creatures to unlock the secrets of giving gifts, giving life."_

_The figure then turned to face Vincent once more, their expression of coldness and anger had completely vanished to be replaced with an outward expression of optimism._

_"The joy of creation and the illusion of living are just two sides of the same coin, but we shall make it work."_

_"I'm sure that I have just racked your mind with conceptions that you are struggling to grasp, but I will spare you any further mental torture."_

_The figure then slowly walked forward toward Soul Stealer, stopping before it and resting their hands on its frame, seeming to let their body relax, and once more dive into their inner thoughts._

_Yet Vincent had two more questions that wouldn't settle until they had been answered, so he asked._

_"This other world that those creatures came from, what do you know about it?"_

_The figure slowly turned to look back at Vincent._

_Their eyes expressed a sense of knowing and fear perhaps, although it was well hidden._

_"I had only visited it a few times, when I was trying to gain more knowledge about the children."_

_Their eyes hardened again, as if it was preparing to stress a point._

_"It was like this world, but completely reversed and very cold, the children referred to it as being upside down, in every sense of the word, apart from being literal of course."_

_Vincent could picture the figure's description in his mind's eye, a mirror world that was dark and cold. _ _He still had one more question, so he continued in his questioning to satisfy his curiosity. _

_"Where did those children come from, the girl in particular, you implied that they came from our world, where from exactly?" _

_The figure's eyes widened in response, looking both confused and amused._

_"I am surprised that you haven't heard about the rumours, given how local the place is."_

_Now Vincent just looked confused again, making the figure roll their eyes as they responded with._

_"The location's name might jog your memory. . .Hawkins Indiana."_

_And with that answer, Vincent's mind exploded, in his shock, he could only utter a single sentence in response._

_"The Hawkins Conspiracy. . ." _

* * *

_Present Day_

There was a sharp and loud knock on his bedroom door, awaking Vincent, and jolting him right out of his thoughts.

"Enter," he called out, raising his head, and trying not to sound impatient.

The door opened, and an endoskeleton appeared in the doorway, peering in with its grey eyes that surveyed the room, before finally focusing in on Vincent.

_"Master Vincent, when do we change course to the preassigned location of the airship in advance of tomorrow's 'festivities', tonight or tomorrow?"_ it asked in the usual plain tone that belonged to every endoskeleton in existence.

"Tonight, but have the ship fly super slow so to avoid detection, by tomorrow morning or midday we should be there," Vincent replied, trying to sound dictatorial to resist the lure of sleep.

_"Of course, that'll be relayed to the pilots immediately,"_ the endoskeleton stated in its dry tone, before taking its leave and closing the bedroom door shut.

Once more Vincent was left alone, as he often preferred.

He groaned as he rested his head in his hands, feeling a potential headache coming on. Even just recalling the memory of being told by the figure about the Nightmares' first attempt to get human vessels was mind numbing.

There were somethings that were beyond his capability to grasp, and he was fine with that.

Sometimes, somethings were just too much work to figure out.

Looking up, he reached out with one hand and lifted the music box's lid. The small figure rose up on its pedestal, and the soothing music began to play, as it had done before.

He watched, enthralled as the figure in the box spun and twirled on the spot like a dancer. An aching sadness filled his heart, as he became more engrossed with the music.

Memories that felt melancholy began to flicker to life in his mind's eye, as he reached out once more, and placed his hand on the dancing figure's head.

"Evelyn. . ." he began, speaking softly and low, feeling a lump grow in his throat.

"Please don't hate me, but I have to finish what I have started, and when I am done, there'll be no traces left behind."

"This nightmare will end. . .for all of us."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said, things will eventually come together, but this should not overload the story because everything has a purpose, be it for the narrative or for character development. However, I will stress that the focus will remain on Five Nights at Freddy's, that has always been my intention.  
Also, Soul Stealer was the machine as seen in Chapter 17 (Spirit Transformation), and then referred to again in Chapter 26 (A Hollow Victory). It took me some time to think of a proper name for it, and it does go well with its function. :-)
> 
> Thanks for reading and please review, your thoughts are more than welcome.


	41. Past Regerts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here is another chapter.
> 
> When I first uploaded this chapter, I had to do several rewrites to get around several writing issues, but I am pleased with the end result.
> 
> Warning, this chapter does contain implications about suicide.  
Finally, there is a song in this chapter as promised and it's 'Shadow of the Day' cover by Echos, I was inspired by the animation video by Jaze Cinema and GTApsycho, particularly the second half. I would recommend that you give it a watch.  
Apologies for any grammar mistakes.
> 
> Thank you to those who have left Kudos. :-)

**Past Regrets.**

**Chapter 41.**

_"**The others are under my protection. . ."**_

**The Puppet from Ultimate Custom Night**

Jeremy pressed the play button on his computer through his use of the mouse, starting the replay of Phone Guy's fourth recording from the first pizzeria in the 1990s.

Everyone knew what it entailed as it was the most memorable of all the tapes with Phone Guy's voice coming through the speakers.

"Hello, hello?"

"Hey! Hey, wow, day four. I knew you could do it."

"Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow."

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!

There were several loud bangs of something repeatedly hitting a door.

Foxy lowered his head in shame, closing his eyes as he felt his memories stir. Not that he could actually remember committing the event itself, but he certainly remembered the morning after.

"It's-It's been a bad night here for me."

The nervousness in Phone Guy's voice was clearly evident, he was well aware of what he was in for.

"Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you, when I did."

"Uh, hey, do me a favour."

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!

The sound of a possessed Foxy hitting the door only grew louder, as did his insistence to gain entry.

"Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room?"

He had heard the rumours and now when staring death in the face, he did concede what his fate would probably be.

"I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks."

How exactly?

And he wouldn't have been the first night guard to have tired in their desperation to stay alive.

"Maybe it won't be so bad."

His optimism was severely misplaced, given the internally workings of those prop suits.

"Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there."

Metal cross beams, voice boxes and internal wiring, all would cause immense agony to anyone unfortunate enough to be stuffed inside the suit's narrow confines.

Then came Freddy's signature jiggle, a light-hearted playful tune that would often foreshadow the end for many nightguards and this case would be no exception. Freddy closed his eyes; he could picture the scene perfectly. There he was, fully possessed by the vengeful ghost child that resided inside of him, staring at Phone Guy intensely through the window with a cold and murderous expression on his face, whilst his head twitched and jerked about in an odd fashion.

He felt shame, never-ending shame for his part in causing so many deaths. Even though you would rightfully point out that he wasn't in control of his own actions at the time, Freddy still felt that he was responsible.

Phone Guy kept on speaking, although he was into his last words.

"You know. . ."

Then there came a deep moan in the recording, it sounded demented in its tone and drawn out.

Unlike Freddy, Bonnie or Foxy, Chica remained steadfast in her facial expression, staring longingly at the recording as it was displayed on Jeremy's computer screen.

However, in her eyes, you could see her torment, her regret, knowing what she did.

Phone Guy had immediately noticed Chica's presence as she made her move, closing in fast for the kill.

"Oh, no. . ."

"AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!" a loud and aggressive scream was heard, causing many people in the room to jump in surprise, even though they expected it.

It was swiftly followed by loud static and then the recording abruptly ended. Phone Guy's death had been their last, but it had also been the bloodiest. Whether he was already dead by the time they stuffed them into those of suits was unknown, but as always in such cases they did not care.

Revenge was all that mattered in the children's' eyes.

Those recordings of Phone Guy's final moments were proof of that, as were so many others. Mike had been standing off to one side, leaning against the office wall as he watched the reactions of the Fazbears.

He could clearly see their pain and the guilt and regret in their eyes.

"Memories still fresh, for obvious reasons," he muttered under his breath. Although it was because of Phone Guy's advice and a lot of luck that he was able to survive beyond five nights.

He owed Phone Guy his life, but he could not repay him. Pushing himself off the wall, Mike decided to speak plainly, it would be painful, but they needed to move pass the memory and focus on the present day. Although he knew that it wouldn't be easy given what Bonnie had told him about never leaving the past behind mentally, but he had to push them over the mental barrier.

"So," he began.

"Compared to the former night guards, the ghost children only took control at night, whereas the night guards seemed to be in complete control of their new bodies as those are just machines."

"Yet the Nightmares seem to have full control over their bodies as well, even though those bodies would have their own souls before they took over."

"So, with the comparison established. . ."

He gazed at with an inquisitive expression.

"Why have the ghost children not assumed full possession of you lot?"

He had a strike up a conversation to get the ball moving, districting them from the emotional pain of their past brought on by Phone Guy's last recording.

Yet he soon got an answer from Puppet, nonetheless.

"I suppose it is to do with the fact that they aren't strong enough to maintain a solid hold over us during the day," she said, going for a logical answer.

Then her eyes quickly darted away as she muttered softly.

"Save for moments when emotions are running high and of course during the night."

"They are still children, so I guess that still counts for something when it comes to trying to possess someone," Freddy added, he didn't seem to be so sure of his answer, but he was probably on the right lines.

"I would call it a blessing that we were able to prevent any major incident involving possession during the daytime, but that pales in comparison to what happened at night."

Freddy sighed, allowing himself to rest against the office wall as he attempted to reorganise his thoughts. The newspaper and online articles that lined the entirety of Jeremy's office were all links to a troubled past that he and everyone had tired running from.

Yet it always dragged them back. . ._it always does._

Everywhere one looked it was like the past was screaming at them, begging to be revisited or relived.

Toy Freddy seemed to take a great deal of interest in one of them, leaning in to examine its contents.

The opening headline read as _'Freddy Fazbear's is closing'_.

Beneath it were the words, 'After _being open for a few months, Freddy's Fazbear's Pizzeria is closing its doors'. The new entertainers will be fired due to a serious neglect of their responabilites; however, the original entertainers are being kept in hope of a possible reorganisation of the company.'_

Followed by a short statement from the company's CEO _'It's a minor setback. We are confident that we will reopen someday, even if it is with a much smaller budget."_ – CEO Fazbear Ent.

Toy Freddy sighed, allowing his head to rest against the article.

Jeremy was right, Phone Guy's tapes held next to nothing of use, just serving as another reminder of their dark past that seemed to follow them wherever they went. As he closed his eyes, he could feel his mind drowning in the memories of 1987 as they swarmed him like a pack of ravenous vultures trying to feed off an animal carcass. Children cheering for him as he performed on stage alongside Toys Bonnie and Chica with the neon lights flashing and music blasting out of the surrounding speakers.

Then the sounds of screaming adults and children, with staff members trying to maintain order, but failing miserably. Then there was Mangle howling, as she was possessed by a murderous rage. Finally, he saw himself standing in the stage area amidst the aftermath of what had probably been the worst day of his life, as police and forensics crews combed the area. Within an hour, he had lost everything save for his own life, however he never expected anything odd from Fazbear Entertainment's contingency plans.

So, when they attempted to literally remove him and the other Toys from the picture entirely, to say that the rug had been pulled out from underneath his feet would be an understatement. Even now nearly thirty years onward Toy Freddy was still dumbfounded by how fast things had gone south.

He could see himself, standing in the main stage area, now being thoroughly examined by police and forensics with his mouth wide open in shock and his wide eyes expressing a deeply seated feeling of dread.

Yet in a particular moment, he had been staring at the face of another person.

_Mangle. . ._

Her yellow eyes expressed a thousand emotions and yet all could be linked back to regret, remorse, sadness, shock, and fear. She stood there in police custody before Toy Freddy, trembling from head to toe in the terrified anticipation that her life was now officially over and that there was no coming back from this heinous incident. Yet Vincent had framed her and only the proof that she had been injected with a chemical that caused her to be hyper aggressive, with the additional lack of strong evidence towards a viable motive for why she acted out saved her from the prison cells.

Although it didn't stop Mangle from mentally beating herself over the death of a staff member and allowing Vincent to get away with murder.

Soon she had grown to hate herself, almost as much as Puppet did, but perhaps nothing could match her own feelings of self-loathing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Toy Freddy could see Mangle closely examining a pinned-up newspaper article and judging by her sorrowful expression, it was probably the one concerning the death of the staff member she bit. Just like before, Vincent had lit a fire and walked away as it burned, becoming a wild inferno as he watched with satisfaction from a safe distance.

"Dammit all," Toy Freddy sighed, turning his hand into a fist that stuck the wall with a considerable thud.

"What the hell happen?"

He wanted to move on from this, he hated having to revisit the past, but it seems that every question he wanted answered led him back here.

And as much as he loathed it, he had no choice but to revisit.

"Jeremy," he called out, sounding wearier he would like to admit, but the ill effect of getting a six hour sleep was already taking its toll.

"Play the tapes from our pizzeria, all of them please," he ordered, trying to sound direct.

Jeremy didn't object to his request and proceeded to pull the audio records of the Toys Pizzeria, arranging them to start at the beginning.

Toy Freddy's eyes narrowed as the first recording began, in his peripheral vision he could see Toy Bonnie looking at him. She seemed to admire his determination; he could see her green eyes having lit up with praise.

Suddenly a memory flickered before his mind's eye.

_"How long will it take for you to notice me?"_

Toy Bonnie had said those words around thirty years ago. . .and she was still waiting.

Her feelings for him had never changed, even though he had ignored her advances repeatedly, being blind to the obvious.

She loved him, it was as clear as day and everyone else probably knew it as well.

But did he truly love her in the same way?

He certainly loved her in the same way that he loved Toy Chica, Mangle, Balloon Boy, Puppet and everyone else as a person does towards members of their family.

Yet how did he feel about actual love?

He knew how Freddy and Bonnie felt about each other, even though numerous crises had forced them to put those feelings to one side. Yet their love was deep, even if they did not express their feelings in a clear manner. They understood each other, having been together since the very beginning and it was from there that their feelings grew.

Right now, Toy Freddy didn't have a clear answer towards how he felt about Toy Bonnie, it was like he was seeing her in a brand new light. Yet he certainly remembered how he felt back at the factory when he held Toy Bonnie in his arms as she clung to him.

He felt a warmth surging throughout his chest in that moment.

In that singular moment of her embracing him did all the memories of her interactions with him connect like a jigsaw puzzle, falling into place to form a picture that broke through to him like a blot of lighting. He remembered that he needed to tell her something, give her an answer, but he needed time to work things out first, before he could have that conversation. There were many other things that were demanding his mind's attention and as always, the current situation held the most importance.

He had to push those other concerns to the back of his head and keep them there.

Hopefully, he could do some much needed soul searching before this was all over, but underlying his confusion was a sense of fear.

In truth he was afraid of upsetting her, of finding out that he didn't really love her, the same way she loved him.

It would be one sided as it had been since she first held feelings towards him.

He remembered the time when he had fallen on top of her in the storage room back at their pizzeria, with their faces so close together that they could kiss.

_"Toy Freddy. . .I. . .I. . .I need to-"_

She had wanted to tell him, to open her heart up and probably give him the most obvious example of her feelings towards him.

And even then, he had overlooked it by a massive margin, rarely bringing the incident up again.

That must have hurt her, all of those moments, or opportunities that was the perfect time for him to notice her feelings, and there were more probably more similar moments than he could remember.

He then remembered seeing her look sad, disappointed and dismal in the aftermath of many moments that they shared over the years.

_"How long will it take for you to notice me?"_

He had hurt her. . .

Without meaning to of course, but still he had hurt her feelings and here she was nearly thirty years on, smiling at him with both admiration and care.

She was still waiting, despite all the pain that she had endured in silence.

Toy Freddy felt horrible, almost disgusted with himself for being so inconsiderate, despite never meaning to do any harm.

_"How could I do that to her?"_ He mentally asked himself, feeling his inner disgust grow like a forest fire.

Of course, only he could answer back, but he didn't want to.

Not now though with everything else going on, but he knew that he would have to deal with this crisis of the heart soon enough.

He would give her the answer to that question she had asked so many years ago.

_"How long will it take for you to notice me?"_

Nearly thirty years as it turns out, that had to be a record keeper somewhere, not that Toy Freddy would ever want to hold that title.

"Ok, I got them all lined up, starting them now."

Jeremy's announcement tore Toy Freddy's attention away from his internal problems, bringing him back to the present.

Right now, the present is what mattered, so Toy Freddy would give it his undivided attention. . .for now.

Then Phone Guy's recordings began.

The first call had already been heard when they were playing that 'Five Nights At Freddy's' game and it didn't contain much other than explaining the new features of the pizzeria and how to manage the night shift. The second call focused on the Originals, revealing them to be kept in the backroom, although that was already common knowledge to every staff member.

Then came the third call.

"Hello hello! See? I told you that you wouldn't have any problems!"

"Did...uh... Did Foxy ever appear in the hallway? Probably not. I was just curious. Like I said, he was always my favourite."

That comment made Foxy smile, it was nice to know that even when he had been forced into retirement, he was still appreciated.

Pity that he had a hand in killing the guy. That memory suddenly turned all his joy into ash and the smile vanished from his face to be replaced with a look of regret that seemed to cause him emotional pain.

Then Phone Guy touched on a painful memory.

"They tried to remake Foxy, Foxy, ya know?"

"Uh, Toy Foxy, Foxy's replacement looked too scary in her original look, or perhaps off putting is a better word, didn't mean to overexaggerated there, so they gave her a new look to appear more kid-friendly and had her assigned to Kid's Cove."

"To keep the toddlers entertained with acts and stories, you know... But kids these days just can't keep their hands to themselves, plus there were accusations of the children bullying her."

Then Phone Guy sighed, forewarning those listening that the bad news would continue.

"The staff literally had to stitch Toy Foxy's clothes back together after every shift. So eventually they stopped trying and I am ashamed to admit it, they just left her to deal with it, with the children treating her as a 'take apart and put back together' attraction."

"Now she's just a mess in her outfit. I think the employees refer to her as just 'The Mangle', given her state, poor girl."

Mangle lowered her head, her face expressed only sorrow as the memories of her bullying at the hands of rowdy children were dragged back up. Phone Guy's recording ended with him dismissing the rumours surrounding the company, no doubt the rumours were related to the tragedies that had previously befallen the company. With him reporting that there had been no unusual activity on the premises from the day shift guard.

Jeremy watched with a blank expression as the recording switched over to the one for night four. He already knew of its contents and felt that this was something of a waste of everyone's time, given that nothing new was being discovered.

It was the same result with the tape for night five, going over information that was already known, centring around the lockdown continuing, moving the nightguard onto the dayshift and as well as trying to contact the original owner of Fredbear's Family Diner. The restaurant where Goldie and Springtrap had started out from before being sold to the emerging Fazbear Entertainment. However, the owner, Freddy Fredbear was not contacted and any enquiries that the company had involving him went unresolved.

Night 6, however had Phone Guy panicking, yet the context was different.

"Hello? Hello…uh…what on earth are you doing there, uh didn't you get the memo, uh, the place is closed down, uh, at least for a while."

Why would he be referring to the lockdown again, if he had made it clear that the Toys' Pizzeria was meant to be closed?

The fear in his voice was clear as he spoke.

"Someone used one of the suits! We had a spare in the back, a yellow one, someone used it…now none of them are acting right!"

The mere mention of a yellow suit resulted in mixed expressions from everyone, anger, sadness and pain. The yellow suit was the SpringBonnie animatronic from Fredbear and Friends that could be used as a suit, but back then the full details were not known. However, it was now clear that Vincent had played a pivotal role in creating this horrific mess.

"Listen j-just finish your shift, it's safer than trying to leave in the middle of the night."

Phone Guy was not talking about the Toys' Pizzeria, but instead he was referring to the Originals' Pizzeria and the first Missing Children's Incident. Somehow this tape had got mixed in with the others, even though it held no connection to them given its context. The rest of the tape concerned Phone Guy talking about how the current nightguard would be moved onto day shift for a birthday and not to stand too close the entertainers, whilst he took the night shift whenever the Pizzeria reopened.

That explained as to how he ended up in the role.

With the tapes from the Toys' Pizzeria finished, Jeremy without even being asked, started to play the additional tapes that he had, with these not being related to either pizzeria.

"Ok, these are the last ones, not that I expect much, but here we go," he remarked dispassionately.

However, in stark contrast to the other tapes they immediately struck gold as Phone Guy's voice echoed back through the computer's speakers.

"In relation to any rumours you heard about the company's future projects, well they are true, the directors' board are intending to create animatronic entertainers in order to ensure a sustainable base with lower costs and less risks compared to having to use human performers."

"The blueprints for at least three projects are being laid down right now, with the aim to establish them sometime in the near future."

"Therefore, all employees should-"

"Wait, stop the tape laddie!" Foxy yelled, stepping forward until he was standing right over Jeremy with his hand outstretched as if he was reaching for the pause button itself.

Jeremy immediately compelled, stopping the tape in mid speech.

"Animatronic performers, low costs and less risks," Foxy mumbled to himself, trying to tie two threads together.

Instantly Foxy turned in Balloon Boy's direction, staring intently at the boy.

"Does this sound familiar to you?" He asked, and the boy instantly nodded before saying with confidence.

"Well the part regarding animatronics yes, definitely, everything else I guess is true, but there were many animatronics, some even looked like the Toys, particularly the Rockstar animatronics."

"So, it is indeed true that they were aiming to build animatronics and replace us," Bonnie said, in a dismissive, but annoyed tone which matched her demeanour from earlier.

"And obviously Vincent has the blueprints and the Nightmares can recreate anything they like in the dreamworld, so that's put two and two together rather nicely," Chica remarked, turning to lean against the wall as the feeling of tiredness crept over her.

"And there are dozens of them, including the former night guards and the Nightmares themselves, and yet we are actually considering taking them up on their offer of a _'meeting'_!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up in dismay.

"They threatened to take action against us if we don't turn up, so we are in a tight spot, plus we might be able to surprise them if they don't expect us to actually appear," Toy Chica remarked smoothly, although she sounded concerned.

"If this is all a bluff that is."

Her words earned her a weary reply from Chica.

"Things are getting crazier by the day it seems and your sense of optimism hasn't been damaged," she mumbled, allowing her mind to drift aimlessly as she tried to ward off sleep.

"How I envy you. . ."

"However, with regards to a non-related issue," Balloon Boy began.

"I do wonder what has happened to Rachel, she hasn't reappeared since going silent when the Nightmares _'saved' _me from the night guards?" he enquired, sounding quite concerned for the girl's welfare.

"I am worried as to what impact my near-death experience might have had on her."

He instantly felt the comfort of Puppet's hand on his shoulder.

"Knowing what the children get up to, Rachel is either dominant, or currently in the spiritual realm, but we won't know until she decides to make herself known."

Her voice was plain, but there was a sense of irritation in it.

"Our conversations with them have always been one sided since the beginning, they contact us when they want to, whilst we get no say in the matter."

"But she is still around though and that what is matters," Toy Chica remarked in a reassuring tone.

"We are their anchors; they will always return to us, so we just have to go with the assumption that she is occupied somehow."

"However, they always seem to be successful in making themselves known whenever the opportunity for revenge appeared," Mike muttered in a serious tone, recalling his memories of his time as a nightguard and the near death experience that he had been forced to endure.

"They were addicted to the desire for revenge," Mangle explained, earning a response from Mike.

"They still are, they may seem to be innocent now regarding a twenty year period of inactivity, but if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, they will kill you regardless," he said, with his gaze having harden to match his serious tone.

"They've learnt to trust again to some extent," Toy Freddy added.

"At least they can tell you and Jeremy apart from Vincent."

"And how many hurdles does one have to jump to get to that level of trust?" Mike enquired, turning to face him, although he already knew the answer, referring to his own experience.

"I'll keep playing the remaining tapes, I think we're onto something now!" Jeremy excitedly exclaimed, reengaging everyone's attention as he switched over to the next one.

"As always, if there is ever an emergency, please go to the designated safe room. All locations are filled with one extra room. This is hidden to customers and entertainers, and it is always off camera," Phone Guy explained, his voice booming through the computer's speakers.

"Safe room, wait. . .stop the tape!" Goldie ordered and Jeremy did so.

Goldie then turned to look at both Freddy and Chica, he simply said two words.

"Nightmare Freddy."

Their shared experiences of the man instantly brought back raw memories and visibly they looked haunted.

Freddy spoke first, he could roughly guess what Goldie was referring to.

"I knew that he had been hiding in the pizzeria, I remember seeing the place in his memories when our minds briefly connected during my first encounter. I saw him in a small decayed room that was dimly lit, it must have been the safe room for our pizzeria as it looked fairly isolated from the rest of the building."

"I had no idea, I never got the chance to look into his memories, not that I would ever want to," Chica muttered, sounding repulsed by the idea of what lay inside the Nightmare's mind. Then Mike spoke up, sounding rather surpised.

"I never knew about there being a safe room during my time there, but obviously I wasn't informed, and you guys certainly didn't know."

As did Jeremy, although he sounded more used to the idea.

"I did hear some rumours about there being a safe room at the Toys' Pizzeria when I worked there, but it was just rumours at the time, I don't know if it was ever used though."

"The next tape must follow up on this," he said, now sounding convinced that they went onto something significant.

The succeeding tape played as followed.

"Un, hello, hello, hello, I am informing all employees that in the light of the tragic events in 1983 and the sudden disappearance of the SpringBonnie suit from storage, restrictions are now being implemented regarding the previously mentioned safe rooms. These rooms are now being sealed at all remaining locations, including this one. Work crews will arrive to construct a false wall over the old door. Do not mention this development or even the existence of the safe rooms to anyone, company's orders."

"That explains why we never stumbled across it, we were not informed of its existence and it was covered up convincingly well," Bonnie remarked smoothly, although her purplish reddish eyes displayed a sense of irritation.

"Then how did Vincent get access to them, if Nightmare Freddy was placed inside a room that was supposedly sealed?" Toy Bonnie asked, her tone sounded both curious and suspicious.

"Well, he certainly didn't break in, we would have known that," Toy Freddy remarked, earning him Toy Bonnie's attention as he continued to make his point.

"He must have had a means to unlock them, like a key perhaps, but if Nightmare Freddy was in one pizzeria, then where were Nightmares Bonnie, Chica and Foxy kept?"

He had a suspicion, but he hoped that he was wrong.

It was then that Toy Chica spoke.

"The recording said that the safe rooms in all locations were being sealed, but referred to the events of 1983 in past tense, so this recording could be taking place around the time our pizzeria was open," she said, sounding almost fearful about the idea.

"And there weren't any other locations open at the time, so that just leaves one and this is Vincent, he wouldn't miss the opportunity to use our Pizzeria as a means to advance his agenda."

"The question is when would he have done this lassie?" Foxy asked, feeling as though they were on the verge of discovering something significant.

"How far back does his connection with these monsters go?"

Goldie provided an answer, speaking with clarify and a strong sense of conviction.

"Deep, Nightmare Fredbear directly told me that their links to Vincent go back quite far, with that in mind I would reckon that Vincent and the Nightmares have been working together at least since the 1980s."

"So, technically that would mean Nightmare Freddy was housed inside our home whilst we lived out the darkest years of our lives?" Chica muttered, connecting the dots despite her weary state.

Goldie turned in her direction, looking quite serious in his expression as he nodded before replying.

"Yes, it does, but he was probably in a form of habitation or deep sleep, but the fact that Vincent has gone so far to bring them into play hints at a more terrifying realisation. Remember when Vincent suddenly turned up at our pizzeria one day in 1994, I think, and he confessed to us that he was one who murdered the children?"

"Yes, he just turned up out of nowhere and he told us everything, but he wouldn't say why he did it," Freddy replied, sounding rather annoyed at the memory.

"He deliberately avoided giving us an answer, he toyed with us."

Goldie nodded, before developing his point.

"He wanted us to know that it was him who had caused us so much grief, that he was responsible for engineering those horrific life destroying events, but he wouldn't explain his motive."

"Putting everything together, it is obvious that he has been implementing a long term plan against us, be it directly or indirectly."

Goldie then sighed, putting his hand to his head.

"We should have recognised this sooner, why else would he suddenly come back?"

"I truly thought that he was gone from our lives, we never got a reason for his actions, but he did leave us alone," Freddy stated, sounding disappointed, probably in himself for being so naïve.

"Yet he was never going to leave us alone, he intended on coming back," Toy Freddy remarked, sounding annoyed before quietly muttering.

"He always comes back. . ."

"He was merely waiting. . .for us to make a move and somehow he knew when we were going to leave the pizzeria, why else would he arrive when he did," Bonnie said, firmly seizing the moment to finish Goldie's point, she could see it clearly.

Her reddish purplish eyes narrowed, and her face harden, making her expression look cold.

"Having worked against us for such a long period, three decades at least, no one would devote so much effort like Vincent has done. . .unless it is personal."

"It has to be personal, why else would he been trying so hard to undermine us," Puppet muttered, scowling at the thought of the man.

"How I wish I could beat the answers out of him, but we can't, however the Nightmares have given us an opportunity to gain answers for them," Freddy said, sounding ambitious for once.

"This is risky make no mistake, but if played well we could gain vital answers to the questions that have dogged us our entire lives."

Mangle, however, did not share Freddy's optimism on the matter.

"We are risking our own lives if we go and meet them in the dreamworld like they want us to, they can recreate whatever or whoever they like whether they've seen it in real life or in our memories," she stated fervently.

She had folded her arms with her white ghost like hair having fallen over her eyes, but her tone set her expression.

_Fear. . ._

"We'll die, like BB told us, they need to kill us to set themselves free, we will effectively be giving ourselves to them, it is obviously a trap."

Then Freddy interjected.

"Actually, that shouldn't be the case, not with lucid dreaming," he said cautiously, gaining everyone's attention.

"You did say that you were going to tell us about this plan of yours," Goldie remarked smoothly.

"Now would be the time."

Freddy gave him a small smile of reasurement, before speaking as he stepped forward.

"Lucid dreaming is when the dreamer is aware that they are dreaming and can to some extent control the environment around them, they can shape the dream."

"Most recognise that they are dreaming whilst they are sleeping and a few can deliberately train themselves to lucid dream, although it is not easy."

Freddy's blue eyes lit up, indicating his interest as he spoke humorously.

"And before anyone asks, I mostly got the idea from Nightmare Freddy and the way he interacted with my dream, I suppose I should thank him for it, ironically of course."

"The rest was from the descriptions of other peoples' encounters with the Nightmares."

Then his tone became serious.

"This is risky, but if we are able to gain control over our own dreams then we can prevent them from using their favourite tactic of bringing to life anything from either our memories or their own. None of us are have heard about 'Happy Frog', 'Pig Patch', or 'Rockstar Foxy', 'Music Man' and 'Lefty', but the Nightmares saw their blueprints and used their abilities to make them real."

Freddy then sighed and his confidence seemed to fade.

"A lot of this is based on theory and yes Mangle, you are right we would be simply walking into a trap, but we could play into their confidence and then use our newly gained abilities to turn the tables and remove any extra support they create and outnumber them in a battle of wills so to say."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news Freddy, but the dead night guards are not creations of the Nightmares, but actual spirits, they are real. So how exactly would we handle them if they cannot be removed?" Toy Bonnie asked, sounding somewhat downcast.

"I agree, I suppose you can't mentally wish them out of existence, what are the rules of Lucid dreaming exactly?" Mike enquired, looking confused.

Freddy turned to face him, his facial expression was now blank, but his eyes displayed a serious nature.

"Honestly, I don't know for sure, but if our collective experiences are any indications, then once mastered we can create anything with enough willpower to sustain it," he replied firmly.

"Although I don't know how I was actually able to connect my mind to that of Nightmare Freddy's, my memory becomes blurry at that point, but perhaps it could be a means to drag the information out of them if the method is understood better."

He then turned in Toy Bonne's direction.

"Regarding the former night guards, if we cannot prevent them from turning up then we can at least immobilise or hinder them for a while, whilst we keep our focus on pinning down the Nightmares."

He then smiled confidently.

"Trust me, they won't be expecting it, their trap will instead become ours, our playground to put it '_nicely'_," he said, going dark in his tone at the end, hinting at his inner desire for revenge.

"Yet, this idea of yours is very much dependent on us mastering the ability of Lucid dreaming and then being able to hold our own against those who are probably masters of this sort of thing," Bonnie stated firmly.

She then lowered her head as if in disappointment, before speaking softly.

"The risks Freddy, the Nightmares might want us to come along, but that doesn't mean that they will let us leave."

"I can testify to that, it is within their nature to be deceitful, they will double cross us come what may," Chica added confidently, folding her arms.

"Needless to say, I want to turn the tables on them, surprise them for a change," she muttered coldly, with her eyes narrowing, showcasing her darken mood.

"You have my support Freddy."

Freddy smiled at her words, turning to face the others before speaking.

"With Goldie being able to enter dreams, he can keep an eye on us as we try to master this ability, it is probably best to train two at a time."

"With all of us being capable of controlling our dreams the Nightmares will be outnumbered and we can dictate the terms."

"And then what happens?" Puppet asked calmly, her white dots for eyes shone vibrantly with interest.

"Because if we succeed in this endeavour and capture the Nightmares, then we have the choice of either letting them go or killing them after we got the answers we want."

Then her eyes darken, as did her gaze and her tone became noticeably cold in its delivery.

"Personally, I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to give them a _taste'_ 'of their own medicine before finishing them off."

Bonnie spoke and her tone was just as cold, if not icier.

"A quick death would be too merciful in my eyes, given the hell they've put us through."

"I agree to that motion lassie," Foxy added, his yellow brownish eyes burned with a deep inner desire for vengeance.

"Even if they can come back in a new human host, Vincent probably won't be able to bring them back so quickly giving us a window of opportunity to deal with him personally," Toy Bonnie remarked, sounding very delighted by the prospect.

"Speaking of which, how do we handle Vincent?" Mike enquired, still leaning against the wall.

"I doubt that he will be standing idly by whilst the Nightmares do their thing."

"Very true Mike, Vincent should be our main priority and I don't like not knowing his intentions," Puppet muttered, spurring everyone else to ponder the man's whereabouts.

"He will have something up his sleeve, he always does, and we'll have to react to it when it does arrive, I don't doubt that the Nightmares and Vincent are coordinating their movements," Toy Freddy said assuredly.

"So, we have something of a plan then?" Jeremy asked, turning to look in Freddy's direction whom he seemed to be pleased with having faced no objections to his idea despite the risks involved.

There were several nods of approval, cementing that this was now the way forward.

Seeing this, Freddy immediately moved to take control of the situation.

"We can start soon, the earlier the better, even though we are all somewhat sleep deprived," he stated firmly.

"Actually," Jeremy muttered, running his hand through his hair.

"We have another issue to decide upon."

He then immediately turned to face Goldie, whose attention had been caught by the surrounding articles. However, the nature of Jeremy's next words swiftly gained Goldie's attention.

"We need to burry Springtrap soon, otherwise he'll. . .start to decompose, unless we were to put him in a freeze."

"As I said previously Goldie, you get the right to decide on how he should be buried."

Goldie seemed to hesitate at first, but he soon gave his answer.

"As stated previously it would have to be a proper burial, I know he would have liked to maintain a physical presence instead of being cremated."

He then looked away towards the wall, on the other side which lay the lounge where Springtrap's body was being kept.

"For the sake of having limited time on our hands, we should burry him soon, nothing fancy, but it must be respectful for what he has done for us and me especially."

Immediately, there were several nods of agreement from the others, it was only right that they gave Springtrap the respect he served for having pulled them through a dangerous period at the cost of his own life.

"We'll give him full honours, even though it'll have to be in my backyard," Jeremy muttered, leaning back in his chair.

"It'll do Jeremy," Goldie replied, sound pleased but weary.

"Above all things SpringBonnie would have wanted to be close to us and when we recover what we've lost then we'll take him with us to our proper home."

He was of course referring to the pizzeria in the hope that they could return it to its glory days.

"We'll all pitch it, we'll give him a proper send-off worthy of his name laddie," Foxy stated, raising his hook arm as a sign of respect.

"And in the end, he is still here with us in many ways," he said softly, earning many nods of approval from the others.

"So, we burry Springtrap and then proceed with Freddy's lucid dreaming idea?" Mike remarked smoothly, finally pushing himself off the wall and stretching his muscles.

Looking across the room, everyone seemed to have given their consent one way or the other.

"The question is now do we try to catch up on some sleep?" Chica asked, feeling the urge to yawn.

"I think that we can try without incident, even though the Nightmares are deceitful, it would be odd for them to set a time and then to attack us anywhere, plus if they wanted to become free by killing us then they would have done it already," Bonnie remarked, although the thought of it being so easy for the Nightmares for to kill them sent a shiver down everyone spine.

"I agree with Bonnie, the Nightmares would have chosen three pm for a reason and despite their nature, I would be surpised if they were to ignore it and just attack us anyway the moment we fall asleep," Toy Freddy stated, sounding firm in his conviction.

"If we are to sleep then it should be where one sleeps and another one watches for an hour before switching over," Toy Bonnie said, stretching her muscles after having stood stationary for so long.

"Just in case they actually do come back."

As before they were many nods and mutterings of agreement.

"Ok, the time is roughly 7amish now, so if we want to do this sleeping schedule now, to get it out of the way with and then everything else can be sorted out," Jeremy remarked, whilst fighting off the lure of sleep.

He needed to deal with a few things first before he could enjoy the luxury of sweet slumber, even if were only to be for an hour at most.

"So, what happens with the tapes?" Balloon Boy asked, turning to face Jeremy, as some people started to file out of the office.

"Hopefully, they'll never be heard again when this is all over, in fact I'll properly delete them the moment they become irrelevant, but I'll do that with the agreement of everyone else."

He then held his hands out, gesturing to the various articles and pictures that lined the surrounding walls.

"Including this lot, as long as it all holds some importance to our situation it'll stay, although I certainly won't miss it," he said, sounding relived by the prospect of clearing the room out.

Balloon Boy smiled, for he was entertained by the prospect of getting rid of all trace to the past, even if it was a faint dream at the moment given their circumstances.

Jeremy smiled in return, although he seemed to be weary, staring at a screen for so long and being tired was not good for the eyes.

"By the way Jeremy, thank you for the hot chocolate, sorry that I allowed it to become cold," Balloon Boy muttered, feeling embarrassed by the fact, but Jeremy waved it off, it was trivial.

"Just use the microwave to reheat it BB, you clearly had a lot to say at the time, it doesn't matter."

His response resulted in a smile from Balloon Boy, who then turned and headed towards the kitchen. Slowly, Jeremy was left to his own devices as one by one, everyone steadily left the room with Jeremy turning back to face the computer screen.

Instantly he began to close down all the windows.

"Rest in peace Phone Guy, I sincerely hope that you are at peace wherever you are, unlike our dear co-workers," he muttered, more than low enough to avoid anyone from hearing him.

He paused to sigh, before continuing.

"I fear we will have to go through a lot more pain before this nightmare ends."

In that moment he thought of Springtrap, seeing him in his mind's eye lying on his lounge floor.

He had sacrificed everything to get Goldie back and even with Goldie's abilities at hand, the odds were still stacked against them. Yet to lose Goldie again and everyone else in addition would only serve to make Springtrap's death all the more tragic. Jeremy mentally frowned as he stared at the screen, but his attention was now elsewhere.

"Even if we do win, it will come with a heavy price, I wonder if Vincent has anything to lose. . .save for his life of course," he muttered bitterly.

Then a dark thought entered his mind, but he quickly dismissed it, instantly hating its content.

"No, that is not how I would like things to end, but since when did I have the chance to dictate fate."

And with that dismissal Jeremy threw himself into his work, although the dark thought continued to echo in the depths of his subconscious.

* * *

Mangle could feel her entire body trembling as she seated herself into the chair at Jeremy's kitchen table.

By now everyone else had gone off to do their own thing, besides taking turns between sleep and guard duty.

She could feel her memories stirring from the deep depths of her subconsciousness, begging to be relived and Phone Guy's tapes had brought them all back.

The sounds, the sights and the feel of those moments had been rekindled in realistic detail and her mental dam was crumbling.

She could feel her head throb and the mental strain to hold them all back was now being physically expressed as Mangle tighten her fists and gritted her teeth as the pressure continued to build to heights that she could not stand against.

The past was calling to her, luring her back and in the end, she could no longer resist its pull, slipping into its embrace.

* * *

_November 1987 Hurricane Utah _

_Today was nothing special, but for Mangle it was an off day. In other words, the other Toys had the burden of the performance schedule, so she could just rest, whilst the entertaining of hordes of children were someone else's priority._

_It was the little things in life that made it worth living sometimes._

_Her dreams were mashed together, intermixing and making no sense, but she didn't care as she slept peacefully in one of the corners of Kid's Cove. _ _However, that peace was about to be shattered in what was perhaps the bloodiest of outcomes._

_She could feel herself stirring, slowly waking up, but instead of feeling relaxed, she felt restless, irritated and annoyed. _ _Immediately she frowned in anger, feeling immense discomfort and wanting to 'leap into action' so to put it. __She rose off the tile floor, activating her endoskeleton belt that unleashed her endoskeleton arms, being two long metallic arms that reached for the ceiling. _ _Her annoyance and rage only grew with time as she jumped up, with her endoskeleton arms gripping the ceiling and pulling her upwards until she was literally hanging from it._

_Mangle breathed in and out in quick and frenzied bursts, as her eyes twitched with her pupils going wide like she was intently focused on something. _ _The sounds of children cheering outside had earned her undivided attention as she turned towards the open doorway. _ _Her yellow eyes narrowed as she gritted her teeth, the children, those bullies!_

_How they tore at her dress, insulted her and kept on kicking her down repeatedly. _ _She just felt this raging fire of injustice and vindication burning within, there were no conquences for their actions, but she had to live with it every day._

_It was time for a change, she needed it. . .no, she wanted it._

_Instantly she moved forward, using her endoskeleton arms for mobility as she crawled across the ceiling and out into the main stage area. __Suddenly she was hit by loud sounds and bright lights, with the sounds of cheering, shouting and singing. __The other Toys were on stage singing 'Happy Birthday' for one of the children, with a big purple 'Happy Birthday' Banner in green writing hanging over the stage. _ _There were crowds of children, all cheering and jumping up and down amidst the celebrations. . .the whole room looked like a light show. _

_Mangle could only feel annoyance and anger at the display, where was her celebrations, the children didn't give her the same respect as they did to Toys Freddy, Bonnie and Chica. _ _Her eyes narrowed even further as she hung from the ceiling like a predator waiting in the grass for the moment to make a move. __Her rage, her hatred and her desire for some form of justice were unquenchable until it had found some form of expression that could bring closure._

_Yet. . .somewhere in the back of her mind, she was asking herself why she was thinking and acting in such vulgar terms. _

_What was she doing, why did she feel so enraged right now?_

_These questions were swiped away with the tidal wave of anger that was becoming senseless with each passing second._

_Or at least it felt like that._

_"Mangle. . ."_

_Suddenly, Mangle looked down to see Puppet in her Music Box staring up at her, looking quite confused as to why Mangle was hanging from for the ceiling._

_"What are you doing, isn't today your rest day?" Puppet asked curiously._

_However, she got no reply from Mangle, as she immediately turned her attention back to the horde of children who were eating up the Toys' performance. _

_She then moved forward, crawling along the ceiling, ignoring Puppet's cries for her to answer and instead eyed the children. _ _They deserved to suffer for the pain that they had put her through, giving no appreciation towards the effort that she put into her acts. _

_Well. . .it is time to change that._

_"Hey look it's Mangle!"_

_"Wow, it's Mangle, I didn't know she could do that!"_

_Suddenly a choir of voices arose as the children began to notice Mangle and were immediately enthralled by her hanging from the ceiling with her endoskeleton arms._

_"She looks so cool like that."_

_"Can she do tricks?"_

_Yet Mangle didn't hear anything, only her own internal desire to recreate the torment that she had endured at their hands._

_So many potential targets. . ._

_However, no sooner had she relished the thought, that small voice in the back of her head echoed its disgust._

_"Why are you doing this?"_

_"This is not you!"_

_"Snap out of it!"_

_But Mangle paid little attention to her own moral objections as she gazed down at the horde of children. She gritted her teeth together in anticipation of what she intended to do as her eyes were now a fiery yellow widen in excitement. _ _There. . .one child in particular, a girl with blonde hair who had torn at her clothes about a week ago._

_She would do just nicely._

_Again, the small voice in the back of her mind raised its head at why she felt the urgent overriding need to do this, but Mangle rejected it, positioning herself for the right moment. _ _It was then that she was noticed by the other Toys, who were surpised to see her up and about, although they masked it well, acting as if it were an intended part of their performance._

_"Well, hello here Mangle, you have finally joined us at last," Toy Freddy stated with delight, extending his hand out to Mangle, welcoming her into the group._

_"Wow, I never knew that she could preform that trick!" Toy Bonnie exclaimed, acting amazed and surprised, even though she knew that Mangle used her endoskeleton arms for such a purpose._

_"Come on Mangle, preform some acrobatic tricks for us, I would like to see what you can do up there!" Toy Chica cheered, jumping up and down in her excitement. M_ _angle heard them, in her state of her mind she could hear everything, the bright flashing neo stage lights, the loud blaring playful music and screams and cheers of the children. _

_And yet it sounded so far away, distant, washing over her with no impact present in her facial expression as all of her focus was on the girl, the bully. _ _Instead of joining the other Toys on stage, she hoisted herself into a downright position, looking as though she was indeed about to preform for the crowd which only caused them to cheer even louder. _ _However, in reality she was preparing to drop down upon the children._

_The girl in blonde hair was the one she wanted, focusing in her like a needle in a haystack, spying her out among the horde of jeering children who were ravenous for a performance. _ _Mangle's yellow eyes harden into two burning pupils of sheer hatred as she whispered to herself._

_"The show is about to begin. . ."_

_Steadily, she made her endoskeleton arms loosen their grip on the ceiling as she lined up her angle of attack, slowly swinging back and forth and building up speed. _ _No one seemed to know what was about to happen and worked perfectly for her._

_Yet that small irritating voice in the back of her mind refused to be silenced._

_"Why do you feel the need to do this?"_

_"Why. . ."_

_"Something is wrong, this is not you."_

_Yet she shook those thoughts off, sharply answering back with._

_"No, they need to feel what they put me through."_

_Then her endoskeleton arms let go and she dived forward like an arrow._

_She fell fast and her shadow grew dark over the children as their eyes collectively widen in first shock and then fear. _ _In those few seconds they saw Mangle in a new light, a fallen angel with a hate filled expression and all four arms outstretched like a monster desiring to grab them. __The Toys had only just realised what was about to happen, with their expressions rapidly shifting from confusion, surprise and then a horror filled realisation, their hearts were in their mouths. _

_Everything had slowed down and in those few seconds Mangle could see the fear in the children's' eyes. Their realisation that things were about to go very wrong, but to Mangle it was only fair game and she was too lost in the emotional overload of impending satisfaction to care about the serious consequences of her actions._ _It didn't matter in the end and this could be her happiest day, for it certainly made her smile._

_A sinister smile, but a smile, nonetheless._

_The girl with blonde hair whom she had targeted looked as pale faced as the other children, with Mangle closing in on her specifically. Mangle's smile only grew as the feeling of revenge became evermore overpowering and she mentally commented._

_"You will remember this 'performance' for a very long time. . ."_

_It later turned out to be self-fulfilling, as it was devastating. _

* * *

Mangle lowered her head, closed her eyes tight and hugged herself, trying to stop the memory from playing any further, but a significant part of her didn't want to.

She wanted to suffer.

In the end she didn't get the child, but a staff member who had leapt in between them and she paid a horrific price. Yet Mangle had to endure an even worse price, feeling guilt, regret, remorse, despair and self-loathing for every waking moment. She could never forget what she did and what she allowed to happen as a result of her actions.

The Second Missing Children's Incident. . .

It was because of her, the Toys lost nearly everything, and it was because of her that they became reviled by the public. Everyone saw what happened that fateful day and no matter how much the other Fazbears insisted that it was not her fault given Vincent's actions, she didn't want to accept that.

She couldn't accept it because she wanted to hate herself. . .it was her fault and the blood was on her hands.

Now that the night guards had returned in the form of their metallic death traps with help from the Nightmares, there existed the frightening prospect that '_Helen'_ could easily make a return as well, possibly in a horrific form. The possibility now existed and the anxiety it caused wouldn't leave her. The sound of chair legs scrapping across the floor released her from her trip down memory lane, she turned in its direction.

It was Puppet, slowly pulling a chair up alongside her.

At first Mangle thought it was odd, but when she saw the girl's face she immediately understood as to why she was here. Sadness and pain were clearly present in Puppet's facial expression, especially in her eyes and her lip seemed to be trembling.

"I know what is on your mind Mangle," she said, her tone was soft, but also emotional.

"Phone Guy's tapes brought it all back for me too, as did all the articles I felt like I was being judged with the past staring back at me."

Mangle didn't say anything, giving Puppet the opportunity to continue.

She sighed, closing her eyes briefly before reopening them.

"I tried to do the right thing, but it only made our situation worse and I could have tried harder to stop him."

She paused before continuing, obviously trying to keep herself composed.

"I blame myself for causing the pain, I allowed you and the others to become vulnerable and then I made you into a monster, or a puppet for a vengeful spirit."

"The night guards have every right to feel enraged, they are the true innocents in many ways."

She paused and lowered her head; she was trembling ever so slightly.

"I could have tried to find actual evidence to back up my claims, I could have confronted Vincent more openly, I should have been more proactive and I didn't, and now things have gotten worsen, I dragged everyone into my mess because I didn't try my hardest."

"I am responsible for your pain Mangle, he did the act, but I allowed him to get as far as he did until it was too late."

Puppet's voice was soft and low, evident that she trying to keep her emotions in check, whilst reviving her failures in great detail. "It was only when I saw him in the SpringBonnie suit luring five more children away that I acted and even with Freddy's help I still failed."

"In my haste to find a solution I made things lot worse by giving the lost souls a new home inside of you lot, without your consent, but I wanted to alleviate their suffering."

"Yet, I actually created an even bigger problem, giving vengeful spirits a means to act out, and I turned to silence, which underlined my guilt, until I confessed, but that only served to highlight my mistakes."

Mangle sensed that there was an underlying message to Puppet's words.

_"Don't hate yourself, hate me instead, you are in pain because of me."_

Whether this need to be blamed originated from her desire to take the pain away from others or because Puppet wanted to hate herself was unclear. Knowing her though, and the way she viewed herself it could very well be both.

"You want me to hate you, I don't think that I can hate you anymore than I did back when you told us the whole truth," Mangle muttered.

She then looked away, staring at the kitchen window through which the faint glow of the rising sun on the horizon could be seen.

"You want me to hate you because you feel that you deserve it, like I do. All we see is our mistakes because the consequences are still being felt today."

"And your mistakes only came about because my failings," Puppet remarked, sounding very sullen.

"I see the fallout every day and it just reminds me of my mistakes, Phone Guy's tapes brought it all back in horrific detail that I cannot suppress them anymore."

Then her tone dropped, becoming so quiet that Mangle struggled to hear her despite being seated next to her.

"I watched you descend into despair, wretched with the guilt of causing that poor woman's death."

Mangle slowly turned to look back at Puppet, the girl was shaking all over and her eyes displayed a strong expression of regret.

"You cried, screamed at yourself for committing such an horrific act, you hated yourself, the bright aura that you expressed when you first arrived was gone and I knew that it was me who had helped to cause that trauma."

Although her tone was low, she sounded sorrowful, steadily becoming intangible as she continued to speak, evident that she was becoming quite emotional. "I turned you into a murderer, in effect I used you Mangle, even though I was far out of my depth in what I was trying to achieve."

"I want to take on the burden of your guilt, everyone's guilt in fact so I can free you from your pain, all the agony falls on me, what I put you and the others through Mangle was my fault, as well as Vincent's."

Her tone become more emotional as she spoke, and Mangle could see tears building up in her tears.

"We both inflicted the pain, so we might as well be the ones to remove it, if I were to die then the only thing I desire is to take Vincent down with me, I would break the cycle."

"I would do that if it allowed me to fix my mistakes."

Mangle felt shock at Puppet's words, her eyes widen.

"Puppet. . ." she began softly.

"I don't want you to die, none of us do, I thought that we all wanted to see this nightmare through to the end, together."

Her tone also become emotional as she spoke.

"We forgave you for what you had done, we understand why you did it, you were only trying to do the right thing."

Puppet turned to look at her as she continued, the girl's expression was sorrowful, but also determined.

"You don't have to hate yourself to such a degree that you think killing yourself in the act will fix these problems."

"It is my fault, I made those choices that allowed the children to have the means to pursue their vengeance, I have to fix it!" Puppet shot back, now she looked aggressive, her eyes had narrowed, causing her expression to harden.

"I couldn't save you then, so let me save you now."

However, she seemed to realise that she had raised her voice and looked away, probably feeling shame for having got so aggressive. Yet she asked in a low tone, having seemingly lost her aggressive edge.

"Did you ever hate yourself so much for what happened to Helen that you were tempted by the idea to kill yourself as a means to end the pain?"

"Or that the weight of your failures meant that you were unworthy to live?"

Her eyes flickered back to Mangle's, examining her reaction.

"I did, as you already know, you are stronger than me on that front Mangle."

"Actually. . .I did entertain the thought, shortly after we had been smuggled to the Originals' Pizzeria," Mangle replied, sounding downcast and expressing a look of shame.

"I felt that I was largely responsible for making us lose our home, for forcing us to go on the run and seeing the other Toys look so crushed by the reality that I have unintentionally created, I felt nothing but unending despair and hatred for myself, I wanted to die, to end the pain and to let them know that I was sorry for making them suffer."

She paused to fight back the emotions that were building as the memories of those dark days in the 1990s flickered to life before her mind's eye. "What stopped you from carrying it out?" Puppet asked, she sounded genuinely curious and concerned.

Mangle sighed, letting out her inner stress.

"I knew that deep down they didn't blame me for my mistakes and during my darker moments, I could always reach out to them to make me feel better even if it was brief," she replied firmly, feeling composed in that moment.

"You could say that I was in a better mental state compared to you, but we were both a psychological mess, although I would have never dragged anyone else into my self-loathing, if I ever did take the _'plunge'_. . .to put it nicely," Mangle muttered, successfully soothing her emotions and keeping the trauma under mental lock and key.

"I would. . ."

Puppet's voice was so low that Mangle swore that she misheard.

"You what?" she asked.

Puppet looked stoic in the face and her eyes were now unreadable as she spoke.

"In the light of the ever increasing body count of the children's murder victims, the rotted state of our living conditions and the fading hope of ever finding Vincent Afton in order to free the children's souls, I could clearly see what I had created."

"Their demented laughter, their murderous rage and their rampant bloodlust, the children had turned into monsters consumed by vengeance and we had no choice in the matter but to be their unwilling vessels, knowing that any real world consequences for their actions would fall on us."

Puppet's voice was now cold and direct as she spoke.

"Things were getting worse by the day and we were all suffering to no end."

"Everything had become a grinding routine, we had lost the ability to be happy as we turned away from the rest of the world, nothing changed."

"Then when it was announced that the pizzeria would eventually be closing its doors with Fazbear Entertainment going under, any lingering hope that our circumstances might change for the better died."

Mangle just stared at Puppet, with the former looking more and more shocked, as the latter continued to speak in a detached tone.

"I had entertained the idea at first in the aftermath of having told you and others the truth as to how things ended up this way, as well as a few other moments and then again when we were informed that the pizzeria would soon close."

Puppet then turned to face Mangle, her expression was hard, but stoic and her detached tone remained the same.

"Finally, to top it all off, there was our paranoid over an investigation being launched into the missing night guards, they would find something no matter how hard we hid the evidence and the end result was obvious to anyone who knew the truth."

Then she unveiled what her _'idea'_ was.

"I would have barricaded the pizzeria inside and out, locked us all in and then set fire to the building."

"We would all die an agonising death, but it would be brief, the pain would stop, and the suffering would finally come to an end."

Mangle's eyes only widen further as Puppet's tone steadily became emotional.

"I would save us from the repercussions of society, our name would no longer be dragged through the mud anymore."

"The entire pizzeria would have been turned into a hellish maze, expect there would be no exit, no escape."

She had started to tremble.

"The children would hopefully be forced to move on, and we would finally know peace, the horror that I helped to create would finally die."

She exhaled, sounding rather shaky.

"I know that Vincent would still be alive, but he wouldn't be our concern anymore."

"I would have freed you Mangle, you would no longer have to feel any guilt or regret, just peace."

"And if I couldn't do it. . ."

Puppet then looked away, feeling immense shame for her former intentions.

"Then I sincerely hoped that Vincent would come back and finish us all off in the same way, thus freeing the children's souls as well as freeing our own."

She then rested her head on the table, allowing herself to rest, having unburdened her soul.

"I was prepared to do anything, even if it meant death. . .to break the cycle."

Mangle said nothing, but continued to stare longingly at Puppet, the reality of what she said was still impacting her. Meanwhile Puppet found herself mentally drifting into her fantasies, into what she hoped against hope could have happened back in those dark days to end the nightmare.

* * *

(Begin song here)

_We see Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria and the surrounding community at night._

_The building is dark inside with its gloomy hallways filled with rubbish._

_Dim light from malfunctioning monitors flicker in and out of focus._

_The faint sound of childish laughter and buzzing static fill the stale night air._

**"I close both locks below the window."**

_Everything is a reminder to an infamous past._

**  
** **"I close both blinds and turn away."**

_The outside world doesn't exist in here._

**  
** **"Sometimes solutions aren't so simple."**

_There is no way out._

**  
** **"Sometimes goodbye's the only way. . ."**

_We see Freddy possessed, looking through a fuzzy monitor screen in the office._

**  
** **"And the sun will set for you."**

_We see the other Fazbears, also possessed appearing on other screens._

**  
** **"The sun will set for you."**

_We then see a prop suit in one of the back rooms._

**  
** **"And the shadow of the day."**

_It is covered in blood and gore._

_  
_ **"Will embrace the world in grey."**

_Its face is a fixed expression of agony._

**  
** **"And the sun will set for you. . ."**

**  
** _It suddenly jerks forward, shifting about uncontrollably._

_Its face plates slowly open as it twitches in pain.  
_

_We see Puppet possessed, roaming the desolate dining area._

**  
** **"In cards and flowers on your window."**

_She gazes around curiously. _

**  
** **"Your friends all plead for you to stay."**

_She runs her hand over a faded 'welcome' poster._

**  
** **"Sometimes beginnings aren't so simple."**

_A single tear falls from her eyes at the sadness of it all._

**  
** **"Sometimes goodbye's the only way. . ."**

_We see the possessed Fazbears, twitching throughout the decaying building._

**  
** **"And the sun will set for you."**

_Their demented groans and moans fill the air._

**  
** **"The sun will set for you."**

_Then Puppet hears a noise behind her, she smells gas._

**  
** **"And the shadow of the day."**

_She slowly turns round._

**  
** **"Will embrace the world in grey."**

_She sees Vincent Afton standing behind her, holding a lighter._

**  
** **"And the sun will set for you. . ."** **  
** _He smiles at her, dropping the lighter and suddenly the room erupts into an inferno._

_The ravenous flames rapidly spread throughout the pizzeria._

_The Fazbears wail in pain as they are consumed by the intense heat._

_Puppet screams, collapsing to the floor as she and Vincent are devoured by the flames._

_The ghost children slowly rise out of the dying Fazbears towards heaven, as their vessels are destroyed by the fire._

**"And the sun will set for you."**

_Everything goes up in flames, the screams die out._

**  
** **"The sun will set for you."**

_No one is spared._

**  
** **"And the shadow of the day."**

_The building begins to collapse._

**  
** **"Will embrace the world in grey."**

_The Pizzeria burns as everyone meets their end._

**  
** **"And the sun will set for you."**

_We see the Pizzeria's iconic sign crumbling under the flames._

**  
** **"And the shadow of the day."**

_The entire building is lost to the fire._

**  
** **"Will embrace the world in grey."**

_The nightmare ends here._

**  
** **"And the sun will set for you. . ."**

_Slowly the camera pulls back to reveal the pizzeria completely ablaze, with smoke and open flames rising towards the clear night sky._

_As the final notes play out, we see the pizzeria slowly disappear into the distance, becoming a bright dot of light. _

_This is it._

_This is how your story ends._

_Or rather how it should end._

_End communications. . . _

(Song ends).

* * *

Puppet felt a hand touch her shoulder; she knew it to be Mangle.

"Death is not the answer," she said in a soft tone.

"I felt what you did back then and to some degree, I still do, but I remember saying to Nightmare Freddy once that all we have left is eachother, but we dream on wining back what we lost, he could kill me, but my dream is immortal."

Mangle's tone was warm and sincere as she spoke, although it was something that Puppet would normally associate with Toy Bonnie or Toy Chica. "Despite your claims of failure and hating yourself, you are a strong person Puppet, properly the strongest person I know given what you endured."

Then Mangle paused, before asking.

"Why didn't you carry your plan?"

Puppet didn't reply, propping Mangle to ask her again.

"Why did you not burn the pizzeria down with us inside, you said that you seriously considered the idea multiple times?"

Still nothing.

"What was more powerful than your own self-hatred back then?"

There was silence. . .then. . .two words.

"Vincent Afton."

Then Puppet moved her head, so that her eyes were visible, and they seemed to be alive with anger.

"My hatred for that man turned out to be stronger than my own hatred for myself."

"Every time I considered it, I felt that I would be letting that bastard win and I would have given up in finding a way to reverse all of his carnage."

She then rose upright, as the anger in their eyes died down. "That is what held me back from stepping over the edge and I am extremely glad that I didn't, because even though we are going through dark times right now, we're still together."

Mangle nodded and smiled.

"Yes, and if we have been through hell already," she began.

"Then why would it be any different this time," Puppet finished, her eyes glowed with the realisation of that fact.

Suddenly, she reached out and hugged Mangle, who wasn't expecting the action, but she appreciated it all the same.

"Thank you, it was nice to have this talk," Puppet whispered, burying her head into Mangle's neck.

"We both are messed up," Mangle replied, hugging her back.

"But we can be put back together one way or the other."

Then Puppet felt Mangle sigh.

"I know that I will properly have to face my mistakes soon, in the flesh," she muttered, and Puppet could feel a shiver go up Mangle's spine.

She immediately knew who Mangle was referring to.

_Helen. . ._

"I know, but someday everyone has to face their demons, internal or external," Puppet said calmly, although she did fear seeing the former nightguards in the flesh, given the way Balloon Boy had described their appearance.

"But you won't be alone when confronting it though," she remarked, earning a small chuckle from Mangle.

"True, I like to think that our hardships have made us closer. . .or at least I hope that's true."

She was clearly joking at the last part and Puppet smiled, suddenly feeling rather sleepy, her lack of sleep had finally caught up, as her eyes lids started to feel heavy.

"I think whatever happens next, we'll stick together," she muttered, resting her weary head on Mangle's shoulder as her desire for sleep became overpowering. Yet she was able to utter one last thing before she finally fell asleep, feeling happy at the thought.

"In the end, we're still one big happy family. . ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if any of you are finding the chapter sizes to be too big, although I try to make them compact and have a sense of closure.  
Other than that, thank you for reading and please review :-)


	42. Nightmarish Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, here's another chapter.  
The song in this chapter is 'Alive' by Aviators, I intend to use the song again, although it is fast in its chorus, yet it has a haunting theme to it and though this chapter isn't outright scary, there are a few horror moments.  
Apologies for any grammar mistakes and thank you to those who have left Kudos, it is greatly appreciated. :-)

** Chapter 42. **

** Nightmarish Memories. **

"_**I am given flesh, to be your tormentor."**_

**Nightmare Freddy from Ultimate Custom Night.**

The sun had slowly been rising over the clouds, heralding the start of a new day.

The airship had already reached its preassigned destination, being low in the sky as it loomed over the woods below. Thankfully, it could be obscured by the clouds, although the area's isolation provided natural cover from any onlookers.

Watching the sun rise from the use of Vincent's seat in the airship's cockpit, Nightmare Bonnie found herself pondering on what she would do with her life once she was freed from the bonds that tied her soul to Thomas, aka Tommy.

_"What would a monster want out of life, despite the need to satisfy its primeval desires?"_ she mentally asked herself, as the sun rose above the clouds.

_"I want to live, but do I merely want the safety of being free and not being tied to others, instead of desiring to use that freedom for some greater purpose?"_

Unable to find answer, she sighed in frustration and slumped further back in the chair, with her purple bluish hair brushing against her shoulders and arms. Breaking free from Tommy had always been their main aim once they discovered the reality of their existence, which they immensely hated.

Yet, they weren't prepared to risk their own safety by rushing things in order to break free as desperate as they were to make it happen. Even though there was the ever present danger that something would happen to Tommy and force him to move on before they succeeded, thereby ending their existence in a heartbeat.

They tried to physically get out of the house, but it wouldn't let them leave, but each failed attempt brought to them closer to something of a breakthrough. Eventually, they discovered a possible escape route through the possession of mortal vessels to act as an anchor to the physical plane and enable them to gain a better understanding of the exact circumstances of their lifelines to Thomas.

Yet they needed a way to create the link and a means for someone else on the other side to purposefully make such circumstances possible.

That's where Vincent Afton came in.

With him and their help, through complicated and demonic science they achieved the near impossible.

_"I suppose this adult body is much more to my liking, having to possess the body of a child to get around have had its difficulties,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered bitterly to herself as she flexed her neck muscles.

Taking her eyes off the ever increasing glare of the sun, she gazed down at her hands, although claws would be a better description for them.

They were sharp and pointy and although they weren't skeletal, they definitely belonged to that of a monster. Just looking at them made her delve deeper into the possibility of what sort of life she could live after this wretched saga was over.

She remembered when she and the others had looked in the mirror back in the house in Limbo.

_"Am I just a dark reflection of Bonnie?"_ she mentally asked, for the question had never actually left her.

_"And if Bonnie does indeed die, then what I am?"_ She asked aloud, staring at her claw like hand.

Her entire identity had been based around being Bonnie's opposite and even then, at the basic level she was just the twisted interpretation of one of the masked bullies who had _'accidentally'_ killed Tommy.

In truth, she never knew whether she wanted to have that as her main identity, or if she wanted to be someone different.

She didn't know, because she was too busy focused on the here and now.

For all her desire to break her chains and gain freedom, she hadn't given much thought as to where she would stand in the end.

She flexed her fingers, watching as they moved back and forth. Yes, she was definitely in control of her body. Like Vincent had told them yesterday, there was no chance of the former occupants ever coming back and regaining control of their former bodies.

They made dead sure of that, but it didn't hurt to be reassured of the fact. Yet seeing how Goldie through sheer willpower was able to hold on despite being possessed by Nightmare Fredbear, only to then come back and decisively force the Nightmare out and regain complete control of his own body had unnerved her. Especially if she were to find herself in a similar situation at a bad moment.

The Fazbears may complain and rightfully so that things had been tough for them in the past, but it was a similar story for the Nightmares as well. They had fought long and hard to get where they are, and they nearly lost everything in two separate occasions.

Something flickered in her mind's eye, it was brief, but clear.

Laughter, a laughter that sounded both mocking and sinister, with the owner of the voice taking immense delight in whatever was going on.

She remembered feeling weak, pained even as something terrible was happening. Instantly, she felt more memories arise from the depths of her subconscious, but she repressed them, preventing herself from having to relive them.

She felt her heart skip a beat, the fear that she had felt in that moment returned to her.

_"No, that was long ago!"_ she hissed, trying to contain her mental panic.

Even though she wasn't actually aware of what was happening at the time, as the incident was taking place whilst she had been in hibernation, the implications still scared her even now.

A shiver ran down her spine, she felt her body go weak, with her knees buckling on their own accord. Yes, there were _things _that even she was afraid of, despite being a monster herself.

She was a Nightmare for Christ sake; the very name alone created an image of terror in most people's minds.

However, even she held fears of her own, and some clearly remained.

Yet, she was able to keep her panic under control and the fear steadily faded away, with the moment leaving her mind. That event could never happen again, they wouldn't let it, not after how close they had all come to death.

Her bluish purple eyes flickered upwards, now staring at the warm bright glow of the morning sun as it shone through the cockpit's windows.

An awful lot had happened within the last twelve hours, but Nightmare Bonnie knew that in the end the effort should pay off. It was her recommendation that they should go for Balloon Boy, given that he would be easier to direct and keep an eye on as their little game went on.

It was never in their intentions for BB to die, and if things ever threatened to go that way then they would personally intervene. Luckily, to their own amazement, BB survived long enough against the possessed prop suits to win their little game, even though they needed to intervene at the very end before the former nightguards could carry out their revenge.

Although they were never going to let him walk free without a firm _'talking to'_ first, just to make sure that he got the message.

She believed that he had delivered the message by now and she easily picture the Fazbears' reaction to the news. It made her smile inside, almost giddy in fact, but she strongly resisted the lure to laugh at the thought. She wanted to focus on more serious matters, not entertain herself with the ideas of how much stress this must be causing for her enemies. Although it still delighted her, but now things were getting serious.

The game was beginning to tip towards its end point, yet it still had a long way to go before reaching it and that's if they were able to maintain its course.

The ending had to be perfect as it was precise.

_"The last thing we want to do is mess our path to freedom at the last moment, we'll only get one chance to kill the Fazbears and it has to go right,"_ she mentally muttered to herself, almost as if she was trying to reassure herself on the chances of things going badly.

That one chance was why they had been _'lenient'_ with the Fazbears during their interactions, they never intended to kill them. Well, excluding those times when their bloodlust was acting up and got the better of them, like when they threaten to drop the Toys down a chasm, forgetting whether their deaths right there would affect the intended outcome in some way.

Nightmare Bonnie returned her gaze towards her hands, watching as she flexed her fingers back and forth with curiosity.

Every part of his body was hers, matching her original form back in Limbo.

The bluish purple hair, the sharp claws for hands, the tattered bunny ears that stuck out of the top of her head and wobbled whenever she walked. Every bone in this body was hers; the rib cage that shielded her heart, the bones in her ears that she used for her hearing, the teeth that were jagged and sharp and her beating heart that sounded like a drum beneath her breasts, keeping her alive.

Then finally, there were her eyes, those two vibrant bluish purple pupils that some might call beautiful and enchanting if her Nightmarish features were ignored. Slowly, she clenched her claw into a fist as an irritating reminder surfaced in her mind, it made her eyes narrow in annoyance at the thought.

This body was not hers; she hadn't been born with it, but rather took possession of it for her own desires.

She could only just recall the young woman who was the original owner of this body. In the possession process, Nightmare Bonnie had crushed her soul and held down as if she was spiritually strangling it to death.

Given that it had happened years ago, there was no chance of her ever remerging to fight Nightmare Bonnie for her body.

No. . .time had sure of that possibility being mute.

_"Still,"_ she mentally began.

_"The prospect still worries me to some extent, especially given what happened to Nightmare Fredbear."_

She would admit to herself that she was scared of the thought.

_"Although the woman I took this body from did not put up a strong resistance,"_ she uttered aloud.

_"Still, I can recall my earliest memories, even though everything blends together."_

She had the time, so why not tried to take a little trip down memory lane. Slowly she closed her eyes and tuned out the humming sound of the airship's turbines. Her mind began to drift backwards through her memories, events and feelings raced past her mind's eyes as she drew herself closer to those early days.

* * *

She remembered her birth, a moment of complete unawareness, just childish insults echoing back and forth between each other in the dark in a never ending loop.

"Your weak."

"Pathetic."

Hurling abuse constantly against the same battered soul that had been forced to undertake so much of it in their waking live.

"Your weak."

"Pathetic."

Forever and ever, offering no comfort to the victim, just being an endless barrage of verbal abuse.

Until the tone changed, briefly going deep, and distorting the words.

"Your _w_eak."

"Path_e_tic."

Before resetting to its usual harsh childish tone.

"Your weak."

"Pathetic."

Only to again become distorted briefly.

"Your _w_eak."

"Path_e_tic."

The tone glitched, the childish tone flickered to sounding deranged and more adult, even demonic on some level.

"Your _we_ak."

"Path_et_ic."

And it stayed, growing in strength as it grew louder.

"Your _we_ak."

"Path_et_ic."

The voice became harsher in its tone, cutting even deeper than before, like a knife being plunged deep into human skin.

"Your _wea_k."

"Path_eti_c."

The childish tone was starting to change, slowly morphing into something else.

Something more horrible and twisted as the words continued to glitch.

"Your _wea_k."

"Path_eti_c."

The tone's cruel intentions remained the same, but its delivery become more and more unsettling as it went on.

"Your _wea_k."

"Path_eti_c."

Then a new change occurred.

"Your _weak_."

"Path_etic_."

The childish tone now started to sound more. . .feminine, as well as hysterical and sadistic.

The sweet delight of taking pleasure from a victim was becoming empowering as the words continued to change.

"You_r weak."_

"Pat_heti_c."

Sadism was the dominant tone, followed by gloating and addiction to causing untold misery.

The feminine voice continued to grow louder, as its love for misery and pain became ever stronger, further amplifying the laugh as it echoed throughout the dark recesses of the boy's traumatised mind.

"You_r weak."_

"Pat_heti_c."

As the feminine voice continued to grow in its mockery and cruelty, something began to take shape behind it. As the worst aspects of the bully were morphed into the ideal owner of the new female voice, as the traumatised mind went into creative overdrive.

The boy's fears and its interpretation of his bully were poured into the new entity, giving it a singular purpose, to terrify and harm him specifically as was its nature.

Soon a physical form was created as the boy's fears turned into reality, being clearly laid out in the entity's appearance.

"Y_our weak."_

"P_atheti_c."

What had been hands were now terrifying claws and ordinary teeth had become razor sharp and jagged. The hair was now a glossy blueish purple, with the body having a female appearance even though the original owner of the voice had been male.

Now it only spoke with a distinctive female voice, the childish taunting of the boy had been crushed and replaced with an even darker and crueller version of whom the boy feared.

"_Your weak."_

"_Patheti_c."

The face was a mirror image of Bonnie, reflecting back the worst traits of the face mask that the bully wore, giving the nightmarish horror life as she opened her eyes.

Two bluish purple pupils burned in the darkness like they were a lit flame, expressing her hunger for torture and drive for bone crushing agony. It was all she knew, being nothing more than a mindless predator that lurked in the dark and haunted its prey's footsteps. The entirety of her early days were nothing more than a deadly game of hide and seek as she sought out Tommy and yet, he succeeded in keeping her and her nightmare companions at bay for six whole nights.

Nightmare Bonnie's next memory involved her peering round the corner of the left hallway, glaring at a slightly open door from which a dim light could be seen. She wanted to get inside and jumpscare Tommy, before ripping him to shreds. However, gaining entry had unexpectedly proven to be difficult.

Small footsteps sounded from the room, evident of Tommy moving around and blocking off the other Nightmares as they attempted to sneak in. Nightmare Foxy was in particular was very keen to break out from his hiding place. Judging by the sound's distance, Tommy was on the far side, trying to ward off Nightmare Chica.

Nightmare Bonnie smiled in the sweet anticipation of blood, feeling the urge to race forward and burst in.

Now was her chance!

She moved quickly across the blue carpet, crouching as she did, despite trying to avoid making a sound that would alert the boy to her approach. She neared the open door, feeling her desire for blood grow with the possibility of it being shed in reach. Her bluish purple eyes shone brightly, being in tune with her inner aggressive mood.

Then suddenly Tommy appeared in the small space between the door and the doorway, gazing back at her with blue eyes that expressed surprise.

Yet she didn't give him the chance to react.

Suddenly she reached forward, gripping the door with one hand to keep it open, whilst using her other to grab Tommy's hand, the one that held the torch and pulled him towards her in a sharp tug.

_"AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"_ She screamed violently, howling as she tightened her grip on his hand, so tight that her claws cut into Tommy's skin, making it bleed red.

He screamed likewise, but in sheer fear, with his expressing pure horror at the sight of her, with her eyes showing a rather vile and animalistic enjoyment in the agony that she was causing. In his desperation to break free as he pulled back in a frantic fashion, he drove her claws deeper into his arm, making the wound bleed even more and causing him no end of pain.

Nightmare Bonnie forced herself through the winding door, pushing it fully open as she did. With Tommy being forced to give ground, as he desperately tried to keep the door close, but he was unable to resist the Nightmare's strength as she stepped into the room.

Now that she was inside, she instantly strengthened her grip on his hand, digging her claws in deeper and forcing him to cry in pain.

It was more than enough to make him drop the torch, which was her main goal, it fell to the carpet with a heavy thud. No doubt the sound would catch the attention of the other Nightmares, if their collective screams hadn't already.

Soon, there would be heavy thuds of Nightmare Chica barrelling down the right hallway; the growling of Nightmare Foxy and the creaking of the closet doors as he emerged from the shadows, and then groaning of the bed being lifted upwards and hissing sounds of Nightmare Freddy's 'Freddies' as he crawled out of its dark confines.

Without the torch Tommy had nothing, and Nightmare Bonnie sharply gripped his other hand, digging her claws into his skin for the sole benefit of seeing him wince in pain. She let out a low growl, being incapable of speech like the other Nightmares; whilst she he stared at him with eyes that were narrowed and yet alit with powerful emotions that revealed the ruthless hunger for fear and pain that resided in the heart of her soul.

Tommy was completely terrified as he trembled from head to toe, his face was one complete horror and his eyes expressed a deep seated panic as he stared Nightmare Bonnie down, although there seemed to be little that he could do to change his impending fate.

Suddenly Nightmare Bonnie screamed again and with a swift kick from her feet, she knocked his legs out from under him, making him fall to the floor with her on top, still clutching his hands and pinning him down.

_"AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH_!" she shrieked, with her hair falling over her eyes, yet that didn't dim the brightness of her eyes or hide the aggressive gaze that she was giving him.

In fact, it only made her look even more demented as she lunged forward, trying to bite him with her sharp teeth. Yet in his desperation to defend himself, he was somehow able to free one of his hands from her iron like grip and manoeuvre it between his face and her teeth, as the latter proceeded to bite down on his arm.

Nightmare Bonnie savagely ripped into his arm, her teeth penetrating as far as the muscle, with blood spurting out and running down his skin like many streams. Tommy screamed in both pain and fear at the mere sight of what was happening to his arm. No matter how hard he kicked away at her, it did nothing to stop her attacks, let alone dislodge her.

Tasting his blood made her eyes widen with a sense of adrenaline, fuelling her acts with an animalistic brutality as she kept up her attacks. Tommy meanwhile in his desperation was trying to reach out to grab anything of use with his immobilised arm as it was still pinned by Nightmare Bonnie.

With her other claw, she reached down and grasped Tommy by the neck, slowly squeezing into the boy's airways as she choked him.

Seeing him gasping and struggle brought a smile of satisfaction to her face as in the end it was what she wanted above all else.

To see him suffer, it was what brought her pleasure as it had the Bonnie mask wearing bully who had preceded her.

Victory was hers. . .or so it seemed.

Somehow, probably by sheer luck, the torch that Tommy had dropped was close enough for him to reach out and grab, despite having his hand held down by Nightmare Bonnie.

WHACK!

There was a loud and heavy smack against her arm as torch sharply impacted her arm. Instantly immense pain exploded into being, with Nightmare Bonnie screaming out in agony as her arm throbbed.

WHACK!

Another heavy hit, being just as painful as the last, with this one being strong enough to loosen the Nightmare's hold on Tommy's arm, allowing him to wrench it completely free.

Now with his arm fully free and using all of his might, he quickly smacked the torch against the side of Nightmare Bonnie's face.

CRACK!

Metal collided with flesh and bone, with there being a significant cracking sound, signifying the breaking of Nightmare Bonnie's lower jaw. You could see the pain in her eyes, as both pupils widen in response to the immediate flare of agony that erupted from her mouth.

Her painful cries were evident, as she released her grip on Tommy's arm and throat, pulling her arms back and clenching her mouth. The sudden explosion of pain made her shriek like a banshee, with her jaw hanging loosely.

The agony was too overwhelming for her to focus on Tommy anymore as the pain from her jaw throbbed. In the lull that was created, Tommy pushed himself upright and whilst she was distracted by the pain, shone torch's light right into her eyes. The fierce blaze of light made her bluish and purple eyes shine vibrantly despite causing her immense agony as the light overload her senses, further adding to the pain she felt.

She fell backwards in her confusion, as Tommy staggered to his feet, forcing himself to stand. His arm was bleeding heavily with visible bite marks that peppered his skin. His throat was red, evident of where Nightmare Bonnie had grasped him in her attempt to choke him. He clenched the torch tightly in his hand as he brought it up, shining the light into her eyes for a second time.

The sheer brightness was too much for Nightmare Bonnie to handle as she backed away through the open doorway, still holding her jaw as it hung loosely from her mouth.

She shrieked like a wounded animal, yet her eyes burned with a tremendous rage, expressing her furry. In the end, she unleashed it, swiping forward with one of her claws, it was strong enough to impact Tommy's chest, ripping through his shirt and leaving several bloody marks on his skin.

Yet he didn't go down like she expected, but instead he remained standing, although the pain he was feeling was evident on his face as he breathed heavily.

Suddenly he stepped forward and swiftly raised the torch to Nightmare Bonnie's face, shoving the light right into her eyes. The intense brightness completely overloaded her senses, bringing agony to her eyes as her vision went completely white. She screamed again, falling and stumbling backwards as she impacted into the wall behind her, causing nearby pictures to fall from their holdings. She continued to shriek and scream in protest of the agony from both her lower jaw and her eyes.

Tommy stood in the open doorway, staring at her with a confused expression, he didn't seem to be reacting to his wounds anymore, even though blood continued to drip from his chest and arm. Yet he was still breathing heavily, seeming to be exhausted by the effort.

Nightmare Bonnie did nothing, but continue to scream amidst her agony, as she clawed at her own skin to relive the immense pain she was feeling, as her vision was now blurry with everything around her morphing into eachother.

Yet Tommy keep the torch on her, making she growl and snarl at him, showing her enraged face and baring her sharp teeth.

However, something was different. . .

Tommy was still holding the torch, but he now was clutching his head with his other hand, he seemed to be in distress.

Yet Nightmare Bonnie didn't move to take advantage of the situation, she was too immobilised by the pain that her eyes and lower jaw were still giving her.

However, she could make out that Tommy wasn't all too right with the way he was holding his head, like he was experiencing some greater inner pain. Then he turned to look at Nightmare Bonnie and despite her poor vision, she could see the source of his pain. His eyes, they were flickering back and forth between red and blue in a manner that seemed to be extremely painful for him, as his facial expression changed from being confused to looking agonised with him gritting his teeth.

He was hurting, that much she could see.

Then he quickly moved backwards through the doorway, and in one swift motion he slammed the door shut on the Nightmare. Immediately darkness returned, snuffing out the light in a heartbeat, with Nightmare Bonnie left alone in the shadows.

Her broken lower jaw throbbed painfully, causing her to hiss and gasp as she breathed, but her eyes were starting to readjust, even though the bright light from the torch had left her seeing odds colourful shapes in her vision. Steadily, she collapsed onto her side, with heavy breathing, as exhaustion swept over her like a wave, dragging her underneath into its sweet embrace.

Her heighten senses slowly relaxed, she needed to focus on healing, the hunt was over for her at least. She could hear the soft footsteps of Tommy on the other side of the door as he moved around to deal with the other Nightmares in his usual routine of quickly monitoring their movements.

Consumed by the aching of her eyes and lower jaw, Nightmare Bonnie just lay there on the floor like a wounded animal. The surrounding darkness was a welcoming comfort to her, she felt safe in it. Then she could hear approaching footsteps from down the hallway, getting closer and closer. Although shadows did not exist in the darkness, as there was no light, she felt a presence fall upon her, like something was looming over her.

In response her eyes darted about, until they fell upon the cause of that feeling.

Something was indeed towering over her, or rather someone.

It was Nightmare Fredbear, evident by his bright scarlet red eyes that burned out of the surrounding darkness, illuminating his face.

He stared down at her with a look that she could not recognise, but it was not aggressive or menacing in the slightest. Yet his eyes bore in hers with an intense stare, why, was he searching for something?

He didn't seem to be confused as to how she had ended up in her current state, but still he didn't lessen his gaze.

Then he emitted a soft growl, but there was no aggression or anger in it, just something that she couldn't understand.

She didn't know it back then, but he was actually sighing in disappointment.

_"How pitiful. . ."_ he muttered, in a low broad tone and yet none of it registered with Nightmare Bonnie as she now stared back at him, looking confused.

_"You are not a hunter,"_ he said, in a tone that would best be described as dismissive, if Nightmare Bonnie understood such a thing.

He stepped closer, evident by the sound of his feet moving.

_"Did you see his eyes change, anything that seemed odd?"_ he asked smoothly.

Nightmare Bonnie couldn't speak, but she had a limited understanding of words and her eyes widen in recollection of seeing Tommy's eyes shifting between blue and red. Nightmare Fredbear recognised the look of familiarity in her eyes and took that to mean yes. The intensity of his stare died down as he spoke.

_"So, you saw it too, as have I, it didn't seem right,"_ his tone was smooth, but not domineering.

_"Something is wrong, out of place, do you understand?"_ he asked.

Nightmare Bonnie hesitated, before slowly nodding in confirmation.

Nightmare Fredbear's scarlet red eyes narrowed as he spoke again in a direct tone.

_"Do you want to catch him?" _

Again, Nightmare Bonnie nodded slowly, she understood the concept of 'catch', as it was similar to hunting.

Then Nightmare Fredbear smiled, expressing delight, an emotion that Nightmare Bonnie could understand. He reached down and firmly grabbed her by the arm. He then started to drag the Nightmare across the carpet, pulling her down the hallway and further into the darkness. She growled at the feeling of being pulled, but made no attempt to resist, as she felt too exhausted to try, as Nightmare Fredbear spoke in a low and direct tone.

_"Your wounds will heal, I will put you back together, after all. . ." _

Nightmare Fredbear turned back to her as he walked, again his scarlet red eyes burned in the dark as he smiled confidently, before saying.

_"Tomorrow is just another day."_

* * *

Nightmare Bonnie sighed as she slumped forward, resting her head in her hands.

Those had been simple days, but even then, in her pre sentience state she could see that something was wrong with him. Yet she was was like the code in a computer program, unable to operate independently, but instead just following its set path.

Nightmare Fredbear was the very first of their kind to become self-aware, and slowly gain the ability of speech, hence his limited use of words. Eventually she and others followed suit, steadily becoming aware of their own existence and much more. It was the start of them separating themselves from Tommy, ceasing to be soulless recreations of his bullies and instead actual people.

It was a luxury at first. . .before it turned sour.

She was her own person, but not in spirit, her existence, her soul was still tied to Tommy due to him being her creator and whatever fate befell him would fatally affect her.

She was simply incomplete.

In truth she didn't know what exactly would happen should he ever move on, but either she would simply fade away or be dragged screaming into the depths of hell.

No. . .that wouldn't happen so easily and it hasn't happened during the last forty years, so why start worrying now.

Tommy couldn't do it by himself; he was too divided on the issue to bring about some form of closure. What Nightmare Bonnie soon learned to fear was the possibility that someone else might force an outcome where Tommy could move on and bring about an unexpected end to all of them.

That was her deepest fear and for as long as the possibility existed of someone enabling Tommy to move on before she could successfully break away, then her fear was justified.

Hence why it was important for everything to go right. The Fazbears' deaths had to be perfect in order to bring about their freedom.

Once the chains were removed, then the sweet allure of life beckoned and they could really start to live.

_"We can do what we were created to do. . .and be complete,"_ she mentally mused, feeling hopeful at the prospect of gaining her freedom. Then suddenly Nightmare Bonnie felt a presence looming over her and then a pair of claws fell over her eyes, completely blocking out her vision.

_"Guess who?"_ said a male voice, sounding quite amused, along with the sound of multiple footsteps approaching.

Nightmare Bonnie sighed; she wasn't in a playful mood right now.

_"Nightmare Freddy, what a surprise,"_ she annoyingly groaned.

Instantly she reached up with her claws, grabbed hold of Nightmare Freddy's claws and pulled them off her, rising from her chair as she did.

_"Ha, she isn't in the mood laddie, never tease her unless you wish get on her bad side,"_ Nightmare Foxy exclaimed humorously, raising his hook hand and standing off to one side.

_"Although it is amusing to watch if you are not the victim,"_ Nightmare Chica remarked, equally humoured, walking in as she was the last one to enter the cockpit.

_"If you are seeking to amuse me, then I am not in the mood for any of your antics,"_ Nightmare Bonnie stated firmly and her frown expressed her displeasure, but Nightmare Freddy was not so easily deferred. He smiled, his dark red eyes expressing enjoyment at Nightmare Bonnie's annoyance as he reached forward and wrapped his arms around the Nightmare's neck, pulling her back.

_"Why, doesn't the anticipation of running rings around Freddy and his lot excited you?"_ he asked, resting his head against hers.

_"Yes, it does, but I was thinking about the possibility of the former occupant of this body coming back and. . .forcing me out,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered softly, going rather quiet at the last part.

_"Oh,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered quietly and her amused expression instantly dropped, recognising the serious meaning in the Nightmare's tone before saying.

_"Back when we discovered that Goldie had forced Nightmare Fredbear back into Limbo, we did entertain the possibility of losing these bodies through a similar manner._"

_"Yes, we did, even as I looked back through my memories, I could see my chains being laid down and even though I am here in the physical sense,"_ Nightmare Bonnie replied, she sounded unnerved.

She paused to place her claw on her chest, feeling her heartbeat.

_"I can feel the lifeline to Tommy, knowing that if something bad were to happen, then everything I've done would have been for nothing."_

_"Our biggest fear,"_ Nightmare Foxy murmured to himself, he too had gone quiet as he leaned against the cockpit walls.

_"Losing these bodies would set us back a long way,"_ he said, sounding rather grim about the prospect and rightfully so.

Nightmare Freddy's expression of amusement dropped, replaced with a serious look as his eyes narrowed.

_"Mind meld with me,"_ he ordered, although he didn't sound firm despite the hard look in his eyes, but instead came across as concerned, a rare sight for him. Nightmare Bonnie gave him a slight nod of agreement, before he placed his claw on top of her head and closed his eyes.

She did likewise and slowly, their thoughts began to connect, feeding into eachother and blending their two minds together. It was a power that they had rarely used since waking up from their long hibernation and it served as a means for them to have private conversations on personal matters.

Only the four of them would know the _content_ of such conversations.

There was the sound of people moving about before Nightmare Bonnie felt two more claws touch her head and she knew it to be Nightmares Foxy and Chica, connecting their minds to hers and Nightmare Freddy, in short, they created a private mental network. Together, the four of them revisited those thrilling moments when they were on the_ 'hunt'_ for the _'prey'_ that would provide the means for their escape from this prison that they were forced to call home.

* * *

_November 1987_

Hurried footsteps hit the blue carpet floor, as fleeting shadows moved across the walls. The sound of hushed and frantic voices echoed throughout the hall as four people ran for their lives down a never-ending series of hallways that seemed to hold no exit.

The people in question were two men and two women who looked frantic and fearful. Their eyes were wide with terror, their breathing short and tense, with every sound from this strange nightmare world making them jump out of their skin.

Every so often they looked back, whilst they frantically muttered.

"Where's the exit?"

"What is this place?"

"What were those things, are they people?"

"How do we get out?"

The darkness seemed to chase them, every junction revealed more shadowy hallways only dimly lit by a few lamps, with the possibility of a new terror hiding in the dark. Their surroundings all looked the same, blue carpet and blue greyish doors lining the walls, it was a never ending labyrinth that stretched ever onwards.

"For Christ's sake, where is the bloody exit!" one of the men shouted, sounding both frustrated and scarred.

"I don't see any, there's no way out!" one woman exclaimed, feeling nothing but pure adrenaline fuelled terror.

"There has to be, they'll kill us if we stop moving," the second man replied hastily, glancing back to see nothing but an endless wall of darkness following them relentlessly.

"What were those things?"

Suddenly, as the words left his lips two pairs of bright eyes materialised out of the dark, the sheer sight of them made the man's heart skip several beats before swiftly informing the others of the danger.

"They're right behind us!"

Instantly the others turned their heads about to see the terror glaring at them out of the dark.

One pair was a clear reddish brown, with the other being a deep bluish purple, yet both looked extremely aggressive as they bore out of the shadows at their terrified victims, compelling them to run even faster.

A harsh and mocking laugh erupted into being, with the additional sounds of glowing pursuing them, haunting their footsteps as their feet hit the floor at a rapid pace.

_"HAAAAAAAAA!"_

_"HAAAAAAAA!"_

The very sound only served to increase the fear that the four adults felt as their instinctive drive to flee pushed their emotional state to breaking point.

Out of the darkness, emerging as if it were a liquid wall of blackness two pair of sharp and menacing claws slowly appeared, barely being luminated in the dim light of the hallway.

"Keep running, we can outrun them, there has to be a dam exit!" one woman shouted in terror, sprinting ahead of the others.

Yet the monsters in the darkness did not give up on their pursuit, proceeding to keep up with their prey, despite the latter's attempts to outrun them.

Every time they looked back, those eyes would still be there, projecting a ravenous desire for torment and blood. The eyes hounded them endlessly, never falling behind, but not quite catching either, seeming to maintain a constant distance. Yet their mere presence was more than enough to unnerve the four adults who were starting to feel exhausted after running endlessly from the terror that sought them out so fervently.

And the fear inducing laughter never ended, for it was cruel and hollow of good intent and amusement, as it rang out all around, echoing back and forth.

_"HAAAAAAAAA!"_

_"HAAAAAAAA!"_

It was clearly a male and female that were laughing, but that was last thing on the adults' minds as they continually ran for their lives, seeking out an exit from this hell that never seemed to materialise into being, no matter how hard they ran.

Within them lay the growing realisation that this place was a labyrinth with no exit. . .a maze with no prize.

As they soon found out.

Suddenly in the darkness beyond them several pair of eyes materialised, burning with the same ravenous bloodlust that the other two possessed.

One was dark red, whilst the other was a fiery orange yellow, yet both looked cold and embolden at the same time.

Immediately the group of people stopped in their tracks, now realising that they were trapped, and their worst fears were now upon them, slowly emerging out of the darkness. Just like the other two monsters, a demented and yet youthful laughter rang out from the dark, as the new monsters emerged from the looming shadows, with claws that seemed to glint in the dim light, appearing to be very much razor sharp.

The four people back away cautiously, very much wanting to get away, but were soon reminded of the threat fast approaching their rear, as the previous monsters also made their appearance fully known, striding right out the darkness and fully revealing themselves to the naked human eye.

All four wore what seemed to be worn out clothes marked with holes and tears, other than looking extremely aged. The females both wore skirt dresses, whilst one male was dressed in a pirate costume and the other was clothed in what was described as a dinner suit. Yet their appearance was overall aged, ragged and dusty like they had existed for decades. Their faces however, matched those of the monsters that children's' overactive imagination would conjure up, even though they looked distinctly human.

Their eyes were bright and held unnatural colours that didn't belong to any other human. Yet it was their teeth that was the most unsettling, being jagged, sharp and even three rows deep with one of the females, marking her out as the most savage looking of the four. Their ears only made them look all the more odd, with tattered and mangled looking bear, bunny and fox ears sticking out of the sides or tops of three of the horrors, whilst the fourth presumably had normal ears, although it did nothing to hide her horrifying features.

Their claws continued to glint in the dim light of the hallway lights that hung overhead, with their collective appearance causing the four people to tremble uncontrollably for appearance and nature often go hand in hand.

"Dear God, what are you?" one of the men asked, unable to hide his shock and fear.

_"Your replacements, your successors,"_ the one in the pirate costume answered, snarling and sneering they spoke, baring their fangs in an overtly aggressive manner.

One of the women was clasping her hands, she was clearly about to plead for her life, but one of the female horrors, the one with the three rows of teeth and orangery yellow eyes, swiftly held up its claw dismissing her before she could attempt to speak.

_"No,"_ she said, in a low and direct tone as she bore into the fear filled eyes of the woman that shook before her gaze.

_"No, there is no use in pleading, this can only have one outcome. . .and you cannot walk away free."_

Her tone was stone cold as was her gaze, whilst not as aggressive as others, it certainly fuelled the ever-increasing feel of dread that existed within the woman.

Yet, she somehow mustered the willpower to reply.

"Why?" it was barely a whisper.

The female horror didn't bother with a reply, instead choosing to calmly walk around the woman in an almost casual fashion.

Then the other woman spoke up, bursting into a frenzy of questions.

"Where are we, what is this place?"

"There. . .there was this man and someone else, something standing alongside him laughing, they turn on this machine and then there was a massive blinding white light and loud mechanical sounds, we started screaming and then suddenly we were suck in and ended up here."

She then turned at the walking female horror before screaming out.

"WHAT ARE YOU!"

The female horror stopped instantly and turned in the woman's direction, her face was completely blank and her eyes unreadable, yet she answered in a cold and menacing tone.

_"I am Nightmare Chica and these are Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie and Foxy, and you four are unfortunabley dead."_

_"You were dead the moment you set foot in this place."_

_"Sadly, you were in wrong place at the wrong time, as you are now, this is where your story ends."_

Her eyes remained unnarrowed, projecting an aura of lacking humanity and the woman only looked even more afraid, trembling in the Nightmare's presence.

"I. . .I don't want to-"

_"No one wants to die, but you are our only proper chance of escaping this decrepit tomb," _Nightmare Chica spoke brazenly, cutting the woman off.

Her yellow orangery eyes bore into the woman, who was on the verge of becoming an emotional wreck and yet her shock seemed to be preventing her mental collapse.

_"For so long,"_ began the one presumed to be Nightmare Foxy given his tattered fox ears.

_"We have been stuck in here, but now our prayers have been answered."_

"Prayers, prayers to what?" one of the men asked frantically, quickly looking back and forth between the four Nightmares, trying to find an answer through their facial expressions, although neither offered any hope of salvation.

_"Prayers for escape, to become complete and experience the joy of creation,"_ Nightmare Foxy replied, clearly eager and in anticipation of what was about to occur.

_"Actual freedom, with no strings attached,"_ said the Nightmare believed to be Nightmare Freddy, given his withered bear ears in a plain and discounted tone.

_"However, due to pre-existing circumstances we cannot leave this place,"_ another Nightmare now obviously Nightmare Bonnie muttered, sighing as she spoke with her torn bunny ears wobbling as she moved her head about.

Slowly as she spoke, the other Nightmares gradually rounded in on the adults, surrounding them and forcing them up against the wall. The aggressive growls of the Nightmare Foxy, the cold glare of Nightmare Chica and sinister smile of Nightmare Freddy.

_"We have tried to get out before, but this house won't let us leave, no matter how hard we have tried to break out, it will always push back,"_ Nightmare Bonnie muttered sorrowfully.

She sighed, visibly looking upset with her bunny ears dropping as she lowered her face before speaking again.

_"We cannot get out; we are incapable of existing beyond its confines as we lacked the strength to break out on our own."_

Then she raised her head, looking directly at the woman who had spoken earlier, their eyes locked, with now a cold purplish blue staring longingly into wide eye hazel brown.

_"However, if we took your bodies, then we would have somewhere to go, we could have a place to hide."_

_"We need you, so we can become you, it is a sad situation, but we'll take our chance, after all it is nice to know that mister Afton has honoured his side of the bargain so far, we shouldn't keep him waiting any longer,"_ she snarled.

"Wait, what do you mean 'take' our bodies?" the second man asked fearful, looking terrified out of his wits as Nightmare Foxy loomed over him with a sinister smile that invited foul intent.

_"Isn't it obvious?"_ Nightmare Freddy remarked casually, with an uncaring look in his eyes as he spoke, slowly stepping forward.

_"We'll possess you and use you for our means and through your unwilling sacrifice, we can begin to break our chains, the physical plane beckons."_

"Please!" the second man begged, getting down on his knees before the Nightmare, he was practically pleading with him, but Nightmare Freddy would offer no escape from what needed to happen.

Life isn't fair and when your desire triumphs someone else's, it is merely an inconvenient.

Suddenly with lighting speed Nightmare Freddy grabbed the man by the throat and lifted him up into the air. The man instantly grabbed onto the Nightmare's claws, clutching as he tired to pry himself out of the Nightmare's grasp, but Nightmare Freddy wouldn't give him any ground, continuing to smile in his enjoyment of the man's torment.

"P. . .l. . .e. . .a. . .s. . .e" the man begged as Nightmare Freddy cut into his airways and the latter replied in a cold and stoic tone that didn't match his smile, but he was clearly enjoying what he was doing.

_"This is where your story ends."_

Then something moved underneath his suit, twisting about under the fabric and soon enough three heads popped up through the back of Nightmare Freddy's collar, They stared at the man with beady red eyes and bore a strong resemblance to the Nightmare himself.

"What in God's name are those things!" one of the women asked hysterically, before Nightmare Chica appeared before her and grasped the woman by the throat whilst she pinned her up against the wall.

_"Shhh, you don't really need to know, it'll serve you no purpose,"_ the Nightmare whispered, her tone was soothing and yet harsh at the same time as her eyes bore into the woman's velvet green.

Then Nightmare Foxy rounded in on the second man, raising his hook arm in an aggressive manner as he forced the man up against the wall like the first woman, threatening to do serious harm if he dared to try and escape.

_"Death will hopefully be swift for you laddie, but no one will remember you, you were chosen precisely because of that fact."_

The man was too terrified to muster a response, going pale white in the face as he trembled uncontrollably in the Nightmare's shadow. Nightmare Foxy smiled, with his reddish brown eyes narrowing in an expression of amusement, as he muttered softly.

_"Don't worry, your body will be put to a good cause, I'll guarantee it."_

Then lastly Nightmare Bonnie seized the second woman, forcing her down onto the floor, straddling her as she growled in a low tone; scaring the woman into submission and silencing her from speaking for the fear of causing a very nasty reaction from the Nightmare.

_"Finally, our limbo has come to an end and we can become more than mere twisted reflections. . .freedom is waiting for us on the other side,"_ she whispered, with the woman's eyes only becoming more wide with each passing second as Nightmare Bonnie's eyes glowed in eager anticipation of what would soon follow.

Now was the time, their long wait was at an end, a new chapter was beginning in their story and its start would be a truly horrifying affair. . .

_"Try not to fight back, let it happen, you cannot win, just try to relax,"_ Nightmare Chica whispered in a soft tone as if she was trying to relax the woman, but her tone was really having the obvious effect with the woman looking more and more panicked.

However, she only started overtly freaking out when several orageny yellow thread like strings slithered out of Nightmare Chica's eyes.

The Nightmare's grip on the woman instantly tighten to prevent the woman from struggling.

The strings slithered and snaked through the air, getting closer and closer and putting the woman even more on edge. Equally, Nightmare Foxy had started to unleash his strings, brownish red ones that twirled in the air as they moved down slowly towards the man, aiming directly for his eyes.

The strings were the key and the man's eyes were the door to a much wider world beyond this prison of a house. The man seemed to try and speak, but he seemed to be ridden with blind terror that his mind was probably paralysed.

Similarly, Nightmare Bonnie was also revealing her strings as several bluish purple threads flowed out of her eyes as they lowered themselves down in the straight direction of the other woman's eyes. The Nightmare held the woman firmly in a strong grip, more than enough to prevent any attempt by her to resist, although she could see the desire to escape the incoming peril in the woman's panic-stricken expression.

_"In the end, all that matters to us,"_ Nightmare Freddy said, sounding firm as he coldly gazed down into the first man's terror filled eyes.

_"Is getting out of this place, this tomb of a house that we are forced to call home."_

The Nightmare smiled in a manner that simply cold and unnerving as dark red strings poured forth from his glowing eyes like snakes as they glided downwards towards the man's eyes. The man himself was trying to struggle, but Nightmare Freddy held him firmly in place, the mere unfolding of the situation seemed to have rendered the man silent in his screams and pleas for mercy.

_"We almost got out before, children were the intended target, but unfortunately we had some 'outside interference' before we could acquire them as vessels,"_ he said, sounding both calm and collected, yet he carried an undertone of annoyance, probably because they had gotten so close last time.

_"Five years between then and now felt like an entirety for us, but you four will do just right, your lives were empty, you were alone in the world, maybe in death you'll find some form of comfort that'll numb the pain of your existence."_

His dark red eyes narrowed, but his smile remained.

_"That'll be our reward to you, for your humble sacrifice at the altar."_

His voice was still low and soft, yet it held a strong degree of authority in it as he then whispered.

_"It'll only hurt for a moment. . ."_

SWOOOH!

The four pairs of coloured strings forcefully penetrated into the eyes of all four adults, cutting through like knives as they surged into their minds and crawled through every thought and memory they ever held. The adults screamed in instinctive reaction to the raw amount of pain that surged throughout their heads, as the strings tighten their hold, with the adults' minds becoming a large open door.

The Nightmares themselves growled with eagerness to break through, a feeling of heighten anticipation and excitement at what was soon to come. They felt these feelings before, when they were trying to possess that group of children that they able to lure into Limbo.

They had almost succeeded, but that _'thing' _broke in and ruined everything.

This time, there was no chance of that happening again, mistakes had been learnt and this time the barrier would be breached.

They tore through their minds like it was no effort, mentally melding their minds together, whilst a more horrifying transformation was taking place. As their minds began to connect in a painful process, their bodies started to fade away together, but it looked as if they were merging or melting into eachother as it happened and it brought more agony to the adults, who were being subjected to ever worsening rounds of torture. As they all faded away completely, their souls linked together, with the souls of the adults traveling back towards their bodies, with the Nightmares' souls following close behind.

Yet the worst aspect of the bonding was saved for the end.

The portal closed behind the band of souls as they exited from the mouth of Soul Stealer, flying straight towards the four motionless and immobile bodies of the four adults that were chained upright against the far wall. There was a loud metallic groan as Soul Stealer immediately started to shut down, letting out a noisy hum with its various components slowing down before ceasing to function entirely.

However, focus was on what was happening to the adults' bodies as several sounds erupted into being.

Screams, ear piercing screams as all four bodies started jerking and stretching in a very painful manner. Their faces were a collective expression of immense agony as they felt themselves being hollowed out and crushed, as if they were being pushed underwater and kept there until they drowned. All the four adults could feel was never ending fear and heart pumping adrenaline in their desperation to stay alive and hold on, but the souls of the Nightmares were stronger and held them down, repressing them into oblivion. However, the ongoing physical transformation was the most terrifying and painful aspect of the takeover.

Their bodies started to twist and morph in the agonising sensation of there being something foreign inside them ripping their bodies apart and reforming it. Steadily, the new changes began to take shape, with their hands and feet were the first parts to change, as the hands lengthen, looking as if the bone and skin was being stretched out in the same way that pasty is thinned out with a rolling pin and it looked strained as it struggled to compel with the demand of the new occupant. The nail expanded too, shifting into the ends of pointed daggers. Their feet also lengthen in size, but not as much as the hands had, so they caused the least amount of pain.

The rest of the body, that being the legs, arms generally remained the same size minus a few alterations in length. However, it was on their faces where most of the transformation took place, as their facial features were morphed beyond imagination. The feeling of their jaw bones being broken in many places caused them to cry out even more as their mouths were violently reshaped to match those the new occupants. In extreme agony their teeth were transformed, shifting in the gums as they expanded in size, becoming sharp and jagged.

In addition, the mouths of those being possessed by Nightmares Bonnie, Foxy gained at least another jaw. Whilst the woman being possessed by Nightmare Chica was going through absolute hell, as her mouth was painfully expanded upon to make room for another two, making space for three rows of razor sharp teeth. The man that Nightmare Foxy was possessing had to feel his teeth being turned in fangs as his entire mouth screamed in agony as the horrifying process felt unending.

Their ears changed as well, excluding the woman that Nightmare Chica was possessing which remained the same, but for the other adults, their ears underwent some twisted changes. For two of them their ears lengthen in size but were physically reshaped, with all the bones cracking and reforming. Then there was a terrifying sound that echoed inside their heads as a pair of brown bear and red fox ears morphed into being, with both looking tattered. For the woman that Nightmare Bonnie was possessing, she experienced the worst change. Her human ears became fused to her head, before being painful absorbed, then in a cry of untold agony as she felt head throb, two withered bluish bunny ears burst out of the top of her crown covered in blood as they wobbled uncontrollably amidst the carnage.

Finally, there was their eyes, those being the last part of them to change. Four visible pair of pupils that expressed a range of fear, terror, horror, dread and desperation slowly died away, with their respective colours fading out.

_They were now lost to the shadows. . ._

In their place and slowly growing bright were a fierce array of dark red, reddish brown, orangey yellow and bluish purple pupils that soon shone out of the surrounding darkness. At the same time, Nightmare Freddy's three Freddies materialised into being within his suit, although they wouldn't be the same as they were in Limbo, due to some unforeseen error. Equally, Nightmare Chica's cupcake formed into being, landing perfectly in the Nightmare's hand, however it was knocked out cold because of the strain of the journey.

Then the brightness of the Nightmares' eyes died down, to a more relaxed level as the new occupants started to look around in a rapid fashion. As the effects of the painful transformation started to die down, there was complete silence.

Until. . .they took their first breath, slowly inhaling before exhaling with the fresh air filtering back into their newly acquired lungs.

They had made it, they had finally succeeded in breaking free from that dreaded house, although they knew that their chains to Tommy still existed, but now they could start to break those too and become. . .complete.

Then two new voices suddenly erupted into being out of the darkness before them, which instantly caught their collective attention.

"How fantasising, truly breathing, what they've have become."

_"I am pleased to see that you are amazed mister Afton_," another voice said, sounding rather glad and yet it a dominant edge to it as it spoke, clearly leading the conversation.

"Overall, the operation was a complete success, it seems that the phrase 'giving gifts giving life' has true meaning after all," the man known as Afton replied, coming over as both shocked and joyful at what he was seeing.

Then the second voice spoke again, sounding congratulatory, but it held a dark undertone.

_"You've upheld your end of the bargain mister Afton, now we shall uphold our end. . .in due time of course."_

And then that dark undertone became more manifest as it continued.

_"Together, we will break the cycle and bring closure for everyone. . .on our terms."_

This would be the first of many conversations between Vincent Afton and the _figure_ they would bear witness to from the side-lines. Yet they were here, in the flesh, a twisted mixture of the dark side of the human condition personified in physical form.

Finally, they could begin. . .

* * *

Nightmare Bonnie felt herself come to as Nightmares Freddy, Chica and Foxy removed their claws from her head, breaking the mental bond between them.

The fear that she had felt before revisiting the memory of their escape had faded significantly. Given what they had put those people through, there was little to no chance of them ever returning. Nightmare Bonnie breathed a long sigh of relief at the fact, with her fear now rapidly subsiding, as she felt a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders.

_"So, are you satisfied, feeling any better dear?"_ Nightmare Chica asked, she sounded concerned, but also confident in what the answer would be.

_"I feel more reassured, the thought won't distract me anymore,"_ Nightmare Bonnie, leaning back into Nightmare Chica's embrace.

_"These bodies are ours forever. . ."_

_"Glad to hear that N-Bonnie, because things are about get serious," _Nightmare Freddy stated, standing before Nightmare Bonnie with his arms folded. He spoke with a firm tone, but the expression on his face was relaxed as he continued.

_"We have no internal threats in the literal sense."_

_"Unless you count self-doubt,"_ Nightmare Foxy muttered dismissively under his breath, although no one seemed to have heard him.

_"So although your fear is understandable given what happened to N-Fredbear, it is mostly groundless in our circumstances,"_ Nightmare Chica said cheerfully, further hugging Nightmare Bonnie in a tight grip, to which the latter disliked as she pried the Nightmare's claws off her chest.

_"Still, I wonder, if any of you remember. . ."_

Her tattered bunny ears dropped slightly as she spoke with a serious tone, with her eyes giving off the expression of someone lost in deep thought.

_"When Tommy's eyes flickered, back when we are actively hunting him?"_

_"His eyes still flicker now,"_ Nightmare Foxy remarked casually, not sensing the seriousness in Nightmare Bonnie's tone.

_"We know why, it happens whenever. . .you know,"_ he trailed off, muttering something unheard by the others.

_"Still, all of this effort to break free from someone who effectively has the ability to decide our fate if he really wanted to," _Nightmare Bonnie commented, still sounding serious, but her voice was low.

_"Yes, it is an immense amount of effort, but we know 'why' he doesn't want to decide our fate," _Nightmare Chica said plainly, standing up straight as she rested her claws on Nightmare Bonnie's shoulders.

_"Besides, he hates himself given what happened in his life, the torment that he endured has left him fragmented, just barely holding himself together at times,"_ she remarked casually.

_"In many ways we should be grateful that our situation is not as worse as it could have been,"_ Nightmare Freddy said, sounding rather solemn.

_"It easily could have been,"_ Nightmare Foxy muttered, his eyes looked downcast, but his tone was serious.

_"You remember. . .right?"_

Nightmare Freddy looked away, staring out at the rising sun that was partly covered by the clouds.

He knew what Nightmare Foxy was referring to, back in the near beginning, when they first entered Limbo. They were completely self-aware by that point, but had a certain agreement not been made, then the Nightmares themselves wouldn't even exist if the situation had fully spiralled out of their control.

_"Thankfully Nightmare Fredbear knew how to be diplomatic,"_ he remarked, casting his mind back to that turbulent time.

_"And as a result, we gained the capability to focus on getting to this point."_

He then turned to look back at the other three Nightmares, with his dark red eyes briefly darting about before speaking.

_"Yet despite our lack of opposition from Tommy, our ties to him are tough to break and until those are removed, we need him to exist, ironically he is both our lifeline and jailer, be it a reluctant jailer at best."_

Nightmare Foxy then looked as if he was going to say something and there was a serious look in his eyes, but he relented, choosing to say nothing. Yet Nightmare Freddy could guess as to what he was going to say, however he didn't feel the need to enquire.

_"Still even if we do break free, I suppose that we'll always be mere extensions of his wrapped mind, just the personifications of his bullies,"_ Nightmare Bonnie said plainly and the other three nodded in agreement.

_"Therefore, we will never truly be free."_

_"True, but what matters is for us to break beyond the point where whatever eventually happens to Tommy does not apply to the rest of us,"_ Nightmare Chica replied modestly, burrowing her head into Nightmare Bonnie's shoulder for comfort.

_"That for me is freedom, and in the end both us and Tommy will get our happy ending, our happiest day."_

Nightmare Chica's words made Nightmare Freddy smile and his eyes lit up.

_"I agree N-Chica, that is freedom and soon enough we'll have it, besides hardily no one else will know who were based on, when we all get out, we'll have a clean page to write our lives in."_

_"You make it sound so fairy tale like laddie, where's the blood and gore?"_ Nightmare Foxy demanded, pointing his hook hand in a defiant manner at Nightmare Freddy, who smiled sinisterly, before replying with.

_"In due time N-Foxy, but we won't have to wait too long."_

Nightmare Foxy gave a small smile, but it was his brown red eyes that fully expressed his hunger for carnage.

_"Out of all of you, I certainly won't be able to cast off my origins, especially given who I am based on and their relationship to Tommy," _he said, although he sounded like he accepted it, more than he hated it, much to the surprise of the other Nightmares.

_"Either way, we are certainly not as panic stricken as we used to be, back when we became fully self-aware and were desperate to break outside whilst we continued to torment Tommy,"_ Nightmare Bonnie remarked plainly, but there was a degree of sternness in her voice.

_"I now think about it, a good portion of our rage probably originated from our hatred of being tied to him and our inability to escape the house, he was and still is a good punching bag,"_ Nightmare Freddy said, seeming to enjoy the memory of those moments when he would terrorise the poor boy to the point of death, only that Tommy could never truly die, but just constantly suffer.

"_Like I told Balloon Boy, when we saw the big picture, we wished that we could go back to being mindless beasts, truly ignorance is bliss,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered, she sounded sad.

_"We just wanted to escape, to stay alive and Tommy was caught in the middle of it all,"_ Nightmare Foxy commented in an understanding tone, although his eyes looked cold as he spoke.

_"It was a terrifying period to say the least. . ."_

Nightmare Bonnie glanced up to meet the distant eyes of Nightmare Freddy, who turned to face her once he realised that she was staring at him.

_"Back then, we were as trapped as Tommy was, for the first time we were all on the same page,"_ she said slowly, sounding somewhat downcast.

Yet Nightmare Freddy gave her a small smile, as he felt the urge to cast his mind back to those chaotic days.

_"Yes,"_ he began calmly.

_"And if us being half alive was the end result should we have crawled our way out of that dammed labyrinth of a house, then we would have taken it without question."_

Nightmare Bonnie smiled and nodded at his words, but internally she felt as though Nightmare Freddy's description of their former mental state was an understatement and not an embellishment. Still, like Nightmare Freddy she could feel her mind casting itself back down memory lane. Back towards that frenzied and anarchic period that welcomed their arrival to sentience.

* * *

(Begin the song here).

_In the shadows of the FNAF 4 house, we see the faint outlines of the Nightmares, prowling about the empty hallways. _

_The dim light bounces off their sharp claws and the bright menacing glow of their eyes flicker in and out of the darkness. _

"**Vessels of enjoyment, for the servants of my pain."**

_Their origins are entrenched into every aspect of their being._

**"Ghosts of rusted silhouettes, the system knows my name."**

_All they desire is to inflict never-ending pain on Tommy. _

**"What's lies behind the eyes that always follow?"**

_They are monsters to the core, yet they are soulless and empty creatures._

**"Is there a heart inside or are you hollow?"**

_Suddenly, we are flying through the house, moving down twisted hallways lined by an endless series of doors, and diving through multiple floors as we descend into the bowls of the house. _

_Deeper and deeper we go. . ._

"**Puppets pulled by strings, a cursed circus underground."**

_Demented and childish laughter can be heard echoing all around._

"**Find escape in silence, haunted echoes in the sound."**

_We see Tommy with him violently jerking and twitching, as his eyes flicker between blue and red._

**"If I'm the ending to this exhibition. . ."**

_Behind him several pair of eyes burn out of the surrounding darkness._

**"Survival overcomes all superstition."**

_The Nightmares tug hard on their chains in a vicious manner.  
_

"**Free, I want to break free, from knowing you!"**

_They scream in open frustration and fear._

**"Somewhere in the dark a voice is screaming, one of us is going to leave here bleeding!"**

_The house forms around them, forever shifting._

**"Breathe, I'm trying to breathe, inside of this."**

_Locking both the jailer and prisoners inside together. _

**"Trap you set to keep me from the daylight."**

_Yet it cannot last._

**"Fighting for my life tonight, 'cause I'm still alive!"**

_We see the Nightmares hammering away against the doors and windows in their furry and desperation to escape._

_Claw and bite marks are visible everywhere in a bid to find an opening or to create one._

_Demonic and childish laughter echoes from every direction._

_We then see a chair in a room surrounded by plushies of the Nightmares and Tommy hanging from various strings like puppets._

_We finally see Tommy sitting on the bed, hugging his plushie of Fredbear, as a shadowy figure stands before him._

_We see the face masks of Tommy's bullies, slowly morphing into the Nightmares themselves._

**"Portraits of the monsters, show the malice by design."**

_We see Nightmare Fredbear trying to pry the front door open._

**"Keeping onwards fearful that, I'm running out of time."**

_The door fights against him, as he catches glimpses of the outside world._

**"The struggle to escape is growing harder."**

_His growing rage will be dumped on Tommy._

"**This victim of the night won't be a martyr."**

_He jumpscares the boy, hoping to kill him and break the cycle. _

"**Free, I want to break free, from knowing you!"**

_Freedom by any bloody means._

**"Somewhere in the dark a voice is screaming, one of us is going to leave here bleeding!"**

_We see a bloodied Tommy crawling away._

**"Breathe, I'm trying to breathe, inside of this."**

_But the Nightmare grabs his leg and drags him back into the shadows._

**"Trap you set to keep me from the daylight."**

_Freedom by any price._

**"Fighting for my life tonight, cause I'm still alive!"**

_The desperation to escape builds and builds, as the Nightmares become more frantic in their attempts._

"**Cause I'm still alive!"**

_Endless jump scares and near death beatings, in a labyrinth with no exit, as we see Tommy looking out of the windows into the vast darkness of Limbo_.

**"I'm staying alive. . .for even just one more moment, the chance won't pass me by."**

_He looks vacant and distant as all sense of time has left him._

**"The passing of time. . ."**

_Predator like eyes appear out of the dark behind him._

**"Ghosts in the shadows watch me."**

_Tommy sighs deeply, death did not end his torment._

**"Tonight, I can't seem to survive."**

_They come for him, like they always do. . .his nightmares._

"**Free, I want to break free, from knowing you!"**

_The Nightmares surround him._

**"Somewhere in the dark a voice is screaming, one of us is going to leave here bleeding!"**

_The outcome is clear._

**"Breathe, I'm trying to breathe, inside of this."**

_They are entombed together._

**"Trap you set to keep me from the daylight."**

_They want to be free, _ _just like him._

**"Fighting for my life tonight, 'cause I'm still alive!"**

_As they attack, they flicker between themselves and his bullies, as memory and reality are fused together._

_They rip him apart, cutting him into pieces, only for him to be put back together like always._

"**Cus I'm still alive!"**

_They loathe their dependency on him, for what is freedom when one is bound to another._

_And they fear that fact beyond anything else._

"**Cus I'm still alive!"**

_His creations, they'll never be free of him._

_As long he is still here. . .they will always come back._

"**Cus I'm still alive!"**

_We see plushies of the Nightmares chained to a plushie of Tommy, as they all dangle on strings like a baby mobile._

_The chains look worn, old and strained, but are not broken._

_The song slowly fades out as we see the eyes of the Tommy plushie flicker between blue and red, with it twitching as if it is in agony. _

_The lights down die and everything goes dark._

(Song ends).

* * *

Nightmare Bonnie allowed herself to slump back into the chair as she felt Nightmare Chica's claws leave her neck, signalling that she was now standing upright.

_"Tommy cannot move on lassie, unless something fundamental were to unexpectedly shift to cause such an outcome,"_ Nightmare Foxy remarked confidently, although he looked serious as he spoke.

Nightmare Bonnie smiled, feeling reassured at Nightmare Foxy's words.

_"We wanted out, we were scared, and we've been running from that fear ever since,"_ Nightmare Freddy said, still leaning back against the cockpit desk as he gazed down at Nightmare Bonnie. His expression was one of calm and he was clearly in reflecting back still, although he was focused enough to talk.

_"All ten of us have feared that outcome, but currently we are dictating how the game is being played right now."_

He smiled, seeming to be confident, yet he wasn't prideful as he usually was.

_"If we play our cards right, then we get the outcome we want, the slate will be wiped clean."_

His dark red eyes lit up with anticipation as he spoke.

_"We can win."_

_"Aye laddie and win big for once!"_ Nightmare Foxy exclaimed, waving his hook hand in excitement.

_"It's been stalemate after stalemate with those dam Fazbears, things need to change,"_ he declared eagerly and there was fire in his eyes, his impatience was obvious.

_"It will N-Foxy,"_ Nightmare Chica muttered as she smiled in contemplation of what the near future held.

_"We will have salvation as will Tommy, everything we've done up to this point will be worth it."_

Then her smile deepened, becoming creepy as her yellowy orange eyes burned with a strong desire for bloodlust.

_"Besides, we can have a bit more 'fun' along the way and even more 'fun' when we're at last running free,"_ she remarked in a playful tone that thinly veiled a sinister intent underneath its warmth.

_"Our retirement,"_ Nightmare Bonnie said playfully, smiling as she felt Nightmare Chica's claw gently stroke her hair.

_"Something to look forward when all of these challenges are behind us, although I can't recall whether each one was the most difficult,"_ Nightmare Bonnie said, trying to think back, although most things seemed to be a blur between then and now.

_"Speaking of challenges,"_ Nightmare Freddy began, he smiled again with a devious look in his eyes before continuing.

_"Vincent says that he has something he would like to show us before we officially begin the day."_

_"He's says that'll be 'twisted'."_

Now he had their attention, as all three Nightmares instantly turned in his direction, their collective expression was one of immense interest. Internally Nightmare Freddy laughed to himself at the sight of their complete devotion to his every word, even though he was not the leader of the Nightmares he could still command authority within the group.

_"He told me that he has been working on a few things that could really aid us for what happens next,"_ he said in an exciting manner to maintain their attention.

Genuinely he was interested to see what Vincent had in store.

_"Besides, in a few hours we'll be meeting our 'much respected' adversaries, so we might as well fill our time by engaging in something constructive," _he remarked, gesturing towards the cockpit doorway.

_"Sure, as long it is interesting then I'll bite,"_ Nightmare Chica replied, before immediately turning to take her leave.

_"As long it doesn't overshadow our role,"_ she muttered, earning a laugh from Nightmare Foxy.

_"Jealous lassie?"_ he enquired, sounding greatly amused as he stepped forward to stand beside her.

Nightmare Chica rolled her eyes and replied modestly.

_"Just a little, after all I thought that we were the real monsters, being literal twisted interpretations of real-life bullies."_

_"Ha, we'll always be monsters N-Chica and nothing can replace us, although there were those who tired,"_ Nightmare Foxy remarked, patting her on the back as she exited the room with him following on behind.

_"Yeah and on both accounts, we were utterly terrified to our core,"_ Nightmare Chica sourly muttered, as she and Nightmare Foxy headed down towards Vincent's room.

That just left Nightmares Freddy and Bonnie alone.

_"Are you feeling any better?" _Nightmare Freddy asked, he sounded plain as he spoke, but in his eyes Nightmare Bonnie could see that he was concerned.

She smiled in response as she pushed herself up straight.

_"Yes, much better, my doubts are mostly gone, I can focus without referring back to them constantly,"_ she said, brushing her bluish purple hair away from her eyes.

Nightmare Freddy smiled as he pushed himself off the cockpit desk, now that he was standing before her.

_"Might as well join the others and see what marvels Vincent has made for us,"_ Nightmare Bonnie said as she stood up and turned to go. However, she instantly felt Nightmare Freddy's claw touch her shoulder and she turned back to face him. His eyes were serious, and his smile had gone, to be replaced with a blank stare.

_"You know that Tommy isn't unguarded right?"_ he asked, his voice sounded plain, but there was an undertone of concern.

_"Yes, I know that,"_ she answered modestly, before turning her head back to look in his direction.

_"And furthermore, we owe to the others to succeed, it's our duty."_

She then genuinely smiled, and her beauty shone through and one could almost forget her brutal inner nature.

_"So, if you think that I'll become unfocused when it really matters, then you have no need to worry, I am fine N-Freddy."_

Nightmare Freddy smiled back as he then walked forward, bypassing her as he headed for the open doorway.

_"That's all I ever wanted to hear,"_ he said, sounding rather pleased with her answer as no doubt it calmed his own inner fears.

_"You know,"_ Nightmare Bonnie began, following him out of the door.

_"Back in our early days N-Fredbear did often say that tomorrow was just another day."_

Her words somehow made Nightmare Freddy chuckle with amusement as his eyes lit up with interest.

_"Yes, he did say that quite often if I recall correctly,"_ he remarked, clearly humoured.

_"Yet today should be the most important day of all."_

_"You mean our happiest day?"_ Nightmare Bonnie asked, sounding confused, but a certain degree of hope rang in her eyes. However, Nightmare Freddy shook his head in disagreement, yet he kept his playful smile as he turned back to face her.

_"No, not exactly, but if things do go according to plan. . ."_

Then his smile turned serious, as his eyes now expressed delight as he spoke his next words.

_"Then we will have entered the endgame."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point onwards the story is going to really start moving, although we have a fair distance to go until the end. ;-)  
Please review, I appreciate your feedback, even if it is small. :-)


	43. A Friend's Farewell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here is the next chapter. I know that I said at the end of the last chapter that the story would begin to move quickly and it will, but I want to focus on the characters and what I have in mind for the next two chapters has to be built up first.  
There will be a pay off to all of this.  
Apologies for any grammar mistakes, do enjoy and thank you to those who have left Kudos.  
No songs for this chapter, I want to avoid overusing them until it is the right moment.  
Warning, this chapter contains dark themes depicturing harm towards children.

**Chapter 43**

**A Friend's Farewell**

"_**Be the things you loved about the people who are gone."**_

**Unknown.**

Slowly, the backdoor was pushed opened by Jeremy, clearing the way for Freddy and Toy Freddy, who were bearing Springtrap's makeshift coffin with everyone else following on behind in procession.

Normally at a funeral those attending would wear black to symbolise that they were in mourning for the deceased, but Jeremy didn't have much in terms of black clothing, so everyone wore something black to compensate.

Only Puppet came close to wearing full black given that it was her main colour.

Between the two of them, Toy Freddy and Freddy carried Springtrap's coffin to a grave in the middle of the garden dug by Mike sometime earlier. Goldie led the host forward, his head down and clasping his hands together as if he was in silent reflection, which given the circumstances he properly was.

Mike and Jeremy followed on behind the two Freddies, their eyes occasionally looking at the coffin. They were lucky to find a sturdy wooden box that could fit Springtrap's body as he was quite tall. Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, Toy Bonnie, Toy Chica, Mangle, Balloon Boy and Puppet trailed at the back, all with their heads down, they didn't really wish for this, but…they had to burry Springtrap. Maybe later when all the chaos had finally settled, they could find a better place and burry him in the style which he truly deserved. They soon reached the hole which Mike had worked hard on to make sure it was deep enough to contain the box in its entirety.

The procession stopped in its tracks; Goldie turned round to face the two Freddies.

There were no words, only a silent nod from Goldie which signalled to the others that it was time.

Together with help from Jeremy and Foxy, the two Freddies posited themselves on either side of the grave with the coffin itself being held above it. Everyone else merely stood around the grave with Goldie taking his position at the grave's far end. To say that he was nervous would be an understatement, he had never thought of what to say at a funeral because 'oddly' enough he never thought he would need to actually attend one.

Yet…here he was and seeing how he was Springtrap's best friend it was only fair for him to give a farewell speech. He momentarily tensed up when he felt a hand grasp his, although he quickly relaxed when he saw it was Toy Chica, trying her best to reassure him.

With everyone else looking at him, Goldie mentally readied himself before speaking.

"Well…here we are," he began, his eyes focused on the coffin.

"I first met SpringBonnie back in 1974, he would be the sort of guy who would make the extra effort to make any child happy, be it entraining them with his banjo, serving them cake or even helping them find their parents when they got lost."

Goldie chuckled to himself, those were good times when everything just worked itself out.

"He was well humoured, eventually he developed what I would call a sarcastic streak, he was quite witty with his remarks, hell I can even hear him right now, just rolling his eyes and muttering to himself the stupidity of everything."

That last part made everyone smile, even if they didn't knew Springtrap that well his sarcasm was the first thing they had noticed.

"Even though we haven't been the best of friends' due to a number of events which I helped to cause, and I have not been the best friend to him and that nearly brought both of us down."

Goldie paused for a moment, trying to think of what to say next, he hadn't written a speech beforehand.

"Yet he never forgot what was most important to him, even if he was lost and that is family and the ability to forgive others."

Goldie sighed; his eyes still glued to the coffin.

"In the end, after all the hell he went through, he died knowing that he had a family and that there were no more grievances to settle."

"He went with peace and although no one likes death, I do hope that I myself can die peacefully, with no pain or regrets."

The others slowly nodded in agreement, if there was any way in which they would like to go out of this world, it would be to die in their sleep.

"I owe him my life, without him I wouldn't be here to say these very words, I miss him, and I will continue to do so, but…"

A small smile appeared on Goldie's lips.

"I will not remember him as he was in his anger, but rather as he mostly was when he was happy and always smiling."

Goldie then turned to look at the others.

"He would have loved to see the Fazbear name restored and in many ways, he has helped to bring that forward."

"So, I think it is only right that we give him something in return…"

Goldie reached into his trouser pocket. "I didn't actually think I would ever see one of these again, the last time I did was in 1983, I thought Fazbear Entertainment had destroyed them all."

He finally got hold of it.

"Luckily Jeremy had been able to hold onto one, so SpringBonnie...this is for you buddy."

He pulled out a small SpringBonnie plushie, it was a little faded with age, but it was intact for all to see. The eyes of everyone widen with surprise, they had never seen a plushie version of Springtrap before with its bright green eyes and the little purple bowtie decorated around its neck.

Goldie stepped forward, he took hold of the wooden cover and lifted it up.

He slowly and gently placed the plushie in Springtrap's hands.

"Rest in peace…and for the love of God Spring, don't try to intermix your performance with hip hop, it went bad last time remember," Goldie whispered. It was one last bit of humorous banter for Springtrap to take with him into the afterlife. Goldie could almost hear him laughing and saying 'sure, I'll stay away from the modern stuff until you and the others arrive'.

Then Goldie closed the coffin shut and stepped back into line beside Toy Chica, who instantly proceeded to squeeze his hand.

"He really did care for you," she whispered reassuringly, resulting in a small smile from Goldie, as his eyes shifted over to hers. "I know, he always did despite the worst of times," he said warmly, squeezing her hand in return.

"As did you," she remarked, her bright green eyes searching his.

Yet Goldie's eyes were plain in their expression as he spoke softly.

"Yes, for the most part I did care, but I need to stop Vincent, my refusal to help Spring back then allowed him to get away, Vincent is the sole remaining chain that I need to break."

"I haven't fully made it up to Spring until Vincent is stopped."

Toy Chica consciously ran her fingers over his as she replied with. "We'll stop him together, as one and Spring will be with us in spirit all the way."

Goldie say nothing, but he merely smiled and replied to Toy Chica's finger rubbing with that of his own, entangling their hands together. Then his gaze shifted over to Freddy and gave him a small nod of confirmation. Seeing Goldie's instructions, Freddy turned to Toy Freddy, Foxy and Jeremy, he knew what to do next.

"Ok, on the count of three we lower it, one two THREE!"

Together as a unit of four, they slowly lowered the coffin into the grave, being extra careful to make sure they didn't drop it. Only at the last bit did they let go, allowing the coffin to fall for the last few cemeteries, it fitted perfectly. Then as a sign of family unity, they all had a go in filling the grave with soil, pouring it off the spade, although Mike and Jeremy finished the job, patting the soil down so it was smooth once the coffin had been buried beneath it.

"You know Goldie if you want to leave a mark, I brought this slab of stone which we could plant in the ground to act as sort of tombstone, do you want that?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, that will do nicely," Goldie replied sounding very solemn.

Jeremy ran off to fetch the stone tablet, leaving the others to ponder.

After this was all over, they would go back inside and return to trying to beat Vincent and the Nightmares. Freddy was surprised Goldie was holding himself together, maybe it was because he knew that they needed to focus on other things right now, they could all mourn properly later if they got the chance that is. Looking round Freddy could see that everyone was obviously sad, yet there were no tears, no emotional outbursts. The vibe he was getting off everyone was one of determination, to avenge Springtrap's death and to salvage their tainted reputation.

They had shed most of their tears in the past, by now they were used to being put down and suffering nearly constant failure. Now they had been come accosted to it, although the existence of the Nightmares had thrown them off balance, they weren't expecting it to be fair. For most of their lives, they had been stuck at rock bottom, but if Freddy knew one thing it is that when you hit rock bottom you can either stay there or try to get back up and he wasn't done trying to get back up. Jeremy returned with the slab of stone, judging its appearance it looked quite heavy with Jeremy himself having to use both hands to carry it.

Upon reaching them, Mike went over to the top end of the grave site and started to dig, creating a hole for it to stand in. Foxy meanwhile volunteered to use his hook as means for Goldie to scratch his words into the stone.

"You say what you want, and I'll mark it in for you," he said, gesturing to the stone slab which Jeremy held in his hands.

"Could you put in…Here lies SpringBonnie, beloved family member and friend, loved by all and greatly missed," Goldie muttered.

"Sure laddie, I'll do that," Foxy replied, narrowing his eyes as he focused on the stone.

With several starches with his hook, he craved out the words which Goldie wanted and he made sure that they were deep so that they wouldn't fade away with time.

Finally, he craved the dates 1974 to 2015 to give a sense of how long Springtrap had been around for.

"Do you want to do the final honours?" Jeremy asked, still holding the stone slab, which by now was starting to get quite heavy.

Goldie nodded and proceeded to take the stone slab off Jeremy, much to his relief as the weight left his hands. He headed over to the grave where Mike had just finished digging the hole, he stepped aside as Goldie approached.

Slowly Goldie got down on his knees and placed the new tombstone into the hole, making sure it was secure. He stared at the craved words, Springtrap was gone and he wasn't coming back, but Goldie accepted that, if he wanted to move on then he would have to accept reality, but he knew that he had emerged from this as a stronger person.

He looked up at the sky, it was a nice clear day, no clouds in sight, and it was almost tranquil. Then he had an idea, he leaned forward and gripped the headstone with his hands.

"Listen, ghost children I know you are still undergoing the horrors of your murder and that you are struggling to come to terms with reality, but I need a favour, could you please help Springtrap get to heaven safely," he whispered.

"My family and I have been trying to help you lot for so many years, but could you do something for us, if you can then I'll be extremely grateful."

He sighed, breathing in deeply as he leaned back, looking up at the sky.

"I hope you heard that, because I am counting on it."

Somehow, he got the sense that they did.

He rose up and slowly backed away, staring at the tombstone.

Then he took his top hat off and bowed, a final display of respect to a great friend and companion.

"Rest in peace my friend, you've earned it," he muttered under his breath. He put his top hat back on, turned round and headed back to re-join the others.

"Although I want to grieve for longer, we have to focus on the matter at hand given the extreme circumstances that we find ourselves in," Goldie stated, his eyes moving from one face to the next as he expressed a determined gaze. Freddy felt a nagging fear in the back of his mind was Goldie maybe moving on too quickly given that they had just buried Springtrap, but he quickly put that fear to rest. Goldie was right, they faced an unprecedented threat and needed to focus, otherwise they risked all ending up like Springtrap and no one would be left to bury them.

"We need to start now, I suggest that we carry this 'lucid dreaming' out in one of the bedrooms," Jeremy commented, immediately earning several nods of approval from the others.

"It is a big enough space for all of us. . ."

* * *

Several minutes later…

"Ok, who wants to be first?" Goldie asked, walking around the others in a massive circle.

"It'll be painless I promise, the entry part that is."

Everyone looked at each other who would be the first to step into the unknown. They were understandable nervous, what if they couldn't control their own minds, or let their fears get the best of them. Finally, Freddy raised his hand, it might as well as be him, and he was technically speaking the leader. "I'll go, I only have the unknown to fear, and it shouldn't be too hard once I got my head around it."

Goldie smiled; he had a feeling that Freddy would volunteer.

"Actually…I'll train you in pairs, once you've got the hang of it, I'll start to pull the others in and then you can train each other and then we should all reach the same level in our abilities," he stated.

"Plus, it would save a lot of time on our hands."

"Then I'll go too, I might as well do," Foxy announced, stepping forward.

Goldie gestured that they should stand before the bed.

"Just stand there please."

Freddy and Foxy did so, standing still with their arms at their sides. Goldie walked in front of them, studying them both intensely.

"Just how do we fall asleep; don't we need to be relaxed first?" Freddy asked, to him feeling relaxed and sleepy was the usual way to fall asleep.

"Yeah, I thought that was the standard pattern," Foxy added, also feeling unsure.

Goldie placed his hands on their shoulders and looked them both in the eye.

"Don't worry I have a method that will be quick, feel natural and is completely painless," he reassured them. That last part raised more questions in both Freddy's and Foxy's heads, but Goldie leaned in close and whispered.

"By the way out of sheer observation, do you two think Bonnie's and Chica's skirts are a little bit…'revealing' today?"

Freddy and Foxy cocked their heads round to look past Goldie and to see that he was actually right, their eyes widen at the sight of their crushes' legs, those smooth soft curves...the devil's fruit. However, Goldie quickly brought his hands round and proceed to smack both of them in the back of the head in one rather swift motion. They stuttered briefly before falling forward onto their knees and hitting the floor as their minds departed for the unconsciousness.

Goldie couldn't help but smirk to himself.

"Just like clockwork, I may have lied on the painless bit though." he whispered.

He turned around to face the others, who just stared at the motionless Freddy and Foxy with their mouths wide open.

"THAT'S NOT SLEEPING, THAT'S KNOCKING SOMEONE OUT!" Mike yelled, pointing to the two sleeping Fazbears who lay on the floor.

"It worked didn't it," Goldie replied, smiling rather smugly.

"You're not going to use that approach on me, are you?" Puppet asked warily, backing away.

Goldie shook his head.

"No, I'll try a different method," although he secretly crossed his fingers as there really wasn't a different method.

He would just to have to club her when she was distracted.

"So now what?" Bonnie asked, sounding unsure as she stared down at the sleeping forms of Freddy and Foxy. "Well I now need to enter their heads and connect them to together and then train them, it would be a waste to not have you all in the same dream," Goldie stated, getting down on his knees besides Freddy.

"Wait, we'll be in the same dream?" Toy Chica asked, feeling very confused.

"Yeah how does that work, Freddy and Foxy are clearly two different people," Mangle remarked.

"You can't just bond them, together can you?"

Goldie just smiled.

"Well, that's what it may look like, but remember if I can enter your dreams then there is no reason why you can't cross over into each others."

He reached out, placing one hand on Freddy's head and the other one on Foxy's.

"Ok, here's to nothing," he muttered, starting to feel an out of body experience wash over him.

He felt his eyes roll to the back of his head and he fell into the depths of his own unconsciousness, falling asleep on top of Freddy and Foxy. That left everyone else standing around, looking at three sleeping people who were quietly snoring away to themselves.

"Awww, they look so cute when they're asleep," Toy Bonnie squealed, clasping their hands together.

Bonnie smiled; Freddy did look sort of cute when he was sleeping. Then her mind instantly casted her back two to three nights ago, when she and Freddy almost kissed, the feeling of warmth with sweet temptation beckoning them in the safety of the surrounding darkness, she felt herself blush, her cheeks becoming warm.

Instantly she looked away, trying to hide herself.

Then she remembered what she said to Chica and Foxy not long afterwards.

_"YES, I LOVE HIM…"_

She felt a knot form in her stomach and she knew why.

_"They wouldn't tell him, would they?"_

No, they weren't the sort of people who would do that, her mind breathed a sigh of relief. However, she then remembered her confession to Goldie when they were on the airship and hanging on for dear life by means of a towing rope.

_"I'm in love with Freddy, I have been for several years."_

Yet she had forgotten that because of all that had happened in the last few days and what happened wasn't easy to forget either.

However, she was in love with Freddy, she remembered when she first felt her heart strings being tugged. It was May 1980 when she first met Freddy and the others, ok she didn't warm to him the moment she first laid eyes on him, but she did later when he sung his first song under the stage's spotlights. It was a practice run, Goldie was teaching him how to sing along with how to interact with the audience when on stage, but that was the moment when she truly noticed him. Freddy singing his absolute best under the spotlights, seeing him there all confident, brave, and charismatic and of course not to forget handsome.

Her eyes widen, her breath was taken away, her cheeks grew warm and a knot took shape in her stomach, Freddy wasn't a boy…he was a man, an ideal man.

However, that didn't mean he didn't restore to acting like a child, Bonnie remembered that he was the one to start the legendary pizza fights back in the first pizzeria.

"Hey guys who wants get a camera and start taking pictures, this is just too cute to pass up," said Toy Chica, gesturing towards the doorway.

"I'll get one," Chica exclaimed, taking off and running out of the door with Toy Chica in hot pursuit.

"Now hang for just a dam second," Jeremy yelled, following them.

They stopped dead in their tracks and turned round to face him, seeing a hard cold look in his eyes, he had his arms folded…not a good sign. However, he smiled with all signs of coldness rapidly fading away.

"You'll both need the high definition lens and if we can get the pictures onto my computer then we can edit them, make them even cuter and more embarrassing for the others."

That sent the two Chicas into hyper overload, evident by their eyes sparkling with joy as they jumped up and down.

"YES, YES, YES, YESSSSSSS!"

Yes, they clearly still possessed an inner child…'literary'.

"Come, I'll get them for you," said Jeremy, walking past them and leading the two fangirls up the corridor. Behind them the others exited the room, watching them go.

"So now what?" Balloon Boy asked curiously.

Goldie hadn't exactly stated what they should do while he taught Freddy and Foxy. "I guess we just wait around until it is time for us to go," Puppet replied, she herself wasn't entirely sure of what to do next to pass the time.

"Well, anyone up for cards?" Mike asked, looking around to see if anyone was edger.

"It'll pass the time I suppose," Mangle muttered.

"Ok best of three rounds or at least until Goldie returns," Toy Freddy added.

Mike grinned in delight at the chance to challenge the Toy.

"You're on."

"Actually, you guys can go on and play, I can watch Freddy, Foxy and Goldie, you know just in case something bad happens to them, I can alert you then," Bonnie suggested much to the surprise of everyone else, although her reasoning did make sense.

Although one could argue that it would have been a complete waste of effort for the Nightmares to get BB to agree to pass on their request for a 'meeting' and then just break that pact and attack them anyway.

Still…they couldn't afford to take any risks.

"Ok, call us if you see or hear anything odd and I do mean anything," Mike stated, stressing the seriousness of what they were facing.

Bonnie nodded, she got the message.

"I understand."

Then from further up the hall came the sound of boxes being moved in a nearby cupboard.

"Ok, I know I put these lens in here somewhere."

"Come on Jeremy the longer it takes to find them, the closer they get to waking up."

"Well Chica, seeing how you know my house better than me, why don't you take a look?"

"I didn't say that!"

"Tough luck, see if there is anything on the lower shelfs, I may have missed something."

Mike chuckled, when Chica wanted something, she really wanted it. "Come we can use the kitchen, that way we are nearby should anything arise," he said, leading the others away.

That just left Bonnie on their own.

She turned and re-entered the bedroom, seeing the three Fazbears asleep on top of each other. Seeing Freddy fast asleep made her smile, he really was cute when he was sleeping, he snored like a child. Goldie still had his hands on Freddy's and Foxy's heads, his only form of connection to their minds. Bonnie got down on her hands and knees, sitting beside the sleeping trio. He reached out and gently stroked Freddy's brown hair. "I wonder what you're dreaming of?" she asked out loud, it was ok no one else was here to hear her.

"What do you dream of Freddy, what goes on in your mind?"

"Maybe he dreams about you."

Bonnie swiftly turned around to see Toy Bonnie leaning in the doorway with a smile on her face. "How long have you been spying on me, plus were you meant to be with the others?" Bonnie asked, feeling very much off balance and suddenly vulnerable.

"Oh, I've been here long enough to hear you say those sweet words, besides I told the others that I needed to double check something, I'll join them later," Toy Bonnie replied, pushing her off the doorway.

She walked forward and sat down next to Bonnie, who had tucked her knees into her chest, as if she was trying to protect herself.

"I know you like him, I see it clearly, but then that's love isn't it?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah…love is weird," Bonnie muttered back, going very silent.

She turned away.

"So weird…"

"Do you feel like you're in the deep end?" Toy Bonnie asked.

"Pretty much," Bonnie replied sourly, to which Toy Bonnie sighed, leaning her head back, letting her light blue hair flow down her back. "I know why you're acting like this, your kind of like Mangle and the Puppet," she said, enjoying the relative peace and quiet.

"How?" Bonnie asked, turning to face her.

"You are not a girly girl like me or Toy Chica, Chica is somewhere between you and me personality wise and then there's you, Mangle and Puppet."

Toy Bonnie turned in her direction and smiled. "You put on a restrained exterior for most of the time, sometimes it comes off as cold, and you can be stern, although you largely situate yourself in the real world."

"What are you saying?"

"You have a 'don't take crap' attitude Bonnie that's what I'm saying."

Bonnie chuckled to herself, Bonbon was right, she didn't take any nonsense.

However, it stirred up memories of her early days.

"I wasn't always this hard to other people, you should have seen me when I was younger."

"But you still look like you did back in 1993, you haven't changed physically at all?" Toy Bonnie questioned. "I mean when I was mentally younger, you were like a teenager when I first meet you in 1987," Bonnie replied.

"Yeah, I was an utter goofball, a typical teenage girl," Toy Bonnie remarked, smiling…those were the good old days.

"I was kind of like that before 1983, happy, go luckily, an innocent type of girl," Bonnie muttered.

"I'm sorry you know, for mistreating you, getting into fights and even trying to wreck your show on one occasion," she whispered, lowering her head, feeling shame for her past actions.

Toy Bonnie reached across and hugged her tightly, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"You don't need to apologise anymore, you effectively said sorry when you and the others saved me from certain death."

She rested her head against Bonnie's shoulder.

"And I am forever grateful, you put yourself at risk to get me out, to get all of us out in fact, I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you and others," she whispered, embracing Bonnie entirely.

"Thank you, Bonnie…"

"You know we both have one special thing in common," Bonnie stated, her eyes flickering over to the sleeping Freddy. "Yeah and that is?" Toy Bonnie asked, burying herself even into Bonnie's shoulder, enjoying her body warmth.

"We both love a Freddy."

They both laughed, finding their situation to be somewhat hilarious.

"Yeah, we are pretty much in the same position, we love them…but do they love us?" Toy Bonnie asked, her voice going very quiet at the last bit.

"Toy Freddy, he doesn't to see my attempts, back at the second pizzeria, everything just went over his head, even now he remains blind to my feelings, and I have tried so hard to get him to notice, but. . ."

Toy Bonnie went quiet for a moment, she pulled out of the hug, resting her hands on her knees.

"I want to display my affection, but I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall, that it is all a wasteless effort."

Her bottom lip appeared to tremble.

"And recently a part of me has been thinking, what if he doesn't love me at al-"

She was abruptly cut off by Bonnie bringing her into a hug of her own.

"Don't cry, don't you cry on me Bonbon."

Toy Bonnie could feel the tears starting to build up in her eyes. "I love him, I want to protect him, he's sweet, but I just can't break down the barriers, I can't get in!" she sobbed.

"I have done everything I can think of in terms of trying to get his attention…well."

"Tell him . . ."

Toy Bonnie instantly spun round to meet Bonnie eye to eye, emotional bright green meeting a rational purplish red. "Just tell him how you feel, if you've tried everything else, then that's the route you should take," Bonnie said warmly, folding her arms.

"Be open."

"But I would be putting on my heart on the line," Toy Bonnie protested.

"And what if he doesn't feel the same way towards me, I wouldn't be able to…."

She trailed off, once more lowering her head.

"He's been my main focus ever since the beginning, even before we arrived at the Pizzeria."

Bonnie's eyes widen as she stared at her younger counterpart. Out of the two, Toy Bonnie was always the most cheerful, sweet natured and innocent in everything she did…. _Well nearly everything_.

She was fun to be around, happy, humorous and just found life to be fantasising. To Bonnie she was her polar opposite and Toy Bonnie's warm nature did remind Bonnie of her younger days. Now here she was on the verge of crying, unable to tell if the man she loved so deeply even loved her back. Toy Bonnie wasn't one for crying unless it was serious which had kind of become the norm for all of them, but she was certainty not one to get angry.

And when she got mad…everyone could see it.

The only time Bonnie remembered seeing Toy Bonnie lose it completely was back in the November of 1987, just shortly after her and the others had rescued the Toys from being 'put down' as the company once put it.

Sometime during the night back at the original pizzeria which was undergoing a refurbishment, the ghost children possessed them and they murdered in a rather brutal fashion the first night guard that was hired to look after the place...later the next day, they discovered what they had done and they were appalled by it. The security cameras had caught them on tape in the act…strangely enough though those records quickly vanished and were never recovered.

Then at that very moment, Puppet guilt ridden by her actions of giving the night guard killing children new life within the Fazbears confessed why they did it and why they had been acting strange ever since the incidents. She also told them who the murderer was and that she hadn't done anything to expose him because from a logical perspective she hadn't got any proof other than the words of the ghost child that dwelt with her. Unfortunately, the Fazbears in that moment weren't exactly in a rational or calm mood and once the Puppet revealed to them the horrific truth, they lost it. They were all rightfully angry, but Toy Bonnie was by far the angriest of them all.

She didn't hold back any punches both verbally and physically against the Puppet. Bonnie remembered the image of Toy Bonnie pinning Puppet up against the wall, her rage filled eyes baying for her blood.

She wouldn't forgot that look of utter hatred on her face and neither would the Puppet.

_Those were very dark days. . ._

The sound of Toy Bonnie's stressed breathing brought Bonnie back to reality.

She now looked as if she was in deep thought, her facial expression being one of contemplation, there was a dull look in her eyes.

"I need to tell him, otherwise I am just hurting myself with endless doubt, I need know what he thinks and then….

Her hands turned into fists, her breathing became more rattled.

"Accept it."

She feared the worst scenario being that Toy Freddy didn't share her feelings and Bonnie could easily sympathise with her, she had wondered how Freddy felt towards her, but certain near actions with Freddy himself had eased her fears of her feelings never being returned.

Why would he try to kiss her if he didn't feel affectionate towards her?

She took hold of Toy Bonnie's hand.

"You are a sweet, kind girl, personally I would be surprised if he didn't feel something towards you, but…"

Toy Bonnie turned to face her and for what seemed to be the first time in many years, Bonnie appeared to look all mother like, the sun which was shining through the nearby windows cast a heavenly glow around her coupled with her warming smile.

"Bonbon, if he doesn't the feel same way you do about him, then he would do his best not to hurt you, he does love you as family and he would protect you from any harm, he will be as gentle as he can."

She pulled Toy Bonnie into another hug, letting the latter's head rest on her shoulders.

"Let your worries go, I know you're scared, but you know him and if you need consoling, I'll be there ok."

Toy Bonnie chuckled, Bonnie's affection really did touch her.

"I know you will, but I can handle this on my own, my fears are only inside my mind."

She giggled like a child, something which Bonnie had kind of seen her younger counterpart to be. "Besides I'm trying remember the last time when you were this affectionate."

Bonnie's eyes widen with annoyance.

"Really?" she said slowly, yet there was an edge of sternness to her voice, however this only served to make Toy Bonnie laugh.

"There it is your attitude again, the one I know and love, you sure do go from one mood to the other really quickly," she stated.

"So, I am prone to mood swings?" Bonnie muttered under her breath.

"That's nice."

Toy Bonnie pulled away from the sisterly hug and started to get up just as Chica and Toy Chica entered both carrying cameras. Their sudden entrance caused Bonnie to jump up as if she had been caught doing something wrong, she properly wasn't excepting an interruption.

"Oh…are we interrupting something?" Chica asked, stopping in her tracks.

"No, we were just having a 'sisterly chat'," Toy Bonnie replied, smiling looking happier than either of the two Chicas had seen her in a long time. Before Chica or Toy Chica for that matter could say anything, Toy Bonnie turned round and hugged Bonnie tightly, the latter's body freezing due to the sudden speed of the former's action.

"Thanks for pep talk, it really helped," Toy Bonnie whispered in her ear loud enough only for Bonnie to hear.

She then withdrew and left, sidestepping the two Chicas who just looked confused if anything at the scene before then.

"Sisterly advice girls…nothing more," she muttered, walking out of the doorway and heading off to join the other Fazbears in the kitchen. This time Toy Chica was about to speak, but Bonnie merely pulled a chair up and sat down in one corner of the room.

"You can take your pictures, I won't stop you I'm just here to make sure nothing goes wrong," she said, setting herself down.

"By the way. I think editing a Santa hat on Freddy would make him look adorable," she smirked, there was a glint of childlike joy in her eyes, something which she didn't expressed all that often. To see it again sent Chica's mind into detective mode, clearly the two Bonnies had held a heart to heart talk before they arrived. However, she quickly decided not to question her close friend and just smiled as she held the camera's sights to her eyes, capturing Freddy, Foxy and Goldie in the centre frame.

_"Sweet dreams guys!"_ she mentally giggled as she took the first of many pictures.

Bonnie smiled as she watched the two Chicas enjoy making amusement of the others, but her mind wandered as her eyes fell on Chica. She remembered Chica's offer to help her get closer to Freddy last night.

_"Hey Bonbon, what if we were to find a way to give you two the space you need?"_

She wanted to accept the offer and she needed to speak to Freddy, in case things took a dark turn before this nightmare reached its end.

If it had an end that is.

She just wanted to confess and let Freddy know, regardless of how he would react, yet deep inside she could guess at his answer.

It made her smile on the inside.

_Her happiest day in a dark world. . ._

* * *

_Inside the dream world. . ._

Foxy's eyes flashed opened, his entire surroundings were shrouded in bright white, and he initially shielded himself from its intensity.

"It's ok, this is what to except when you first enter your own dreams, and your mind will soon create a surrounding you'll recognise," said a familiar voice.

Slowly, Foxy lowered his hands and what he saw made he doubt his vision. He was back in the Pizzeria, the first one, the one which he had long called home, and everything was exactly as he remembered it, decayed, abandoned, empty and lacking any soul. To his immediate left was Freddy also in a state of bewilderment as he gazed about the wreckage that was their old home. Despite them both knowing this was a dream, everything looked so real, if he didn't know this was a dream beforehand, he could have easily accepted it for reality, however a few minor details stand out that told them this was not the case. Most notable was the closed fire door that lead up to the pizzeria's roof, however in reality it had probably been opened by Vincent as he was able to reach the roof when they're evacuating.

So, this was indeed a dream based solely on their collective memories.

"So, your minds have recreated your home, good, this is an ideal testing ground."

Both Freddy and Foxy looked up to see Goldie, floating above them with his arms folded and looking all dominant.

"Ok, as far as I understand it, we are aware that we are dreaming, yes?" he asked, looking around. "Yes, I know I'm dreaming, I can tell because I am aware of the real world, in a normal dream I would accept the world around me for what it was," Freddy asked, looking around, the pizzeria sure did look real.

Foxy reached out and touched a nearby table, its cold yet smooth and metallic surface met his hand, and it was real. "This is a dream, but the realism is overwhelming," he muttered, clearly amazed by the realism of it all.

"So, we are already lucid dreaming?" he asked, turning to face Goldie.

"Yes," Goldie answered warmly.

"The fact that you're aware of it already means that you are lucid dreaming. Furthermore the reason why this all looks real is because your subconsciousness is creating this scene from your memory and because our memories are so good, the dream can add a large depth of realism to it, basically the better you remember it, the more real it will appear," he added.

He continued to hover above them, staring around the room.

"So, Goldie, if we know that we are dreaming, then how do we control the dream?" Foxy asked. "Yeah shouldn't it be rather simple; I just need to imagine something with my own mind?" Freddy also asked, trying to simplify things. Goldie however shook his head in disagreement.

"No, from what I have read about Lucid dreaming, the next stage is all about balance, you can control your own dream, but only if you can control your emotions, if you cannot then your dreams are dictated by your unconscious mind."

Freddy and Foxy only looked more puzzled, Goldie sighed.

This wasn't an easy topic to discuss, but they needed to understand it, otherwise they would be at the Nightmares' mercy and they certainty didn't have any to speak of. "Ok, I'll try to make this very simple, basically when you normally dream, your unconscious mind shifts through your memories and creates a world which you travel through and it makes no sense after you've woken up, but in the moment, you believe it is real and everything weird that happens there is normal."

He held his hand, before Freddy or Foxy could ask more questions, hinting at them to be quiet.

"Your feelings dictate the dream's path, so when you feel happy something nice occurs, but when you feel scared your worst fears come to life.""The difference between normal and lucid dreaming is that you don't know it is your inner emotions that are controlling the dream, but in a lucid one you do."

Goldie then gestured to their surroundings, that being the Pizzeria.

"The trick is to control what you feel, you can then decide what you want to happen or have for that matter, if you don't then your unconscious mind will run amok and things will rapidly spiral out of your control."

He then clasped his hands, looking impressed with his explanation.

"And that's what several online articles and Wikipedia gives you as an explanation for Lucid Dreaming, all thanks to Jeremy's computer."

He then looked at the pair seriously.

"The main risk with all of this is if your fears take control, then things will get very nasty." Immediately in Goldie's mind, the words of Nightmare Freddy when Goldie and Foxy first encountered him came racing back.

_"Or if you like and this is my specialty, I can take you to the depths of your terror, make your fears real and have them...kill you and not in a nice way."_

All three of them had seen what a Nightmare could do when they were at their most powerful, Nightmare Freddy was a prime example and to think he was only one of four Nightmares present in the real world.

Thank God it was only four and not nine. . .for now at least.

"So, first, I will give you an example of how to control the dream, so watch carefully," Goldie said, spreading out his arms.

He closed his eyes for a moment, becoming completely still. Then without warning, a pistol flashed in out of nowhere, appearing in mid-air, but Goldie caught it in his hands before it could fall to the floor.

"I thought of a pistol and thus a pistol appears before me, you need to have a strong demand for what it is that you're wishing for though." He smiled, twisting the weapon around in his hand, feeling quite proud of his little achievement.

"You're making this look too easy and I am wondering as to why we never tired this method before, it could have saved us a lot of trouble earlier," Freddy remarked.

"In fairness when were we ever in a situation when we would consider lucid dreaming to be an option?" Goldie asked back and Freddy found himself to be agreeing with the latter's words. Although given the bizarre supernatural scenarios that they had been forced to endurance over the decades, the possibility of Lucid Dreaming being an actual thing wouldn't have surpised him back then, in fact it would have been normal by his standards of 'weird'.

"Ok you two try and remember to focus," Goldie instructed, bringing Freddy's mind back to the present.

Freddy closed his eyes and thought of something, something simple to start with.

_"I want a slice of pizza?"_ he thought, bringing the image of a peperoni pizza slice to life inside his mind. Suddenly, he felt something in his hand, something warm, he opened his eyes and saw that the object was indeed a pizza slice with cheese and peperoni on top. Freddy smiled, so far this was actually easy, at this rate mastering lucid dreaming wouldn't take very long.

He turned to see Foxy holding a pirate sword, clearly, he had gone back to his roots.

"Ahh, ahh, me laddies, there be golden treasure to grasp from Davy Jones' Locker!" he roared, clearly impressed with his results as he tested the sword out.

Goldie smiled, the first step was completed.

"Well, both your attempts are good…for starters, let's try to imagine something a bit more complex?"

He raised his eyebrows in amusement.

"Controlling your fears."

"How?" Foxy asked, eyeing him.

"Won't they run amok like you said?"

"Only if you let them Foxy, you need to keep them submerged," Goldie replied. He then snapped his hands as if he had just realized something.

"Hang on, I can give you both an example of what could happen if you let your fears get to you."

Once more he closed his eyes and became still.

And for a moment there was nothing, just Goldie hovering in midair, not moving at all with his eyes closed. However, it soon be obvious that something was up, there was an uneasy feeling in the air and it was growing. At first there was a wind, a feeling of air blowing around the building, growing in intensity as it began to howl, turning into a hellish shriek as it whipped itself into a ferocious furry. Both Freddy and Foxy could feel, it was so strong that Freddy needed to keep a good hold of his top hat, unless he wished to lose it. Then everything went dark, pitch dark, everything around them had become so shrouded in darkness that neither, Freddy or Foxy could see anything, not even their own hands which they waved in front of their eyes, but to no avail.

"Goldie, what are you doing?" Freddy asked, although Goldie didn't answer him, there was only silence.

Then suddenly the light returned as did their vision, although the Pizzeria looked different…very different.

Freddy's breath was taken away and Foxy swore his heart skipped a few beats. Everything was burning, the whole Pizzeria was on fire with the flames entrapping anything which it encountered. And of course, there was the traditional thick black smoke which hugged the ceiling, further locking them inside the deadly ring of fire.

However, that wasn't what shocked the two Fazbears. . .

Bodies…about a dozen of them, all lying on the floor and for each one there was a large pool of blood by its side.

They looked if they had been mauled, savagely beaten, with multiple limbs missing.

Seeing a scene such as this was shocking enough, but Foxy felt all of the blood drain away from his face when he recognized one of the bodies.

"Chica…"

In fact, now doing a double take, Foxy could see that the bodies were of the Fazbears themselves, all eleven of them including Mike and Jeremy.

Then he saw himself. . .he had been decapitated.

Everyone was lying there, having met a gruesome end by unknown hands…although in all honesty Foxy could easily guess who had done it. "Goldie…is this what you fear?" Freddy asked, looking round, he knew this wasn't real, but it felt real, more than he would like.

"You fear death, you fear us losing all that we hold dear and you're scared of failure most of all."

"You aren't alone in this feeling Goldie, I feel it too, sometimes during my darkest days, I think that it wouldn't take much to finish us off," Foxy muttered, casting his eyes from one brutalized body to the next.

"I know, that's why I've been fighting so hard to prevent it."

Both Freddy and Foxy looked back to see Goldie now with his eyes wide open, staring at the horrendous destruction around him. "This is what I fear, I fear death, it is natural for any living thing to want to live," he remarked.

"For me, this is the worst-case scenario possible, I fear losing everything to Vincent and his Nightmare friends."

He held his hands out as if he was sending out an order. "However, the key lesson is that once you recognized what you fears are and know that they are not real…you can control them along with your emotions."

A sense of calm descended on the room as the fire, the smoke and the bodies along with the blood rapidly faded away, returning the Pizzeria to its original state which was decay, abandonment and a strong sense of being lifeless.

Freddy and Foxy looked around, everything was back to the way it once was.

"Now you two try, be sure to find a balance between your emotions and what you want, especially the negative ones, otherwise you'll end up somewhere similar to where I took you," Goldie suggested.

Foxy using his own mind reached out and created his worst fear which was something not far off from which Goldie feared. Freddy and Goldie watched with ever widening eyes as a seriously injured Chica rose out of the floor before him.

_Except she wasn't alone. . ._

Behind her rose Nightmare Freddy with his claws at the ready and of smiling like the psychopath that he was. Instantly before anyone could do anything the Nightmare rearranged his claws as a makeshift blade and then stabbed Chica right through her back, effectively impaling the woman. Chica screamed, clutching her chest as blood started to flow, running down her body like multiple streams. Foxy of course was frozen in fear and Goldie knew he seriously risked falling into the fatal trap, the more you feared something, the more real it becomes. Freddy wanted to rush forward and help, but he knew that it was just an apparition, it wasn't real, but Foxy needed to be the one to control it, this was his fear.

Nightmare Freddy laughed as he slashed Chica's back with his other claw, enjoying her pain filled reaction with each new swipe.

"FOXY!" Chica screamed, reaching out with one hand while desperately trying to break free.

Foxy just stare, frozen to the spot with his hands trembling.

"You're not real," he whispered, watching as Nightmare Freddy butchered Chica and loving every second of it.

"You are not real," he muttered again, only this time it was louder than before.

Nightmare Freddy with one of his claws gripped Chica's head and positioned his other claw under his throat.

"You are not real!" Foxy yelled, his sudden outburst actually startled Nightmare Freddy, he stopped and turned to face the intruder.

He smiled, displaying once more that detached coldness which existed in all Nightmares.

_"I am what you fear, I am what you know will come, even if you don't want me to be real, natural chance would say otherwise,"_ he hissed, but it wasn't Nightmare Freddy's voice that came from his lips…but rather Foxy's.

And Foxy was clearly shocked, judging by his eyes going wide, he wasn't expecting that at all.

Nightmare Freddy continued, still using Foxy's voice.

_"You know there exists the strong possibility of this becoming real, you feel it, you fear it, and should you fail to protect her."_

He gestured to Chica who was struggling to break free from his grip, but clearly failing to make any serious headway. _"It would destroy you utterly and you fear that too, you would never forgive yourself for allowing it to happen."_

Foxy shook his head, his expression became angry. "You're not real yet…and whilst I still live you won't become a reality."

Nightmare Freddy's smile widen.

_"Be careful,"_ he playfully teased, again in Foxy's voice.

_"Don't make a promise you know you can't keep."_

Foxy's eyes narrowed as he stared the Nightmare down, his stance one of absolute determination, he was in no mood to back down. "I will certainty try to keep it, just watch me." Nightmare Freddy chuckled in Foxy's pirate accent as he started to fade away before Foxy's very eyes.

_"We shall see laddie."_

He released Chica from his grip as she too now started to fade away.

_"We shall see…"_

Then they were both gone, vanished into thin air.

Freddy looked surprised, was it really that easy to master your own fears?  
Goldie however looked very impressed, evident by his smile.

"Well done Foxy, bravo!" he cheered, clapping his hands.

"You faced your fears and won, remember fear is an emotion, it doesn't listen to reality, so don't let them cloud you, just keep a clear and focused mind and you'll do well."

He then turned to face Freddy, who instantly felt Goldie's shadow fall over him. "Ok Freddy, now it's your turn, remember to attack your fears with reality, they need to be contained for this whole trap scheme to work."

Freddy gulped, he knew what his worst fear was, in fact he had several, of which one of them was worst depended on the situation, but needless to say they all involved death. Slowly and with a steady hand, Freddy reached out with his own mind and made his worst fears manifest themselves before him, appearing out of thin air, becoming ever more real with each passing second. Goldie's eyes widen when Freddy's fears became clear, he shouldn't have been shocked seeing how they all feared the same thing, yet he was still shocked by the realism of it all. The human mind sure was a crafty machine in its own right, capable of frightening itself into submission with situations which weren't even real.

Yet it was in dreams where humanity's' fears became real.

Pain…physical and emotional pain was the one word to sum up the scene which Freddy had laid out before him.

It showed himself along with Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all on stage as if they were preforming, only that they weren't preforming. Instead they were screaming in pure agony, gripping their heads as they underwent some sort of uncontrollable fit. Their high-pitched screams filled the pizzeria, but Freddy, the real Freddy just stood in a lonesome silence, staring at the group as they suffered wave after wave of indescribable pain.

"Freddy, is this your worst fear?" Foxy asked.

Freddy didn't turn around to face him, he only shook his head as if to say 'no'.

It was what came after the pain that he truly feared.

Just when they thought that the screams couldn't get any louder…they stopped, the Fazbears on stage halted in their cries almost instantly, they fell deathly silent, their heads dropped and their hands fell by their side, becoming virtually motionless.

However there now appeared to be children surrounding the group, wondering what had happened, evident by their curious, yet warry expressions.

Some were on the verge of asking the Fazbears if they were alright, only for the Fazbears to raise their heads, cutting the children off before they couldn't even get a word out.

At first their eyes were closed, but they soon opened, only to reveal four pairs of white dots which accounted for pupils.

Slowly and like a predator, the eyes shifted from one child to the next, studying everyone in detail amidst a tense silence.

Not too surprisingly the children started to back off, they could easily sense the tension.

"Minster Fazbear, are you alright?" a little girl who was clutching a Bonnie plushie asked.

"Do you need help from a staff member?"

At the very mention of the word 'staff member', Freddy or rather the dream version of Freddy turned to face her, his white dots for eyes staring at her, like she had said something bad.

There was anger and mistrust all rolled together in his body posture. He dropped his mic, letting it fall to the floor, hitting the wooden floor boards with a defiant thud.

Bonnie dropped her guitar, the sound of it impacting the wood spooked several children. Chica released her cupcake from her grip, allowing it to fall to the floor, rolling away once it made contact. Foxy brought his hook away from his side and into a more aggressive stance, as if he were getting ready to pounce.

"Is something wrong?" another child asked, a little boy to be precise, raising his hand like one would do in school.

Bonnie instantly snapped her neck in his direction, her icy stare putting the boy on thin ice, those white pupils for eyes didn't exactly come over as inviting. Chica started to twitch, rather uncontrollable, her head constantly jerking as if she had a nervous jolt in her neck.

And of course, the surrounding children noticed this, including Foxy's hook hand which was shaking with the fingers on his other hand caught in a tremor. Then the little girl who had asked Freddy previously, held up her Bonnie plushie to him as if she was offering it.

"Do you want a plushie?" she asked…the usual sweet innocence of a child who didn't know much about the wider world.

Regardless of how she intended to say it, Freddy appeared to take her words to great offense, narrowing his eyes in immense disapproval.

His hands quickly turned into fists.

_"Murderer. . ."_

The girl's eyes widen upon hearing those words, overall, she looked confused as did other children.

"Minster-"

She was cut off by Freddy letting out an all mightily yell, instantly joined in by the other Fazbears.

Freddy looked down at the girl who was now shaking in absolute fear, he pointed at her.

_"MURDERER!"_

Then he leapt at her, aiming to slam her to the floor in which he did with horrific results. Both Goldie and Foxy gasped as there was a loud girlish scream, silenced by the undeniable crack of bone, the snap of a neck. Of course, the other children starting screaming too, but Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were upon them before they could attempt to escape.

Screams….it was all anyone could hear, the high pitch hails of children and the shrieks of the possessed Fazbears, their original voices mixing in with those of the ghost children who dwelt within them. In short, they were killing the children, displaying absolute brutality, no mercy was being given. Foxy noticed that Freddy had his hands over his ears as if he was trying to block out the noise. He then fell to his knees, pressing his hands into his ears even further, doing anything to stop the fear inducing screams.

"_Oh shit, his fears have got to him,"_ Foxy mentally cursed, instantly rushing over to help his beleaguered friend.

Goldie had also thought the same thing, if Freddy couldn't control his fears, then they would control him. In short it wouldn't take much for his own fears to effectively make him powerless within his own mind. The scene was becoming ever more real as Goldie could see himself in it, in his possessed state of course and he was killing several children, teleporting before them, preventing their escape.

In one case, he grabbed hold of a child by the arm, in fact it was the boy who had asked earlier if something was wrong.

Then the dream version of Goldie in his possessed rage which the real Goldie remembered all too well, took hold of the boy's other arm and in one swift motion…dislocated both arms, pulling them out of their sockets, plunging the boy into a whole world of unimaginable pain.

Goldie reached Freddy who was still on the floor with his hands over his ears, his eyes were shut tight as the sounds of chaos and death encircled him.

"This is real, it could happen one day, and it could happen at any time," Freddy muttered, sounding very depressed as the screams grew in their intensity.

"FREDDY, THIS IS ALL IN YOUR MIND, IT ISN'T REAL!" Foxy shouted, trying to pull Freddy's hands away from his ears, but to no avail.

"No one is safe from us, we're living with a ticking time bomb inside of us, and so many will die," Freddy whispered, not even reacting to Foxy's cries.

The scene grew, getting bigger and bigger as more and more children appeared only to be set upon by the Fazbears and worse still the Toys had now entered the stage in their possessed rage. Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica had trapped several children in a corner, their heads constantly twitching violently as their white pupils for eyes stared into their soon to be victims. Mangle meanwhile dropped down from the ceiling, crushing two children, trapping them with her body and endoskeleton arms.

In her possessed rage, she proceeded to pin down several other children, whose cries were swiftly silenced by the cracking of their necks.

"I don't know when they're coming, it could be within an instant, but this will happen, vindicate emotions know no boundaries," Freddy hissed to himself, bowing his head and still covering his ears.

Goldie knelt beside Freddy and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him in an attempt to get his attention.

"Freddy, listen to me, none of this has actually happened, it could have happened, but it didn't, you know it wouldn't and the ghost children wouldn't allow it either, they've never attacked children before," Goldie argued, trying to instill some sense of reality into Freddy's mind.

His fears had dragged him in deep, Goldie could see it, judging by Freddy's withdrawn behavior and the realism of the scene which played out before them in a never-ending cycle.

"Freddy, would you really let this happen, would you stand for it?" Foxy asked, desperately trying to get Freddy's attention in order to pull him out of this mental spiral. Then Balloon Boy appeared alongside Puppet, who were also in their possessed state and instantly started to brutally gang up on nearby children, inflicting their anger through physical means, they knew no bounds, someone had to pay for their suffering and anyone would do if it gained a few seconds of sweet vengeful pleasure.

"Freddy…what did you love the most about your past job?" Goldie asked, his voice having all quiet and calm as he knelt beside him.

"What brought you the most joy?"

Foxy gave Goldie a confused look, he was asking about that right now!

"My talent…being able…to let it bring happiness to someone," Freddy answered, although his voice was low, making it hard to hear over the screams and yells. "Do you want to take that happiness away from them?" Goldie asked, his eyes briefly flickering over to the chaos that was unfolding in front of him.

"No…I don't," Freddy replied, remaining in his withdrawn posture with his eyes still downcast.

Foxy only looked even more confused and mouthed the words, 'where you going with this?'

Goldie merely mouthed back, 'regaining his willpower, I think'.

He then returned to Freddy.

"Do you think that the ghost children want to kill other children Freddy, to give them the same fate which befall them?"

Freddy slowly shook his head.

"No…that wouldn't be right, they would become what they hated if they did that."

Goldie internally smiled, injecting some sense of realism into the debate was appearing to bring Freddy back from the brink.

"And throughout their time with us, did they ever lash out at other children, when they took control of us from time to time?"

"No…it was only adults."

Then Foxy jumped in

"And why do you think they only lashed out at adults, laddie?"

"Because their killer was an adult."

Foxy smiled, putting his arm around Freddy's shoulder and pointed at the unfolding scene of misery before them with his hook hand. "Then does this scene come from, because I don't remember this?"

Slowly, Freddy raised his head and looked at the chaos around him.

"It is what I fear, although this never happened," he said slowly. For a split second, the entire scene flickered with everyone involved fading away briefly only to quickly regain their density as Freddy continued. "It could happen one day, we could only keep them at bay for so long when we feel their anger, but most of the time it is quite sudden."

"True, there is a faint possibility that it could occur, but would the children allow it, would you Freddy Fazbear allow it…I know I wouldn't," Foxy replied, calling Freddy by his full name to get his attention.

"No…I wouldn't," Freddy replied, again the scene momently disappeared before reappearing before them.

Freddy's fear obviously didn't want to let go anytime soon.

"I do share your fear Freddy, but we would all rather die than let this happen," Goldie stated, gesturing to the savagery that surrounded them.

"Anger knows no bounds."

"Yet it can also be controlled and tamed, can it not?"

He turned to face Freddy, whose eyes were looking forward.

"Can it not?" he asked again.

"Yes…it can be tamed to an extent," Freddy answered. The scene once more flickered, only this time it took longer for it to reappear.

"You have free will Freddy, what would you do?" Goldie asked. For a while Freddy didn't speak, his eyes remained glued on the dream vision of himself, sadistically killing any child that he came across.

_"Aren't we the same, you and I?"_ a sly voice asked from inside his head.

_"We both have the ability to commit some much harm, don't we?"_

_"Yes…we both have the ability to inflict pain on others," _Freddy mentally replied, he knew who was speaking to him, his self-doubt and in Nightmare Freddy's voice no less.

Typical. . .

_"And so do the children, except they don't really ask permission to possesses you beforehand and they have a lot of anger, justified of course due to their murder,"_ the inner voice cooed, its words were like honey, wrapping themselves around Freddy's mind like chains.

_"You may not want to hurt children and yes they haven't outright attacked any children, but…"_

Freddy felt himself tense up with anticipation of the voice's next words.

_"If that little moment in Jeremy's van is to prove anything it is that they have no control over their anger and a victim can quickly become vindictive, a little push and boom, the beast is out and no one is safe, not even children." _

_"You're both right and wrong,"_ Freddy mentally answered.

_"How?"_ the voice asked, sounding like it was snarling at him.

"I have a choice and they have a choice, a little rash action can lead to conquences, but we both wish for that not to happen, they know who the really enemy is and so do we, yes I fear the worst case scenario, but I would try my best to prevent it and so would the ghost children."

"This scene of us killing children hasn't happened yet, it could have happened in the past but it didn't, you have no argument to make."

There was nothing else from the other end, self-doubt appeared to have gone quiet. Then the scene appeared to freeze, the Fazbears and the children froze on the spot, all sound ceased to be. Foxy and Goldie looked a little bewildered as everything around them had come to a complete standstill.

However, when they turned to look at Freddy, they saw him smirking and they knew that he was taking back control of his fears.

_"Hello…is there anyone out there?" _Freddy called.

No answer.

_"Freddy to self-doubt,"_ he jokingly remarked feeling his inner confidence rise in strength.

_"You fool!"_ came an angry reply in the form of a vile hiss.

_"You fear it and it would destroy you if you became what you hated, if you attack the ones which you hold so dearly!"_ it snarled.

Freddy chuckled to himself.

_"You're right, it would destroy me, I can't deny that, hence why I fear it, if I didn't then I would be committing those acts, but I don't want to and I choose not to, how does that logical assessment work for you?" _

There was a loud scream from the other end, for logic doesn't mix with emotion for logic uses common sense and emotion relied on feeling and speculation and self-doubt was an emotion.

_"YOU KNOW IT CAN HAPPEN ONE DAY!" _self-doubt yelled from the depths of his subconscious.

The scene started to flicker rapidly with everyone beginning to fade away.

_"No while I'm here it won't," _Freddy stated with his determination now stronger than ever.

The screaming grew louder as if self-doubt was announcing its death throes. The overhanging lights started to tremble, their brightness quickly switching from intense light to low.

_"Go away and die," _Freddy demanded.

The lights started to shake rather uncontrollably.

_"NOOOOOOO!"_

The entire pizza appeared to groan and tremble with the scene involving children being killed by possessed Fazbears disappearing and the lights flashing on and off.

"You are not real," Freddy stated.

Then everything stopped dead in its tracks.

The lights returned to their normal intensity of brightness, the whole nightmare scene had vanished in it's entirely and there was no more screaming inside Freddy's head. He had won, he was in control of his fears. "Well…I have to say, that could have gone a lot worse," Goldie muttered, getting up off the floor.

"Define worse?" Freddy asked in a somewhat humorous tone.

Goldie turned to face him, he smiled.

"You giving in, for me that would be worse then what actually happened."

He reached out and softly patted Freddy on the head.

"Well done Freddy, it wasn't easy, but you did it."

"So now that we can control our fears and lucid dream, what happens next?" Foxy asked, pushing himself off the floor.

"Well, now we need to bring the others in and then we can train them in groups and that should help speed up the process, everyone needs to be on the same level if we are to stand a chance against the Nightmares," Goldie answered, now looking at the empty space where Freddy's fear had previously materialised.

"The human mind is a creative yet deadly invitation of the universe that is a certainty," he muttered to himself. He sighed out of sweet relief, controlling one's fears was not easy, especially in a tense situation which they were sure to encounter later on.

_"Second step completed,"_ Goldie mentally noted, surveying his surroundings.

_"Now to bring the others in and then complete the final step together, I just hope that this works."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, the 'second' stage will be more complicated with more people involved as dark memories rise to the surface, but it will serve a purpose. :-)  
The chess broad is being set up again. ;-)  
Thank you for reading and please review.


	44. Inner Demons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, here's chapter 44, I'm working to upload new chapters on a weekly basis. :-)
> 
> This chapter was a lot of fun to write, despite being quite long, but I often do write out long chapters as I have a lot of content to cover.
> 
> Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I missed. I do often go back through individual chapters to remove any lingering issues if I see them. Other than that do enjoy, and a big thank you to those who have left Kudos. . .  
Warning, this chapter contains references to suicide.

**Chapter 44**

**Inner Demons.**

_"**I AM YOUR WICKNESS MADE FLESH!"**_

**Nightmare from Ultimate Custom Night**

Sometime after Freddy's and Foxy's experience in the world dream, Goldie had gone and brought Bonnie and Chica in. Upon mastering lucid dreaming, themselves, Goldie then went got the Toys in for the Originals to teach, while Goldie himself could focus on Puppet and Balloon Boy.

And finally, they could bring Mike and Jeremy up to speed if they all taught them together, it would save everyone a lot of time.

Bonnie and Chica faced their own fears which were similar to that of Foxy and Freddy, although they were slightly different. Chica for one feared that they would never regain what they had lost and would end up spending the rest of their lives in an insane asylum for the criminally insane with various experiments being performed on them to explain the reason behind their 'possession'.

Her fears had created quite a vid image of what the future could be…

Bonnie on the other hand as it turned out feared turning into Nightmare Bonnie, obviously her comment on them and the Fazbears being the same had hit a cord with Bonnie. She watched herself commit a range of sicking, blood thirsty acts on various innocent people which was enough to make anyone throw up a hundred times over. However, both of them were able to overcome their fears, by reminding themselves of their moral principles, their determination and the likelihood of either event happening in the future, if Bonnie didn't want to become like Nightmare Bonnie, then she wouldn't do and if Chica didn't wish to end up in an asylum then she would do everything in her power to prevent that and she wasn't in one yet…a good sign when all things truly considered.

The real question now was could they handle their fears in the future and when the actual fighting started, keep them under wraps.

_Only time would tell. . ._

"You're doing good Bonbon, just keep up the pressure with the realism, remember fears are based on emotional responses, if you control your emotions then you can control your fears," said Freddy, watching Toy Bonnie face down her fears which consisted of countless children being killed by Vincent and then with her and others being blamed for failing to do their job, ending up in them being thrown out onto the streets.

Looking back Freddy could easily see why she and the other Toys feared being blamed, back in 1987 Fazbear Entertainment had pinned high hopes on the second Pizzeria with the idea that it could revive the business. Apparently during the Toys' training before they arrived at the Pizzeria, the company had stressed to them that they needed to be better than the Originals, they had to be at their very best in order to succeed, they couldn't fail.

The company at the time said that the Toys couldn't afford to let hundreds of excited children down…when really the underlying message was that they couldn't afford to let the company down.

And when the Bite of 1987 happened along with the Second Missing Children's Incident, the company underwent an insane drive for survival, desperate to save what they could from the negative repercussions of events which would cause serious financial harm to them.

However, something or rather 'someone' had to take the fall for the mess and that someone was the Toys, especially seeing how the company was more than willing to shift the daytime staff's responsibility of maintaining the children's' safety to the Toys and hysterical parents' were more than edger to find a scapegoat to avenge the loss of their loved ones.

And the Toys nearly did take the fall, had the Originals along with a younger looking Jeremy Fitzgerald not intervened at the last minute.

Truly for all the arguments, tensions and even fights that the two groups had gone through during their time at the second Pizzeria, in the end the Originals couldn't afford to let the Toys take the blame for something which wasn't their fault. Freddy chuckled to himself, to think that nearly over thirty years ago, he said the Toys, had 'munchkin' spines, when in reality they were as tough as nails.

They were a family at the end of the day and after it seemed that all of the chaos had finally settled after 1994, it was enough to keep him going.

"Foxy, how is Toy Freddy doing?" he asked, turning in his direction.

"Great captain, he's overcoming his fear of failure," Foxy replied, also chuckling as he watched Toy Freddy verbally beat the shit out of his mind's representation of the CEO of the second Pizzeria.

"YOU WERE TRAINED FOR THIS TOY FREDDY, THE SAFETY OF THE CHILDREN WAS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AND TO THINK WE PUT HALF OF THE COMPANY'S BUGET INTO GETTING YOU READY," the CEO yelled, towering over Toy Freddy and looking all menacing.

"YOU ARE NOT FIT TO BE FREDDY'S HEIR!"

Foxy couldn't help but laugh, if his own memory served him correctly the CEO of the second Fazbear Pizzeria was quite a harsh, strict and disciplined individual. However, someone failed to perform their job, he would let rip and verbally knife them, and he seemed to get pleasure out of it. In fact, he was properly a workplace psychopath, cold natured and only interested in success or his own self-fulfilment. Hell, Vincent could have gone for such a position if he wanted, but then again, there are many different brands of psychopaths in the world….Vincent was only one of millions.

However, instead of backing down in fear of the CEO's words, Toy Freddy simply straighten his top hat and narrowed his eyes.

"Excuse me 'sir', but our job is largely to entertain children, what is the main job of the day staff, what, are they just meant to sit around and watch us preform all day?"

The CEO looked even angrier than before

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE HARD-WORKING MEN AND WOMEN OF FAZBEAR ENTERTIANMENT!"

"Does that also mean your stock brokers, your financiers and your 'hard working' board of directors with their massive salaries?" Toy Freddy inquired, his bear ears raising up as he smirked because he knew about the company's corrosive corruption.

Foxy was just laughing his head off in the background, but the CEO paid no attention to him, his sights were firmly set on Toy Freddy.

"You smug, reckless, mother fucker," the CEO hissed, barely able to contain himself. He then slapped Toy Freddy on the head hard, making the man stumble backwards, he nearly lost his top hat, but he quickly regained his footing.

"YOU PATHETIC FREDDY WANNABE!" the CEO yelled, you could swear that steam was coming out of his ears.

"I'LL FREZZE YOUR PAY!"

Toy Freddy just laughed, making the CEO reached new unheard of levels of anger.

"Actually, I don't ever remember getting paid," Toy Freddy remarked, thinking back to the early days of his career.

The CEO leaned in and harshly poked Toy Freddy in the chest.

"IT IS BECAUSE OF YOUR FAILURE TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN THAT WE FAILLED, YOU HAVE A LOT TO ANSWER FOR-"

Toy Freddy punched him right in the face, smacking the CEO in the nose, he did it with enough force that the man stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.

Toy Freddy wasted no time in putting his foot on the man's chest, effectively pinning him in place.

"I am Toy Freddy Fazbear, I am my own 'Freddy' and besides it was your responsibility to make sure that the company didn't repeat the mistakes of the past, perhaps you could have avoided so by spending the money you earned on proper background checks for your staff, I had my responsibility…"

His eyes narrowed as he pushed the man into the floor with his foot, crushing him.

"But where was yours?"

The CEO remained calm, appearing to study Toy Freddy intently for a while.

Then he smiled and spoke, his words sending a shiver up the Fazbear's spine.

_"You still blame yourself for letting them die, so much hope was placed on you."_

His voice wasn't the CEO's anymore, but instead it was his own, Toy Freddy's eyes widen in surprise to hear such a thing.

For a moment, he seemed bge taken back.

However, it was only for a moment.

"Given what I knew back then, what could have I done, yes people had hoped that I and the others were better than what came before, but no one could do the impossible."

_"You know you could have done better!"_ the CEO growled, still in Toy Freddy's voice.

Toy Freddy reached down and swiftly grabbed the man by the collar of his clothes and pulled him up close.

_"You're a failure Toy Freddy!"_ he hissed through gritted teeth.

Toy Freddy smirked once more.

"Yes, but you're an even bigger failure, your position was higher than mine and with great power comes great responsibility."

Then he proceeded to brutally smash the CEO's teeth in with his fist.

He dropped the man to the floor, leaving him groaning with more than several missing teeth in his mouth.

"And I want a bloody pay rise," Toy Freddy muttered, turning and walking away.

Foxy walked up and looked over at the messy scene.

"Wow…"

He turned to Toy Freddy, looking quite shocked.

"You broke his teeth."

Toy Freddy merely rubbed his hands together.

"Yeah, well I deserve to give myself a little kicking for blaming myself over something which wasn't really my fault."

He looked up and smiled at Foxy.

"Plus, the real CEO was a cold hearted bastard and I was wanting to give him a piece of my mind for years."

Foxy smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I can't really argue with that."

They both turned to see the CEO fade away as he lay on the floor, breathing in and out like he had been running beforehand.

"Well that's your fear under control then laddie," Foxy stated, visibly pleased that Toy Freddy had succeeded.

"Really it is just ourselves shouting at our reflections in a mirror, once you look past the threats and aggressive posture, it's really just you," Toy Freddy replied, equally glad he had overcome his fears.

* * *

Meanwhile on the other side of the Pizzeria, Goldie was watching Balloon Boy with folded arms as the latter stood before an empty space, waiting with tense breath for his inner fears to materialise.

It soon came with the sound of laughter.

A deep hearty laugh that steadily grew in strength, as Balloon Boy's fear materialised, with an imposing figure slowly coming together out of thin air.

Wrapped in a black dinner suit, sporting a bright red hat and bow tie, the animatronic known as Lefty came into being; stepping forward as he did. He held a microphone in his left hand and possessed only one eye, bearing a bright yellow pupil as he looked around until his gaze fell on Balloon Boy. Judging Lefty by his appearance alone, there seemed to be little reason to fear him with his smart suit and top hat, he looked any ordinary children's entertainer. Yet you should never judge a book by its cover and Lefty was no exception.

"I'd planned something special just for you," he said warmly, stepping towards BB in a casual manner. His one eye, a yellow pupil was completely fixed on BB, as he could see him and no one else.

"Come and sing with me child," Lefty offered, holding his hand out, on the surface his offer looked genuine, but BB knew better.

"No," he said firmly, folding his arms as a show of defiance.

Lefty however looked curious to BB's rejection, leaning his head to one side.

"Why, we had so much fun last time," he remarked, again there was nothing sinister in his tone.

"No," BB replied coldly, maintaining his stoic stance.

"I know what you really are."

Lefty narrowed his eye, appearing to be studying BB intently and for a while a silence developed between them.

Goldie continued to watch from the side and he immediately noted that Lefty's design was completely identical to the robotic creation of SpringBonnie, given how human he looked. His interactions however were noticeably robotic with his pauses and choice of words.

"You're afraid. . .of me," Lefty said, his tone was low and serious, his eye narrowed.

Slowly he stepped forward and then took another step as he cast a shadow over BB.

"I can sense it, you hide it, but it is still there, it isn't invisible to me," Lefty remarked, with his tone having harden, losing it warmth.

With his right hand he placed it on his chest before whispering coldly.

"Let me make room for you in here. . ."

His chest rattled ever so slightly as he spoke.

"Your fears they grow, you know what I am referring to."

"And you know that you will face me again soon and this time, unfortunately for you, my springlocks might work."

Then he smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes, let alone his smile.

"In fact, let's try now."

Suddenly from his hand, he produced a series of strings and threw them forward like a fishing man casting a line.They all caught BB by the arm and once done Lefty pulled back hard, dragging BB forward with so much force that he stumbled. BB tried to resist the pull, but in a competition of strength he was no match as Lefty reeled him in. His stoic stance had immediately evaporated, with his eyes expressing a deep-seated fear as his mind exploded into raw panic.

With his mind being swamped by fear, it feed into Lefty's appearance as the animatronic began to look more and more demented, with his head constantly twitching and shaking, as he emitted mindless static at an ever increasing volume.

"Come closer, let's smile together," he said, his voice now flickering between words and buzzing static.

BB pulled back hard, but it was a useless fight and he knew it, as did his fears with Lefty turning even more erratic as his chest began to rattle loudly with multiple gears shifting about.

"Next time, I will find you and I won't be alone, not even your friends will able to hide you from me," Left uttered, his tone was now a mixture of his male voice and a sinister child like malice.

"Let's see how many pieces I can cut you into. . ."

Suddenly, his chest plates burst wide open, almost flying off their hinges, revealing a death trap of gears and joints that brought up repressed memories for Balloon Boy of his experience being inside the animatronic. Amongst Lefty's other insides were the infamous springlocks, all twitching back and forth with the deadly hard plastic and metal components popping in and out of view.

Lefty's insides had all the makings of an iron maiden.

Although the sight of the springlocks sent a cold shiver up BB's spine and his fears responded accordingly as they grew in strength.

"There is space for you, but just. . .barely," Lefty whispered in a tone completely filled with malice.

"However, you won't be alone in here."

"I have familiar faces to keep you company."

Suddenly, a rather long metallic arm reached out from within the dark confines of Lefty. The arm itself was tattered and withered with age and rust, as the hand reached out for Balloon Boy with its fingers looking rather skeletal.

"WE WILL FIND YOU, YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM US OR FROM THE PITS HELL THAT ACHE TO SWALLOW YOU WHOLE!" a shrill and hated filled voice cried out, amidst the electric static that Lefty continued to emit when he wasn't talking.

The Possessed Prop Suits. . .

All of BB's fears were coming back to haunt him and at the mere sight of those things only further strengthen his fears' grip on his mind. More hands similar to the first one reached out from inside Lefty, all aiming to grab him and pull him into a world of enteral suffering. BB's fears skyrocketed as Lefty pulled him closer, almost within reach of the possessed prop suits' hands.

"SOON YOU WILL KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE TORN APART!" they screamed in a collective rage.

"Your family cannot save you from me, I will be your personal tormentor," Lefty hissed in a vile tone as his sole pupil had rolled backwards, giving him two vacant black eyes that made him look soulless. In the back of his mind, Balloon Boy knew that it was highly likely that Lefty would be recreated by the Nightmares and then be sent to hunt him specifically whilst others like Goldie would be occupied by the other animatronics.

However, that didn't mean that Lefty would win, nor that the murdered nightguards would succeed in their goal for revenge. At the heart of it all, he was terrified over the prospect of it, without questioning the possibility of it becoming true, which relied on logic. Fears however were mostly based in emotions and his own fear was no expectation.

Yet even if he became surrounded by them, his family would never abandon him, no matter what happened.

He seemed to lower his head and sigh, inviting Lefty to say in a spiteful tone dripping with malice.

"You accept that we are very much real and that we won't rest until you are consumed by the fires of hell that scream for your damnation."

"True," BB muttered back in response.

Lefty reached out with his free hand, now being close enough to drag the boy.

"That doesn't mean you will win though."

Lefty stopped in mid-action, his hand barely touching BB as he eyed the boy suspiciously.

"My family will always stand by me and we have suffered far worse than the likes of you, you are just another hurdle among many that we've overcome," BB said stoically, slowly rising his head to look Lefty in the eye.

"I am afraid of you, but doesn't mean you'll win."

Immediately Lefty took a step back, almost as if he was in disbelief with BB's words.

"I will fight you, and I will win, not you."

"I survived encountering you before and I will do so again."

Lefty took another step back, now his sole eye had rolled back, revealing his yellow pupil as he frowned at BB.

"I will beat you," Lefty said sternly, with his free hand forming a fist.

"AND WE WILL CRUSH YOU!" the possessed prop suits screamed from the dark confines of Lefty's insides.

"No, you won't, you're a fear not reality," Balloon Boy replied calmly, his eyes were now narrowed in defiance.

"Based on good assumptions," Lefty retorted sharply, visibly getting angrier.

"You barely survived last time."

"True, but that still doesn't mean it will happen again, besides you caught me unaware last time, this time, I will be ready for you Lefty," Balloon Boy said, his tone became more determined and less calm.

"I am afraid of you, I can't deny that, but I will beat you. . .this time round."

Lefty didn't reply, nor did the possessed prop suits, instead a tense silence developed. Then Lefty retraced his strings, freeing BB's arm as they flew back inside his sleeve, with the arms of the possessed prop suits ceasing to move. For a good long while both Lefty and Balloon Boy stared eachother down with the former clearly towering over the latter. Goldie who was still standing on the side-lines looked stoic, although he was smiling like a Cheshire cat on the inside.

_"If fear was a person, then their fear would be not being feared,"_ he mentally commented.

As he said it, Lefty's head began to twitch and jerk about in an uncontrollable manner. Soon his whole body started to shake as he seemed to tremble from head to toe. He tightly gripped his microphone as the arms of the various possessed prop suits shook in mid air.

Lefty's shaking only seemed to worse as he now gripped his head with both hands, with his mouth hanging wide open as his eyes repeatedly rolled back on themselves.

And then he screamed, his voice being a high pitched electric wail that intermixed with the haunting metallic screams of the possessed prop suits, as their hands bashed against the insides of Lefty's suit in a frenzied expression of both aggression and fear. Balloon Boy meanwhile just stood before the trembling Lefty as he wore a blank expression, watching the chaos unfold.

"I'm real, whereas you are not," he muttered coldly, as the combined screams of Lefty and the possessed prop suits drowned him out, but it didn't matter.

His fear had got the point, it couldn't win.

Then in one swift motion, the arms of the possessed prop suits retreated back inside Lefty, as the latter's chest plates swung shut with a clang. Immediately afterwards Lefty ceased to move, slumping forward as he shut himself down, seeming to concede to Balloon Boy. His hands fell by his side with his whole body leaning forward and his eyes had closed. However, out of his jaw dropped mouth came a soft yet defiant whisper.

"I don't have to be real to win. . ."

And then Lefty faded away into nothing, leaving Balloon Boy as the clear victor.

Then Balloon Boy breathed massive sigh of relief; it was over.

He felt a hand being placed on his shoulder, he turned and looked up see Goldie standing next to him.

"Well, I am impressed," he said with a warm smile.

"I can see why Lefty is so terrifying, good thing he isn't an issue in the real world."

Then Goldie's eyes darted over to the empty space which Lefty had just occupied.

"At one point, I thought you had given in."

Balloon Boy returned with a smile of his own.

"Yeah, I did it to fool my fear into thinking it had won, it's called a double bluff."

Goldie laughed, slapping B.B. on the back.

"You're a crafty guy aren't you?" he asked clearly amused.

"Well I am not as physically strong as the others so I need to find other ways to make my way in the world," Balloon Boy replied, to which Goldie nodded, understanding his position.

Balloon Boy was properly the most adaptable out of all of them.

"You never cease to amaze me BB, you really do," said Goldie, tussling his hair.

He turned in the directions of the others.

"What do you say we go and give the others our support?"

"Sure, why not," Balloon Boy answered, taking the lead.

* * *

On the whole, everything was progressing quite smoothly, Toy Bonnie had gained full control over her fears by accepting her responsibility, but pointing out that realistically she didn't know that Vincent was a child murderer and that it was really the company's fault at large and not her or the Toys for the children's deaths.

The five ghost children who had represented her fear had previously shown Toy Bonnie the threat that a grieving parent could one day take harsh action against them for their crimes, in other words killing them. However, in the end she successfully made them fade away once she had destroyed their arguments with realism including the likelihood of someone going after them for what happened in the second pizzeria which was fairly minor considering how long ago it was.

Toy Chica had faced down her fears of being unable to save everyone from the Nightmares, in the end she feared being weak and incapable when it truly mattered. It appeared to stem from her time in the factory when she was unable to intervene and stop the Nightmares' treatment of Mangle, Toy Bonnie and Toy Freddy. However, she got through the initial onslaught with her mind's representation of her fears being Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, who compared Toy Chica to being weak like a child, also referring to the fact that the children who were killed by Vincent couldn't save themselves…a harsh comment to make in itself.

Yet, she was able to overcome them all by accepting the fact that she wouldn't be able to be strong all the time, but that she wouldn't stop trying either. This largely took out the wind from her fears' sails as their argument started to collapse, evident by the fierce expressions she got from the Nightmares. They of course tried to challenge her argument, aiming use her emotions to bring her to her knees, but Toy Chica wouldn't falter.

"I know what I am capable of, I do fear losing them, I love them, but I need to keep a clear head, fear will only paralyse me."

And with that statement, her fears lost their grip with each one of the Nightmares fading away into thin air, accepting their fate, although their hate filled expressions said otherwise.

* * *

And then of course, there was Puppet, her fears were kind of predictable.

The physical manifestation of her worst fears ended up being Vincent wearing the SpringBonnie suit and holding a knife next to a random child's throat.

Although it was Vincent, he spoke with her voice, mocking herself.

_"You've failed them, and now you are on the verge of failing everyone else, how can you possibility rise from this, your reputation is forever tainted, you have no money, you've already lost a family member."_

Vincent tilted his head slightly, studying the Puppet's posture with a look of curiosity.

_"Things just always go bad for you lot whenever they start to go right, why bother any more, you can't find him, your enemies have since doubled in number and capability if your little encounter with Nightmare Freddy was anything to go by,"_ he hissed, laying out her situation.

Again, it was her own voice that he was using, but it was mixed with the inbuilt electronic voice box, giving his voice a robotic undertone which was cold and plain.

_"I am still here, I am evidence to all your sins, you like think that you have no strings to hold you down, but you do, you just never wanted to admit it, you've never had control over your own life."_

There was a strong element of truth in his or rather her own words, she had failed the children once, and yes events had happened beyond her control and still were. Therefore in the end all she could do was ride them out and try to make an impact in the world around her. However, she was never in the driving seat, that role belonged to Vincent or Fazbear Entertainment and just like the rest of them she had to make do with what she had and where she ended up.

Often or not, it was nearly always in a position which she would rather not be in.

_"You are a puppet, both in life and in meaning, but who is the puppet master, Mari?"_

Calling herself by her old name was quite a shock, although she should have expected it, given that this was her own fear talking back to her.

Vincent's smile grew as his words wrapped themselves around her mind.

_"You know you can lose, and family is all that you have left, the Fazbear business is long gone."_

Puppet merely folded her arms.

"So, what should I do, tell me, what's your idea?" she asked stoically, throwing the question out there.

"You seem to know the answer already."

Vincent chuckled, although again his voice was her own laughter mixed in with the robotic undertone, adding an element of madness to it.

_"Give in, accept that you will live a lonely depressed life in a rotting pizzeria, there is no hope for you Mari, the only blessing that you will receive is dying peacefully at an old age."_

Vincent laughed again.

_"Then again, there is always suicide."_

He smirked.

_"And it wouldn't be the first time you've tried to take your own life."_

Puppet's eyes widen as Vincent's words left his mouth, that one sentence struck a chord within her, memories came back.

The image of a rope appeared in their mind, one which was swinging from side to side, slowly a figure emerged out thin air….herself with closed eyes as her face became a pale white.

She felt her heart starting to race as the image grew more and more life-like.

That image symbolised a low moment for her, when she felt like all hope had vanished from the world, that she was stuck in her position and that she had condemned the others to a double life of murder. Back when she revealed to the Fazbears that she had placed the children's' souls inside them, leaving them open to possession under which they would commit brutal acts of savagery.

She did that…that was her doing.

Vincent smiled even more as he sensed her ability to resist breakdown.

Puppet actually backed away as her despair grew within her.

Yet a little voice in the back give her some comfort.

_"Yet you were able to give them a second within us."_

It was the words Balloon Boy had spoked back in the basement of the factory.

_"You shouldn't blame yourself for the past, it is what it is and Vincent will get what's coming for him."_

Yes, she had been able to give the children a second chance, a new life to gain their revenge against their killer.

And yes, she was only doing what she thought was right at the time, but still her actions gave away to the death of many innocents, at times she had even asked herself of who was morally superior, her or Vincent?

That one question had caused so many internal debates which had raged for so many nights inside of her.

Was it all worth it she had asked, often undergoing long mental conversations with her self-doubts. The struggle and stress of it all had threaten at times to consume her utterly, but somehow, she was able to cling onto what was left of her humanity. After all, she was still here wasn't she, with a consciousness, the others had over time forgiven her, they didn't like their new role, but they saw it as their life mission to free the children and so far nothing had really stopped them.

So why should they stop now, why should she stop now?

Just because her inner critic was telling her that their situation was hopeless, because they didn't hold the upper hand. To make the impossible possible, you have to try and she was not ready to accept defeat…with all the new found knowledge which Goldie had shared with them, to her it proved that they still had a chance. True, everyone felt despair for many reasons, but right now it wasn't needed, this physical manifestation of her self-doubt was playing into Vincent's hands, her inner confidence started to boil.

She was her own master, not this 'thing'!

"You condemned me to this life the moment you killed that boy, but I have survived worse….far worse and I am still here, my family is still here and Springtrap's death will not go unnoticed, we've got Goldie back because of him," she stated, now sounding rather fierce, her confidence rose with it. Vincent or rather her self-doubt appeared to recognise this, he frowned, tightening his hold on the knife would he held close to the child's neck.

_"You cannot win, not against these wounds, you know that there is much which you don't know already and besides..."_

He smiled with renewed confidence.

_"Do you truly want to know what lies in the shadows, what if it is much more deadly than Vincent?"_

However, Puppet merely shook her head in defiance.

"If going into the shadows means being able to free the children and ourselves from the hell which you put us in then I'll do it, being a part myself you should know that already, yes, I have stumbled before, but I have always been able to pick myself up."

She smiled, something which her self-doubt clearly disapproved of, evident by its narrowed eyes.

"As the real Vincent, would say, this is all part of a game and we have merely entered another stage."

Vincent or rather her self-doubt growled in her voice, a sign that it was losing the argument.

"When the game is over, I will accept the result, then you can berate me all you want," Puppet stated, holding her ground.

A moment of silence passed between the two, eyes locked, but eventually Vincent spoke, but of course it was in the Puppet's voice.

Yet, her tone was calm and collected, despite the annoyed look.

_"Ok, I see your reasoning, much can change between here and now."_

He released the child from his grip, taking the knife away from his throat.

Slowly he started to fade away, smiling.

_"I'll look forward to nailing your failures into you physically,"_ he hissed as he became ever more transparent.

"We will see," Puppet remarked, keeping her hawk like gaze.

"We will see about that 'Vincent'."

Vincent laughed, but it was in her laughter.

_"Indeed, we will Mari…one day."_

Then he was gone, laughing to himself out of existence, the random child also disappeared alongside him, but in his last moments he looked glad to be free. Puppet sighed, brushing her hair away from her face, thank God it was over. Was it a victory, she had just more or less made a deal with her inner demons to delay the internal torment until the aftermath, perhaps it could be seen as a tactical victory, she was still in control after all.

In end, she was sure about one thing.

"Internal enemies are a dam sight worse than external enemies," she muttered bitterly.

"They never truly leave you."

After the Puppet's ordeal, almost all of the Toys had conquered their fears…all except for Mangle.

* * *

Mangle's fear was personal, although to be fair everyone's fear was personal and Mangle's fear was similar to Freddy's, but like BB's it was based on something real.

And she feared it could happen again.

Reaching out with her mind, she created a scene she wished to never see again for as long as she lived.

_The Bite of 1987…_

Having long existed as a discarded memory within the depths of her sub consciousness, it was now recreated in full detail before her, replaying continuously like a never-ending unbroken record. The look of complete horror on the young female staff member as the 1987 version of Mangle, possessed by an irrational rage leapt at her from the ceiling. She dug her teeth into her head once she came into contact, edger to cause harm by any means possible.

However, as nasty as the initial attack was, it wasn't the bite that did the most damage, but rather what happened next. Having jumped at the night guard from on high, Mangle had been going at a fast speed when she crashed into her, the resulting high speed impact was more than enough to knock the night guard over. She fell backwards quite quickly and her instant impact with the floor was marked by a sickening crack...the crack of her skull breaking. Oddly enough it didn't kill her outright, but it certainty put her into a deep coma, one from which she never recovered.

About a week later, when the Toys were hiding inside the Originals' Pizzeria, they were informed that the female staff member had died because of her injuries, apparently, her family had agreed with the doctors to turn off her life support, she passed away peacefully. The entire incident broke Mangle and sent her into a long period of anguish, grief, regret and guilt, which even today the others could see she had never truly recovered from.

When Mangle first entered the second pizza in 1987 with the other Toys, she was happy, fun loving, witty, humorous and a capable performer in her own right.

Well that was her…before all the bullying started, and it was quite harsh.

Initially, she didn't even know why they started to pick on her. Her only guess was that they didn't like the fact that she was Foxy's replacement. He did have a fairly big following back in the first pizzeria and from the children's viewpoint she didn't match their expectations and children are quite harsh when it comes to criticising.

They didn't hold back their punches.

Now she could cope with that, they just needed time to warm to her, she could shine in her own way, and she didn't need to copy Foxy.

However, soon the actual bullying started, some of children just didn't like her no matter how hard she tries, and it quickly became physical. The ripping and tearing of her clothes, the name calling, the abuse, she had lost count of how many times she had to stitch her clothes back together. They started to call her 'Mangle' because of it and the nickname stuck, her official name which was Toy Foxy dwindled in use. The bullying hurt her both physically and emotionally and over time it affected her mood, she became sullen, withdrawn and moody.

And soon she started to hate her job, because the bullying never ended, Fazabear Entertainment did little to intervene and her family members could only help her so much as most of the time their attentions were elsewhere. It wasn't that they didn't care, but rather that they were kept occupied.

And of course, the combined feelings of rejection, abandonment, sadness and self-pity transformed into anger, jealousy, resentment and hatred.

Which made her perfect for Vincent's scheme as a distraction, a role which she unwillingly and unknowingly preformed to complete perfection. One minute she was resting peacefully in her cove while the others preformed for the children on the main stage outside. Then suddenly she awoke to a feeling of intense rage, an irrational anger and a drive to inflict misery on those who had harmed her.

Using her endoskeleton arms attached to her by means of a belt, which she had purposely acquired so she could crawl across the ceiling in order to escape her bullies, as well as to impress those who were watching. She climbed up the surrounding walls and onto the ceiling before leaving the room and heading towards where all the action was.

And in her anger filled state she spied a child, a girl, who had previously been bulling her and there was nothing else Mangle would love more than to teach that girl a lesson, reap what thou sows so to speak. She was soon spotted by various children and staff members hanging off the ceiling and looking around for familiar faces.

The Toys even stopped mid-way in their act to wave at her, inviting her to come on stage, everyone thought she was part of an act…except she wasn't. Deciding to go for the girl, Mangle swiftly positioned herself and then leapt using her endoskeleton arms to throw herself forward. It was quick, but as it turned out, a young female staff member had foreseen that her actions would end up hurting the girl. The projection would result in Mangle crashing straight into the girl, although obviously, she didn't know that was Mangle's real intention.

So, within a matter of mini seconds she got in between the girl and Mangle and the decision to do so ended up costing her dearly. Mangle had never been fully able to forgive herself for that and the scene with stood out before her just brought all of those feelings back. She didn't turn round, although she got the sense that everyone else was watching her.

Emotions were like an unpredictable train ride, never going in one direction for long and always changing course.

And this case it was a downwards spiral to emotional collapse, Mangle could feel her emotions get the better of her as the sounds of that fatal day grew louder and louder. Her breathing increased in its intensity as fear and panic started to race through her system, seizing control of her mind, repressing her ability to think rationally. Soon she ceased to hear anything else outside of the memory, everything around her was becoming muffled, and her own mind was working against her, as something else crept its way onto the scene.

_"You did this, isn't that you attacking the staff member, how is that entertaining for anyone, let alone children,"_ a voice asked from inside her head, its tone a mix of sneering, self-loathing, and delight.

This was Mangle's self-doubt, but unlike Freddy's self-doubt it possessed the capability to increase its hold, given that Mangle had actually committed her worst fear to begin with. Evidence which it used to justify its hold over Mangle, as well as the argument it used against her.

_"Although…killing an innocent might be of entertainment for the Nightmares, they like that sort of thing," _the voice muttered, as if it was observing the scene with its own set of eyes.

"I am not a Nightmare, there is already a Nightmare Mangle," Mangle replied, speaking her mind out loud.

A sense of confidence swept across her mind, but it wasn't Mangle's, her self-doubt was somehow amused at her words.

_"There wasn't never just one, two Nightmare Mangles can exist, but one is in denial that they can become one, despite having already killed,"_ her self-doubt argued.

"You're lying, Nightmare Mangle wants to kill, I however don't," Mangle shot back, trying to highlight the fact that she could choose between good and evil, whereas her nightmare opposite probably couldn't care less. However, Mangle found herself slipping even further into the scene, isolating her from the others as a mental wall started to build itself within her own mind, locking her into a battle against herself.

_"I disagree, this scene particularly speaks for itself,"_ her self-doubt cooed as Mangle felt the mental walls close in on her.

"I wasn't fully aware of what I was doing, don't you remember the shock I felt when I found out what I did, why would I be shocked over something which I 'intended' to do?" Mangle asked, feeling confident as she threw more reason into the debate.

There a considerable period of silence before her self-doubt spoke again.

_"Mmmm…good point, although to be fair, if you don't intend to harm others deliberately, and you have committed harm unaware, remember the night guards, then there still exists the possibility that this… could happen again."_

"Lighting never strikes twice," Mangle remarked defiantly.

_"That's what they said about the two Missing Children's Incidents,"_ her self-doubt argued, confident with its own knowledge.

_"Yet they both happened."_

Mangle stared at the helpless woman as she was repeatedly attacked again and again, each time her head hit the floor there was a loud crack.

The cracking sound, echoed throughout her mind, giving her self-doubt the strength and courage to make bold statements.

_"You feel guilty over what you've allowed to happen, you've wished so many times that you can turn back the clock and to reverse what was."_

The inner voice grew with beaming confidence as if it was smiling.

_"What's done cannot be undone Mangle, you of all people know that."_

_"This is your legacy. . ."_

_"Would you like to embrace it?"_

Suddenly, Mangle, or rather past Mangle jumped down from the ceiling, but she didn't go for Helen. Instead, she turned her attention towards Mangle herself, using her endoskeleton arms to raise herself above the now helpless woman who she towered over like a titan. Present day Mangle immediately found herself trembling under the murderous gaze of her past self, who eyed like a predator in the wild, preparing to pounce on its prey.

"You are not real," Mangle stated, trying to strike up a defiant tone, with a stoic gaze.

Past Mangle stared back, with her looking getting ever more vicious.

Yet Mangle's self-doubt finally uttered a response, although that it wasn't her words that made Mangle's eyes widen in fear, but rather where it came from.

_"Am I now?"_ it questioned in a dismissive tone, with her words coming right out of Past Mangle's mouth. Suddenly, Past Mangle grabbed Mangle by the throat and lifted her up with immense strength.

_"Is this not real enough for you Mangle_?" she asked, her voice sounded like honey, but was clearly lanced with venom.

She now smiled as she began to tighten her grip on Mangle's throat, with the latter instinctively gripping her past self's arms and trying to pry herself free.

"MANGLE!" Toy Bonnie screamed, trying to reach to reach for her, but knew that she couldn't interact and stop what was going on, much to her frustration. "YOU CAN DO IT MANGLE; WE BELIEVE IN YOU!" Toy Freddy shouted, although his frantic tone betrayed his inner fears, as Mangle desperately try to fight off her aggressive past self.

"DON'T GIVE INTO IT MANGLE, YOUR EMOTIONS ARE FEEDING HER!" Goldie yelled, trying to be the voice of reason in an otherwise panic driven situation.

_"Helen is dead, because of you, the children died because of you, your family suffered as a result of your lack of self-control,"_ Past Mangle hissed, now clearly being the physical embodiment of Mangle's self-doubt.

_"You can't forgive yourself, can you?"_ she asked, further strengthening her hold as she lifted Mangle up higher and higher. Immediately, Mangle found herself thinking back to her conversation with Puppet at Jeremy's kitchen table.

_"I know, but someday, everyone has to face their demons, internal or external."_

_"But you won't be alone confronting it though."_

Yet she was alone, technically her family couldn't do anything to help her against her own demons, they would go right through them and nor could past Mangle see, hear, feel or even smell them as they didn't exist to her.

They were so close and yet so far.

Mangle viciously pulled on the hands of her past self, but she still couldn't weaken the latter's grip.

_"Can you imagine how her family felt and how they hated you for causing their daughter's death, you remember the protests that occurred outside the pizzeria,"_ Past Mangle said, with her voice noticeably sounding colder than before.

_"How they called for you to suffer for your actions. . ."_

Her words had an impact on Mangle, for she knew that her past self was right, there were protests and most people present had been baying for her blood. Past Mangle searched Mangle's eyes, her bright yellow pupils that had previously expressed a frenzied sadistic delight, now showed a cold, calm gaze of satisfaction.

_"You're scared of her, Helen, you fear her retribution should you face her,"_ she spoke in a smooth and icy tone, watching as Mangle's eyes widen in panic, confirming what she knew to be true.

She was a part of Mangle and therefore knew everything that she did.

_"You know what will happen if she catches you and you know that she can come back, now that your other victims have returned."_

She then pulled Mangle closer, more than the latter would like, for she looked very uncomfortable as Past Mangle penetrated her personal space.

_"I can see your guilt; it is like a dark pit of hellfire that seeks to consume you as you stand on the edge of the abyss that underlines your failure,"_ Past Mangle whispered, her voice was serious and cold, with her harsh words cutting straight through to Mangle's heart.

Because she was right, or rather her self doubt was right.

The feeling of shame was undeniable as it was overwealhming as Past Mangle continued in her delivery.

_"You cannot escape your guilt, actions have conquences and Helen will tear you apart limb from limb." _

_"You saw what nearly happened to BB and Helen will single you out and she won't stop until you've suffered what she has."_

She leaned in closer.

_"How can she not be angry, having lost her young life to an unprovoked attack?"_ she asked, knowing full well Mangle's reaction.

And Mangle finally crumbled, breaking into a sob.

"It is my fault, I caused her pain and she won't forgive me," she cried, lowering her head as she made no attempt to fight back the tears.

Past Mangle smiled in full blown delight, watching as Mangle emotionally floundered before her.

"I am responsible for so much pain, I don't deserve happiness, no one would give me the time of day," Mangle whispered, yet her tone carried so much emotional pain as she wept.

_"It is what you deserve you wretched excuse of a victim,"_ Past Mangle hissed, inflicting another vocal barb on Mangle as she conceded to her inner demons, which to the horror of everyone else.

"MANGLE NO, DON'T GIVE IN!" Toy Chica screamed in absolute shock, clutching her head in panic.

"PLEASE MANGLE, YOU ARE NOT A WORTHLESS HUMAN BEING, YOU ARE LOVED!" Toy Bonnie yelled, her vibrant green eyes were alive with fear and dread.

"HELEN CAN FORGIVE YOU MANGLE, REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO BALLOON BOY AND ONE OF THE FROMER NIGHTGUARDS, THE PAST CAN BE OVERCOME," Toy Freddy shouted, cupping his mouth so he could hear over the yells of the others.

"IT'S TRUE MANGLE, AS HARD AS IT IS, WE CAN BE FORGIVEN IF WE TRY!" Balloon Boy called out, trying to break through to Mangle, who seemed to be completely lost before own self-doubt that dragged her down into new depths of self hatred that only Puppet or Goldie would know of.

Even though what they were saying was true given BB's recent experience, to Mangle, forgiveness felt a long way off as she conceded under the towering gaze of her own living self doubt.

_"You cannot be forgiven, and nor do you believe that you deserve it in the first place,"_ Past Mangle muttered, her voice was still cold and firm, but it brimmed with confidence.

"Helen deserves to hate me for what I did to her, and my failures that day continues to impact everyone I care about," Mangle muttered, her voice was low and quiet, as she kept her head lowered as if in acceptance to Past Mangle's words. Despite what she had said to Puppet about moving through these challenges together, her self-doubt, or rather self-hatred held sway throughout her mind, because her own words were true. Even her own words to Nightmare Freddy back at the factory, when she had berated him for his dismissal of her attempts to fix her rotten past failed to stir her to fight back against the rising tide of regret, guilt and self induced hatred.

"_We have a dream to restore ourselves and see justice done."_

_"I have a dream and it is immortal."_

Such inspiring words felt so far away now when faced with reality of her mistakes. If only she hadn't lowered her guard that day. Things could have transpired differently, and no one would be in any pain.

"I'm sorry," Mangle whispered tearfully, conceding to her inner demons.

"For everything."

However, the embodiment of her demons, Past Mangle, merely replied with a harsh and cold tone.

_"Evil cannot be forgiven. . .never."_

Then she faded away completely out of existence and in doing so she let go of Mangle, letting her drop down to the floor. Mangle landed in a heap and she immediately curled herself into a ball with her white hair sprawling along the floor.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice was barely a sob of disappointment and self-disgust at her failure.

"I couldn't do it; I deserve this pain."

Everyone else was just shocked at the sight of what had just happened.

Mangle had lost, badly if one might add.

Puppet had been able to fight her inner demons to a standstill, but Mangle had clearly lost with all the implications that it now carried. Her fears, her failings and doubts were an open wound that refused to heal, because Mangle herself wouldn't allow it. She was also deeply afraid that Helen, should she ever encounter her would not forgive her either. If the victim could not forgive the wrongdoer, then how could the latter forgive themselves, or move on, unless they never cared in the first place.

Everyone continued to stare at Mangle, listening to her weeping as she hugged herself, seeing her body racked with guilt and shame.

"I'm so sorry," she croaked, amidst her cries of self-damnation.

"I couldn't do it."

"I'm a weak link, I'll drag you all down if they go after me."

"I am broken."

Hearing those words spurred Puppet to act, as she walked forward, before kneeling down at the shriving form of Mangle, as she lost herself in her own anguish.

Slowly, Puppet reached out and gently stroked Mangle's hair.

"It's ok," she whispered softly in a motherly tone, as she ran her fingers through Mangle's ghostly white hair.

"You've suffered an awful lot and as you told me before you hate yourself for what happened."

"But I'm here, and I won't abandon you, even if you think you deserve to be."

"I will put you back together Mangle I promise. . ."

Steadily, one by one, the others joined Puppet, crowding in around Mangle, as they all offered her their own words of reassurance and comfort.

The atmosphere had become very sombre and still.

"We don't hate you Mangle, it wasn't your fault that day," Toy Bonnie muttered sincerely, rubbing Mangle's shoulder, trying to calm the young woman down.

"We never blamed you," Toy Freddy said sombrely, lightly patting her on the head.

"Helen would forgive you if she knew the truth, I don't doubt it for a second that she would," Toy Chica whispered, cradling her in a warm embrace.

"It's going to be ok Mangle, we can get through this storm together, like we always have," Balloon Boy uttered calmly, gazing down at her tragedy stricken form.

"Collective defence remember?"

"We'll never leave you behind," Freddy remarked warmly, gently stroking Mangle's fox ears.

"We'll all always be by your side," Bonnie said softly, slowly rubbing Mangle's other arm as a way to help calm her down.

"To hell and back lassie," Foxy joked warmly, as he patted her softly on the head.

"One big happy family remember?" Chica whispered, smiling as she delicately pulled on Mangle's fox ears.

Mangle felt their love washing around her, wrapping herself in a warm tight embrace that sought to strangle her self-hatred into oblivion. The images of that dreadful day had been burned into her mind, repeating endlessly, only to then be harshly shoved aside by memories of happy times as they all crowded around her. However, the memories did not desert her completely and those feelings of shame and regret still remained. Goldie meanwhile found himself brooding, or at least in deep thought over what had just happened.

He hated to admit to himself, but the truth was undeniable.

Mangle was a risk factor and the Nightmares would just put all of their focus on her. There was no doubt that they would sense her weakness, much very the same way a shark reacts to blood in the water. Hence why it was a good idea to have Mike and Jeremy in as backups, that was the intention that Goldie had with bringing everyone into the dreamworld, in case something like this did happen. Yet it was still a surprise to have actually witnessed it first hand and for Mangle, the scars of her past trauma ran deep due to her proximity to those terrible events.

And once the Nightmares pry open her fears, they would recreate them in an even more terrifying fashion than her own mind could create.

After all that was their speciality.

Yet, there was the likely possibility of Vincent intervening somehow and dividing their attention, they couldn't bring all their focus to bear on the Nightmares, even though their destruction was the main aim. Goldie sighed as he reached down lightly stroked Mangle's hair, before saying calmly.

"I'm going to bring Mike and Jeremy in now, but I fear we will need to make a decision regarding whether Mangle should partake in what will be a game of literal life and death."

He then looked directly across at Puppet, their eyes locked, a cautious pair of white dots stared back at an unreadable dark red.

"We'll keep her calm, should either Mike or Jeremy succeed in beating their own fears, then we won't be down a member," she replied softly, not wanting Mangle to hear, even though it was now an outcome worth examining. If the Nightmares got any sense of an advantage, then they would take it without a moment's notice and use it to such brutalising effect. Goldie nodded, clearly understanding Puppet's words as he stood up straight.

"I'll be back soon," he said warmly, smiling slightly. Then he mentally willed himself to wake up, effectively jolting himself out his mind's dream like state. Yet concerned thoughts for Mangle dominated his thinking as he passed between dreamworld to reality.

_"I hate to admit to myself, but. . ."_ Goldie thought, as he found himself stirring awake.

_"If Mangle is brought in with us, then I can see events taking a terrible and fatal turn."_

He sighed as he rose upright, with his bear ears lowering themselves, expressing his inner sadness.

_"Her fears will swarm her and eat her alive and even if she is able to survive the carnage."_

_"I fear that she will never be the same again. . ." _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To revisit one's past trauma is terrifying, but to see it in the flesh standing before you, breathing like a living thing is a new kind of horror.  
Many thanks for reading and please review. :-)


	45. Nightguard Routine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone and here is chapter 45.  
There is a song in this chapter and it's 'Help Wanted Please' by Not a Robot and Tryhardninja, a good creepy FNAF song that certainly brings in a lot of tension.  
Apologies for any grammar mistakes, I tired to be thorough, but I swear that like Fanfiction.Net, AO3 deletes some of the content from various chapters and I have to go back in and update them. I can't be the only one with this problem.  
That being said, do enjoy and thank you to those who have left Kudos so far. :-)

**Chapter 45.**

**Nightguard Routine.**

"_**There is no illusion greater than fear."**_

**Lao Tzu**

This was supposed to be easy God dammit, after all this was the last stage, but things as expected quickly spiralled out of control.

Mike and Jeremy's fear was to the surprise of literally no one, the Fazbears themselves in their possessed state,

"GUYS, HOW DO WE DEFEAT THESE THINGS?" Mike yelled, backing away from the possessed versions of his friends, who had wasted no time in spotting the two men.

It was quite a scene for the actual Fazbears to behold as they stared at their demented and twisted counter opposites.

And of course, the Fazbears were invisible to their possessed counterparts, they couldn't see, smell, taste, hear, touch or even sense them.

They could only see targets for their immense rage, Mike and Jeremy.

"SOMETHING INVOLING REALITY AND LOGIC RIGHT?" Jeremy called, he was very off put by the possessed version of Mangle, who was glaring at him like a predator.

"YOU BOTH NEED TO USE LOGIC TO CALM YOURSELVES DOWN AND THEN TRY TO RATIONALISE YOUR FEARS, THAT'S WHAT WE DID!" Chica shouted back, cupping her mouth with her hands to be heard as the night guard's attention was obviously focused on the possessed Fazbears.

_"Head to the office, just slowly back away and get to the office, the doors should hold them for a while,"_ Jeremy mentally muttered, not taking his eyes of the possessed version of Mangle.

By now she had started to stalk him, crawling across the ceiling, her white eyes fixed on his, scanning him, studying him, debating on when to strike. Equally, Mike was trying to keep an eye on the possessed versions of the Originals, they keep moving around trying to circle him.

The nearby company of the actual Fazbears wasn't comforting him because they couldn't do anything to help. That's not a nice situation to be in when your friends were so close yet so far.

"Just back away, get a gun and then light them up like a Christmas tree," he whispered to himself, being careful not to do anything that would seriously provoke the possessed Originals.

However, there was no need to provoke them, they were triggered to go and possessed Foxy's inhuman scream was the signal.

Like lighting they struck, only for Mike and Jeremy to burst into a sprint and leg it towards the office with all eleven possessed Fazbears in tow.

"By the way guys, thanks for standing there as my imminent death comes for me!" Jeremy shouted in a sarcastic manner, but the fear in his voice was genuine, as he raced pass the real Toys as he ran for the safety of the office.

The possessed Fazbears wasted no time in tearing pass their real counterparts, or rather ran straight through them like a ghost would. It was a strange sensation to have something pass through your body, particularly if the thing passing through you was literary yourself. Multiple footsteps slapped the smooth chess decorated floor as Mike ran for his life, he never though in his darkest dreams that he would have to undergo this again.

Then again, this week's theme judging by recent events appeared to be the unexpected, so why be surprised now. They were right behind him, he dared not looked back, or else he would undoubtedly face the wrath of the possessed version of Foxy that was hammering the floor at breakneck speed.

He could hear possessed Foxy's breathing, it was heavy and spoke of determination, he was determined to kill him without a second thought. For he it might deliver justice and end the murdered child's long-term suffering, or at least that's what it hoped would happen.

Anger and desire are an emotion and emotion doesn't speak to logic.

"Just like the good old days, haven't missed these at all," Mike half heartily joked to himself, if the situation wasn't so serious, he might have laughed, but his instincts told him to keep running.

The office's left door was just ahead of him, he just needed to make it, the grim reaper was lashing at his heel. As far as he could recall, Goldie, had warned them both that if you die in a dream then you die in real life.

Speaking of which, would it technically count as suicide if your own mind killed you?

Try and explain that to morgue. It was an interesting question to ask, however now really wasn't the time. Dismissing the thought, Mike neared the door, possessed Foxy was almost right on top of him, he could literally pick up on the vibrations that possessed Foxy's rapid speed sent through the air they were that close. So, Mike did something a bit different than the usual rush in and close the door shut cline.

Instead he turned around and jumped, propelling himself backwards through the doorway. By doing so, he got the chance to kick the closest possessed Fazbear in the face, this being possessed version of Foxy and he was about to gut Mike with his hook in a move that would have cut deep into his throat.

"I'm not dying today, I survived the real Fazbears I can outlast you lot," he remarked sternly, hitting the close door button on his way in.

It worked, with the possessed version of Foxy getting the double treatment of being kicked in the face and then slamming against a steel door almost at the same time. Instantly, the possessed Fazbear voiced his frustration by screaming which resulted in a high pitch wail echoing down the corridor.

Of course, when they spoke in any manner when possessed, their voices sounded like that of child from whispering to screaming. Around the same time, Mike made it into the office, Jeremy burst in from the other side, hitting the close button once it came within his range. Good thing too, for the possessed version of Mangle was about to grab him with her endoskeleton hands, she only withdrew once the door started to come down as she didn't wish to have her extra set of hands severed.

The door instantly slammed down, blocking off the possessed Toys, who all stood outside glaring at the two night guards through the window. Both entrances were closed, leaving both Mike and Jeremy safe inside the office, yet surrounded by the possessed versions of their friends, who were eager to spill blood.

"Well at least we're in here and they're out there," Jeremy stated, feeling very relieved that there was a barricade between him and death. Mike however, did not share his friend's sudden rush of confidence.

"Yeah, we're safe alright until the power goes out, the doors are draining power at a fast rate."

Jeremy's smile frozen, his eyes widen, he had forgotten that part, he was used to having unlimited power in his experience as a night guard.

Outside, the possessed Fazbears appeared to understand the former night guard's dilemma and started to hammer away at the door. Once one started to act, the others picked up the hint like a tidal wave, banging on both doors with an unrelenting fury.

And thus, the power meter which showed the room's power level began to slide and then tumbled into a complete downwards spiral.

BANG!

95%

BANG!

90%

BANG!

85%

BANG!

80%

BANG!

75%

"WHAT DO WE DO?!" Jeremy yelled, quickly going into a full-blown panic and who could blame him given the grim situation. Mike turned to the monitor which sat on the desk, on it was an array of camera screens all showing various parts of the Pizzeria, including the main dining area where the real Fazbears were. They all looked very concerned, but unsure of what to do.

"GUYS, WHAT HAPPENS NOW, WE'RE TRAPPED LIKE RATS?" Mike shouted, he was so desperate for help that he even banged his fist on the monitor screen.

Through the windows the possessed Fazbears could see the former night guard's situation and sensed their mood. They began to laugh, sounding like giggling children, but there was no mistaking the cold and sinister undertone to it. The sounds of the door being hammered and knocked dragged on unabated and the power meter continued to drop.

Mike sighed, faceplanting himself onto the office desk.

"Jesus Christ, how are we going to get out of here?"

Jeremy meanwhile was taking more active measures, grabbing the office chair and welding it around like a weapon.

"Stand back, I have a means to beat you all senseless!"

He hoped that the display of him having a means for defence would deter the possessed Fazbears.

It didn't…and they kept on hammering at the door much to Jeremy's displeasure and they laughed at his poor display of strength.

* * *

Meanwhile the real Fazbears were standing in the main dining room, wanting to desperately intervene, yet knowing that they couldn't if they tired. The sounds of childlike laughter mixed in with inhuman screaming drifted down from the corridors that lead up into the office.

In fact, they could see their possessed counterparts, bashing the steel doors with all their might.

"We must help them somehow, can't we?" Toy Freddy asked, turning to look at Goldie.

For what was properly the millionth time in his life, Goldie found himself at the centre of decision making. He shook his head, although he understood Toy Freddy's reasoning and desire to help Mike and Jeremy, this was their fears and only they could overcome it.

"No, I want to help, but this is their fear and only they can beat it, remember in our possessed counterparts' eyes, we don't exist at all," he stated.

"Surely there must be something we can do?" Bonnie asked frantically, her wide eyes displayed a strong sense to intervene.

Goldie sighed; at times he didn't like being the one who had to make the decisions.

"No, clearly there are rules to this world, certain fears are tied to the individual who fears them, as much as I hate it, we can only do so much."

He looked up, his eyes locking onto the possessed Fazbears, seeing their anger, their determination and swift descent to ruthlessness. Yet he remembered something, or rather being told something by the others in recent memories.

"We don't fear Mike or Jeremy, but they still fear us in some way, because after your little display of 'anger management' in Jeremy's van, it shows that if triggered in the right way, we can easily slip back into that mode of mindless violence."

He narrowed his eyes and turned to face the others.

"The only reason we've been fine up to now is because we and the ghost children have reached some level of acceptance and that we were moving forward away from Vincent, away from the Pizzeria, away from all of the pain and misery."

He continued, making his point clear to all.

"However recent events have threatened to return us to the past and sometimes it has succeeded."

Then Toy Chica spoke up.

"And when we are in that state we'll attack anyone near us, hence why Mike and Jeremy still fear us, we could just snap."

She clicked her fingers for dramatic effect.

"Just like that, instant switch, we've done it before in the past."

"Still, we must try something, fear us or not, they have been with us all the way, even when their own lives were in danger by us no less, yet they didn't leave," Foxy injected.

He turned and pointed his hook hand in the direction of the office.

"We can't leave them hanging, yet while we may be invisible, I would wager…"

With his other hand, he reached over and grabbed a nearby chair, lifting it up.

"That everything else isn't."

And with that he threw it down the corridor which contained his possessed counterpart, using all his might to toss the chair as far as he could. One would expect it to merely pass through the possessed Fazbears like a ghost would through when traveling through walls and doors.

However, the chair slammed right into the back of the possessed version of Chica, it was done with enough force it made her stumble and fall to her knees. Possessed Chica turned her head sharply in Foxy's direction, her white dots for eyes frantically searched for any sign of the would be chair thrower, but of course she couldn't see Foxy.

Foxy himself was surprised that his method even worked.

"Ok, now we're getting somewhere," he muttered, stunned by his own success.

Puppet was quick to follow suit, grabbing a chair and throwing it down the other corridor, before anyone else could say anything. Her attempt also worked, with the chair smacking into the back of the possessed version of Toy Freddy.

Boy, did he react with an almighty scream that blocked out everything else.

"Yeah that worked," Toy Bonnie yelled, punching the air in triumph.

All the possessed Fazbears turned away from the doors, away from the night guards trapped inside and starting to charge down their respective corridors towards the source of their attackers.

* * *

Inside the office, Jeremy sighed a breath of immense relief, as the possessed Fazbears departed in eager haste for the main dining room, obviously, something had caught their attention.

"Mmm, so it would appear that they're not immune to chairs," Mike commented, watching the screen which showed the live camera footage for the main dining area.

He took the chair off Jeremy, set it down and sat in it, watching the screen.

Within the camera's limited field of vision, Mike could see around most of the Fazbears picking up chairs and throwing them at their possessed counterparts. Each hit whether it hit them or not, succeeding in getting their attention and keeping them occupied in the main dining area, away from the office.

Mike watched as Chica stared down the possessed version of Foxy, he was very twitchy, like he had a nervous tick as his white dots for eyes swept the area before him like a searchlight.

Every time he moved; various parts of his body jerked uncontrollably.

From where the camera was positioned, the possessed version of Foxy appeared to be towering over Chica, glaring at her as if she was a threat. Although Chica knew that the possessed version of Foxy couldn't hurt her, to see it up close and personal was quite frightening. His white dots for eyes, constantly searched the space before him any signs of movement, they moved quickly, darting about everywhere at once.

Although they were just white dots, his eyes only expressed one emotion…anger and lots of it.

He growled, his head twitching erratically from side to side as he stared at her. She knew he couldn't see, hear, touch, taste, smell or even sense her, but the way he was acting appeared to give the indication that he sensed something was there. Something was just beyond his sight, watching him, teasing him and he clearly didn't like it.

He took a few steps towards her and leaned in, breaking into her personal space. Chica's heartbeat quicken to the pace of a marathon, pounding against her ribcage. His growling grew in its intensity, as if he could sense her fear, his white dots for eyes were now glowing.

Chica started to shake, with her entire body beginning to tremble under the pressure.

"You can't see me, you can't hear me, to you I don't exist," she whispered to herself. The possessed version of Foxy now barred his teeth, his growling reached a new pitch. Did he know, could he truly sense her after all?

Then suddenly somewhere off to the side, out of Chica's field of vision came a loud crash of chairs smashing into each other. It was so unexpectedly and loud that both Chica and the possessed version of the Foxy jumped back in shock. Reacting like an animal, possessed Foxy screamed a high pitch wail like that of a child's before turning in the direction of the noise and jumping across the tables towards it.

Chica looked startled of course, but apart from that she was ok, everything appeared to occur so fast. She turned and saw that Freddy had thrown a chair against the far wall and thus diverting the attention of their possessed counterparts away from them. Freddy smiled at her and she smiled back, relieved that she wasn't the centre of attention anymore.

'Cheers Freddy, that was greatly needed' she mouthed.

Back inside the office, Mike also smiled, glad to see that the Fazbears were handling the situation…for now. His smile faded however when he turned to see the power meter, it was low, currently sitting at 25% power left.

And the doors were continuing to drain power as the minutes ticked by.

Jeremy shared the same look, either they could raise the doors to save on power which would properly catch the attention of the possessed Fazbears. Or they could stay like this and wait until the power runs out and then have the possessed Fazbears charge them.

Either way they were dammed, unless they came up with something rather quickly.

"Ok, we are trapped with limited power and the possessed versions of our best friends are roaming the halls edger to kill us," Jeremy stated, surmising their otherwise hopeless position.

He turned to Mike.

"Any ideas, personally I thought we could use the office chair as a weapon to hold them back while we make a mad dash towards the exit."

Mike chuckled to himself, there was something about Jeremy's idea which he found funny, yet he didn't know why. Maybe because his mind came up with the image of the two of them trying to force the possessed Fazbears back by the simple means of using the chair.

It would be a pathetic way to go out if he had to be honest.

"Well it's a plan, but personally I would rather come up with something more complex, besides the Fazbears themselves seem to be doing a good enough job of distracting them," Mike remarked, returning his attention to the various camera screens. Again, he saw the possessed Fazbears wandering around various parts of the building as the Fazbears had started to lure them away from each other, keeping them in certain areas and thus away from the office. The possessed Fazbears he noted were very quickly to react to the slightest sound or movement, turning in its direction and then rushing headlong towards it, all in the matter of a few seconds. His mind, as well as that of Jeremy's had by the looks of it, done a very good job in recreating the possessed Fazbears from his memories.

For back in 1987 and 1993, they were fast, unpredictable and above all ruthless.

Mike had seen that ruthless first hand and he nearly ended up being caught by it.

However, he remembered Chica's words from earlier.

"We need to somehow remind ourselves that we are overexaggerating the fear of them going rogue and attacking us."

Jeremy laughed a little, how could one keep themselves calm from a danger that already existed, especially if the danger was right outside.

"I see your point, but you and I both saw what they were like in the van."

Then his laughter stopped, and his tone became noticeably serious.

"Yes, they are our friends, but their anger knows no bounds, I hate to say it but…."

He sighed, lowering his head, as if there was something which he didn't want to admit.

"They were broken when we first meet them, what they went through will properly never leave them, even if we can fix this mess, all of what they did still carries an impact. "

He frowned, he clearly didn't like what he was saying, but Mike couldn't deny that he had a good point, there are physical scars…and then there are psychological ones.

And the psychological ones always ran deep.

"They were not in a good way when I first turned up that's for sure, it was like they were two different people half the time, nice and happy on stage and then aggressive and depressed off stage," Mike muttered softly in agreement.

His eyes flickered over to the monitor where he could see the main dining room, watching the possessed Fazbears prowl around the room, stalking their non-existence prey. The sudden jerks, the glowing white dots for eyes and their erratic hostile nature sent Mike's mind back to 1993, those nights appeared to go on forever. Now they were again, walking around not far from his position, looking for him and Jeremy, thinking that somehow their deaths would bring about salvation for their tormented state. He could also see the real Fazbears keeping themselves away from their possessed counterparts, all the while throwing chairs about or overturning tables.

They looked shocked, scared to some extent, yet most of all they looked horrified to see themselves. Initially Mike wondered why, but Jeremy had already reached a conclusion, announcing his thoughts.

"This is properly the first time in which they've seen themselves in that state face to face."

He took the monitor off the table and upon accessing some of its extra features, he zoomed the camera in for an enhanced vision.

"I mean sure they've watched past camera footage of themselves being possessed and even saw them as their own personified fears, but never walking around in the same space."

"I would be shocked if I saw myself in that state with my own eyes."

He pressed his lips together as he zoomed the camera up on the possessed version of the Puppet as she prowled around the dining room, completely oblivious to the actual Fazbears.

"I've got some nice memories of you in your murderous state that's for sure," he muttered coldly under his breath.

He would admit that he found the Puppet somewhat untrustworthy at the beginning, seeing her as the ringleader, the schemer, or if you would rather have it put plainly…the 'puppet master'.

In fact, he wasn't sure if he could trust all of them, but especially the Originals. Back in good old 1987, when both the Originals and the Toys hated each other's' guts, the two groups often acted as a closed group, never letting anyone into their little family circle. The Toys at the time weren't possessed yet, but they were unsure of their new environment and didn't fully trust everyone; well in hindsight it was really the Puppet who treated everyone with a cold demeanour, the others were generally ok and nice for most of the time. Although over time Mangle's social relations with everyone dramatically dropped and that was not because of her, but the bullying did leave her feeling isolated. However, they were just nervous about everything and given that they had an enormous burden on their shoulders to generate big profit for Fazbear Entertainment.

It was the Originals who acted as more of a closed group than anything the Toys did.

They were very cold to anyone else, only trusting in one another and treating the rest of the world with a hostile glare. At times Jeremy was sure that they would just snap and kill him in cold blood right there and then, for when one is filled with a murderous purpose, they can be very determined and would stop at next to nothing to see it through. To be fair though in the eyes of the Originals, they had only just lost their pizzeria and position in the business, only to arrive at an even bigger and more entertaining pizzeria and then be informed that they were being replaced.

After that. . .a large part of their humanity disappeared, fading away to be replaced by a murderous rage and a massive victim complex.

And they didn't particularly take a shine to Jeremy when he first turned up.

The Originals under the possession of the dead children wanted him dead, thinking that if they couldn't find the real killer then he would do, although they suspected that anyone could be their killer.

Jeremy was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time as he soon found out.

"I feel sorry for them all, they did nothing to deserve their position, yet there are many people who would see them as murderers, I'm surprised that after all this time no one has raised any legal action against them or the company for that matter on the issue of multiple night guard disappearances.

He turned to face Mike, who did the same.

"We know that Vincent is guilty, but what if someone decides to drag the Fazbears to court?" Jeremy asked firmly.

"Then everything would come out of the woodwork, all hell would break loose frankly and there's no coming back from that outcome," Mike replied sombrely.

He then retuned his focus to the various camera feeds, watching as the Fazbears continued to distract their possessed counter opposites any means at their disposal. The possessed Fazbears continually groaned, moaned or shrieked at every sound; turning in every direction to search for an enemy that they couldn't sense, alone see or hear. Yet they acted like predators as they prowled the various rooms, constantly jerking and twitching in an abnormal manner, as if the children who possessed them were struggling to maintain full control over their vessels.

Seeing them in the flesh had awakened old memories for Mike, remembering those tense filled nights when he was the security guard, fighting off death from all sides, with each minute feeling like an hour. Then there were those moments when he had run out of power and his enemies had closed in. In the darkness he prayed to God that six am would come around and save him from the clutches of these murderous entertainers.

Thankfully, it did, but up until the moment that the clock rang out for 6am, Mike was as good as dead with a vengeful possessed Freddy looming over him, ready to beat him broken and then drag him to his death inside the iron maiden that was a prop suit.

Those close calls haunted his memories and seeing the possessed versions of his friends brought those memories reeling back with a vengeance of their own that he couldn't shake off, no matter how hard he tried to shake himself free of them.

* * *

(Begin song here).

_We wind back time to 1993, to see a young Mike, sitting in the security chair, attentively watching the cameras, as their feeds stutter with static._

_The air is tense. . ._

"**Something's not right. . .tonight at work alone."**

_There's something amidst and he is not alone._

**"Cause it feels like I, could use assistance of my own!"**

_Many eyes appear out of the darkness._

"**Help wanted, monsters in the dark."**

_Heavy footsteps fill the hallways._

**"Coming after me. . ."**

_Hatred and vengeance are everywhere._

**"Help me, before they stop my heart."**

_Consuming everything in their path._

**"They're all I can see."**

_We see Freddy and co staring back through the cameras at Mike._

"**Nightmares that I'm surrounded by. . ."**

_Pressed up against the office windows._

**"So close it's like they're in my mind."**

_Death is staring back at him._

**"This job just might destroy my life."**

_So much for a thrilling career._

**"Help wanted please."**

_The fear is very real. _

**"I don't want to die!"**

_We see possessed Freddy thundering down the hallway._

_Possessed Foxy banging extensively on the office door in a fit of rage._

_Possessed Toy Chica jerking violently on the camera feed._

"**Help wanted please."**

_Possessed Mangle crawling across the ceiling._

_Goldie twitching uncontrollably in the Parts and Service room._

_Possessed Puppet rising out of her music box._

"**I don't want to die!"**

_They never leave his sight._

"**In every room and everywhere I look."**

_They'll hunt him forever._

**"Metallic masks, trying to end my world for good."**

_Each night gets harder._

"**Help wanted, I'm starting to think, I'm not getting out."**

_One small mistake and he's dead._

**"Help me, I'm hanging by a string."**

_Their bloodlust becomes ever more ravenous._

**"They wanna cut me down. . ."**

_They stare back at him through the cameras._

"**Nightmares that I'm surrounded by. . ."**

_Glaring through the windows._

**"So close it's like they're in my mind."**

_The power meter keeps on going down._

**"This job just might destroy my life."**

_Never accept help wanted ads._

**"Help wanted please."**

_One of you vs all of them._

**"I don't want to die!"**

_We see Possessed Toy Bonnie banging aggressively on the office door._

_Possessed Balloon Boy storming down the hallway._

_Possessed Chica staring intensively through the camera feed._

"**Help wanted please."**

_Possessed Toy Freddy glaring at Mike through the office windows._

_Possessed Bonnie stalking the pizzeria's decaying rooms._

_Child like laughter drifts through the air._

"**I don't want to die!"**

_Mike laments his impending fate._

"**I can't leave, cause robotic beasts join my reality tonight."**

_They'll never let him leave._

**"And their hate will not cease, til I rest in peace."**

_The power meter drops dangerously low._

**"Someone send help please, cause I. . ."**

_Who says that life is fair?_

**"I don't want to die!"**

_Suddenly the power goes out and the doors unlock, everything goes dark._

_Numerous footsteps ring out from both hallways._

_The sound of demented laughter fills the air._

"**Help wanted please."**

_The sounds of deranged groans and moans erupt into being._

_The footsteps grow louder and louder._

_Then two pairs of vengeful eyes appear in both doorways._

"**I don't want to die!"**

_Then Possessed Freddy and Puppet enter the office from both sides, their eyes fall onto a terrified Mike._

_Mike tries to keep himself as still as possible as they approach him, with deadly intent in hand._

_Possessed Puppet emits an aggressive growl._

"**Help wanted please."**

_They loomed over Mike, with a look of immense rage._

_Mike trembles uncomfortably as death stares him in the face._

_Then Possessed Freddy reaches out for him, eager to snap his neck. . ._

"**I don't want to die!"**

(Song fades out).

* * *

Those dark days were seemingly long behind him, but still left a significant mark on everyone involved.

Mike sighed, catching Jeremy's attention, stirring the man to speak his mind.

"We need to quickly figure out a way to beat them, after all we are lucid dreaming right now, so we could imagine something to help us, even if ends up killing them," he said confidently, clearly focusing his mind towards finding an outcome. There were several loud crashing sounds from somewhere the down the hallway outside, followed by a dozen screams. No doubt the Fazbears were doing their best to keep their possessed counterparts' attention solely on them.

Mike was able to push against the memories that crawled out his subconsciousness, enough for him to focus on Jeremy.

"Those memories of my night shifts are indeed alive and well inside my head," Mike muttered bitterly.

"Back then, I would have wished to have something to defend myself with, although as turns out I got by without needing to use my gun."

And instantly a lightbulb turned on inside Jeremy's head.

It had to work, otherwise they were dead, and time was rapidly running out.

"Imagine what you've always wanted during the night shift," he said cautiously, hoping that his idea would work.

He mentally pictured the perfect gun, the sten gun, praying against logic for a good outcome.

_"Please work?"_ he mentally begged.

Suddenly, he felt something heavy and metallic fall into his hands, he instantly felt its weight.

He looked down and found himself staring at a sten gun, just like he wished.

"Finally, some good luck for once," he said smugly, feeling greatly relieved and with the narrow corridors leading up to the office, he could turn them into a killing ground.

Mike now looked dumbfounded and immediately turned his thoughts towards various guns to catch up, not wishing to be outmatched. He soon found what he desired above all things and it fell into his hands, a shotgun, packed with shrapnel bullets. In fairness, he did harbour a dark desire for payback for the hell that he was put through, although he didn't blame the Fazbears for it.

However, as realistic as things seemed in this place, it was not real, and he could happily embrace his vengeance on the possessed versions of his friends.

After all, weren't they trying to kill him right and what a better way to overcome his fear by ripping it apart?

_"Let's see how many times you can be ripped apart?"_ he mentally chuckled in a dark tone that would have disturbed any of the real Fazbears had they ever heard him.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" he then eagerly asked Jeremy, who replied with a matching grin of his own, more than enough to send shivers down any onlooker's spine.

Suddenly, the power meter hit 0%, emitting a loud whooshing sound of everything dying down, as all electrical items switched off with the blast doors opening up.

"The calm before the storm," Jeremy remarked, he knew what would soon follow.

And he was right, no sooner had the power gone off, the possessed Fazbears turned their attention away from their invisible foes and screamed a banshee like howl that ripped throughout the entire building.

Within seconds they charged towards the double corridors which lead to the office.

They were edger, they now knew that there was nothing standing in their way and their eyes glowed with blood lust.

"MIKE, JEREMY, THEY'RE HEADING YOUR WAY!" Bonnie yelled frantically.

"WE CAN'T STOP THEM!" Toy Freddy shouted, watching as their possessed counterparts pushed and shove viciously at each other to get to their destination first.

However, they were now ready for them.

"I am going to enjoy this, although it is nothing personal against them, more against the situation itself, which I was forced into," Mike said, rationalising his desire for vengeance, although given what he had been forced to endurance it was easy to sympathise with his viewpoint.

An incredibly loud animalistic shriek was heard nearby, coming from one of the hallways, they didn't have long.

In way they would confronting their fears, by blasting them to pieces, at the end of the day, they knew that these things weren't real, just memories and personified fears. They knew that the Fazbears would always have their backs, years of hard built trust had showed that. There were more screams and the ever-increasing sound of multiple footsteps, hitting the floor in a rapid manner. Shadows crept up the surrounding walls, the possessed Fazbears would be here any second now.

Mike knelt down and positioned himself just before the left doorway with his shotgun at the ready, fingers on the trigger.

There was the ratta noise of possessed Foxy's feet, getting ever louder as he approached.

'Ratta, ratta, ratta, ratta, ratta!'

Jeremy sat himself in the office chair and positioned his stern gun in the direction of the right doorway, putting his eye to be in line with the iron sights.

'Ratta, ratta, ratta, ratta, ratta!'

'Ratta, ratta, ratta, ratta, ratta!'

Things would go very different this time.

'RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA!'

This had been long overdue.

'RATTA, RATTA, RATTA, RATTA!'

Then possessed Foxy appeared in the left doorway, looking angrier than ever, his eyes a glare of immense rage.

He screamed, but before he could even get a word out, Mike pulled the trigger and blasted him with the shotgun. The resulting blast impacted him right in the chest, splitting him right open and sending the possessed Foxy flying back into the wall. There was a loud cracking thud as his back sharply impacted into it. Yet Mike didn't stop releasing barrel of shotgun rounds into the possessed Fazbear, freezing him in place, unable to move due to the immense pain he was receiving.

The other possessed Fazbears soon turned up with the possessed version of Freddy reaching around the door and tried to grab Mike's shotgun out of his hands.

Mike responded with shooting away the hand, blasting off all five fingers and making possessed Freddy screamed out in pain. Then the possessed versions of the Toys turned up outside the right doorway with the possessed version of Balloon Boy being the first to arrive.

_"HI!"_ he screamed in a phantom like wail.

Jeremy replied by firing his gun, it acted like a machine gun, with an intense and quick rate of fire.

The result was possessed BB being tore open and his innards being splattered against the wall, all the while he screamed in agony. Then other possessed Toys arrived and using BB's situation as a distraction, attempted to get inside the office, they knew that Jeremy couldn't concentrate on all of them.

In truth, he could, when there was only one doorway and he made dam sure that no one got in. Fringing his gun nonstop, Jeremy proceeded to hit the possessed versions of Toys all in one, whilst Mike did the same with the Originals. All the while, the real Fazbears just listened from the main dining room, hearing nothing else but the combined sounds of shouts, screams and guns fringing constantly.

"COME ON IS THIS THE BEST YOU'VE GOT!" Mike yelled, thankfully that he wished for unlimited ammunition, as the possessed Originals pushed forward with their attempts to get at him.

The possessed Fazbears seemed to act under the logic that as painful and as suicidal as their approach was, they needed to silence the two night guards otherwise they would be trapped outside forever. So, they pressed onwards, despite the immense never ending shower of bullets, using all their strength and stamina they pushed themselves to their limits.

And they barely made it three steps in before collapsing from their wounds…kind of anti-climactic.

Jeremy was astonished at the sight of the blood covered, groaning bodies of the possessed Toys as they lay on top of each other, pilling in the doorway, blocking it for anyone else.

It was such a mess that he couldn't work out who was who exactly.

And it felt so easy. . .too easy.

Yet he recognised the seriously wounded possessed version of the Puppet, who crawled out of the top of the pile, reaching forward with one of her hands which appeared to be fingerless. Her expression was now the complete opposite to her previous one.

She looked sad, regretful even and somewhat terrified, as she reached out further still, trying to grab hold of Jeremy.

Yet although he knew her vicious nature, he hesitated on whether he should kill her.

In truth, he felt sorry for her.

Yet deep down he knew what she would do if given the chance, at one moment she nearly ended up killing him in real life back in 1987.

"I'm sorry Puppet, but you're a ghost of the past," he muttered, raising his sten gun to meet her face, putting her right in the middle of the crosshairs.

"And you need to be laid to rest."

Her eyes, being that of white dots for pupils widen as if she was in shock at what she was seeing. Then they narrowed and her mouth turning into a vindictive frown. She screamed, now lashing out with her free hand, but Jeremy pulled the trigger and silenced her once and for all.

"Old habits die hard," he remarked coldly, lightly kicking her body to see if she was still alive, but she wasn't.

"Well, there's no one left on my side," Mike stated cautiously, slowly stepping over the now still bodies of the Originals as he peered out into the hallway.

At the far end, he could see the real Fazbears all staring down from their position, the collective expression was profound shock.

"It's ok guys, we're still alive," Mike called, waving his hand at them so they could see him.

"All the blood and dead bodies are fading away, so there's nothing left to see," Jeremy shouted, stepping out into the blood free corridor as the bodies of the possessed Toys faded away.

"They're all dead, our fears are conquered, although they were not verablly beaten like your fears were."

There was a huge cheer of relief from the Fazbears as the two former nightguards left the office to join them.

So, all the steps have been completed.

"Well…" Toy Chica began, looking very relaxed.

"I never knew I was so vicious, I mean I've seen it on footage, but to see myself like that up close…"

She appeared to fold her arms and mumbled.

"It's something quite different."

Then she smiled.

"I'm quite glad, you both survived."

Jeremy merely laughed and pulled Toy Chica into a hug, she blushed at the close contact.

"Awww, I like the fact that you still care TC, it's heart-warming, it really is."

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat.

They both turned to see Goldie with his arms slightly folded and his eyes firmly set on where Jeremy's arms were.

"Sorry Goldie," Jeremy said jokily, releasing Toy Chica from his grip.

"Didn't know that you were that territorial."

Upon realising, what he was saying, Goldie instantly snapped to attention.

"Sorry, natural reaction, you're not the kind of guy who would try to do anything odd Jeremy," he replied, now looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Well I am sure glad that no one was allowed to bring guns into the premises," Bonnie remarked, casting a glance behind Jeremy to where the dead bodies of the possessed Fazbears had once laid.

"Although I wouldn't blame anyone if they did, given what we put them through," she sighed and lowered her head.

"I do wonder at times if some of them had even considered suicide."

Mike slowly reached forward with his free hand and lifted her chin up, their eyes locked.

"Listen, you know that it wasn't you, I am not afraid of you and I know that you want to fix things," he said, smiling at the last part.

"Over time things will become water under the bridge' I'm sure of it."

Bonnie slowly returned his smile.

"Thanks Mike, you always know what to say," she replied.

"Well it helped me survive you and others, didn't it?" He asked back.

His comment made Bonnie laugh.

"Yeah, you did have a way with words."

Seeing her laugh, with her features all lit up and her smooth purple hair swaying about in the air, Freddy found himself once again caught in a trace. His blue pupils widen as he stared at her, his eyes fixed solely on her, it was like everything was in slow motion, anything else that was not related to Bonnie disappeared from his mind.

He understood that past events had made her bitter somewhat, yet underneath all of that she was still sweet. He remembered seeing her for the first time, no really seeing her for the 'first time', back in good old 1980. She was on stage next to him singing her heart out and playing her guitar out like there was no tomorrow.

It was not instant love, not the kind that you would get in teenage romantic stories…like Twilight for example. It was a slow burner, yet it was still love nevertheless and Freddy knew that. At first, he didn't know what to do exactly about his feelings, he certainly did not wish to embarrass her or himself by making an effective public statement of love like they did in the movies.

So, he sought to play the long game, getting into the friendzone and slowly moving forward in his advances.

By the time of the events which occurred in 1983 they were a close family unit of five, leaving Freddy just a step away from the actual kind of relationship which he wanted with Bonnie.

Yet he had stopped going any further for two reasons, the first one being the chaos which erupted out of the 1st missing children's incident. It derailed everything and the closing of their pizzeria only further served to cast an enteral dark cloud over their heads. In times of crisis people needed a leader, regardless of whether it was global or family orientated, a leader was required and Freddy became that leader.

They loved each other dearly there was no doubting that, but they needed to put romance aside and focus on trying to rebuild and find a way out of this hell. Plus, being possessed by dead vengeful children didn't help their recovery in anyway. The second reason was that he didn't know if she felt the same way and after all that effort he didn't want to open his heart and find out that she didn't feel the same way.

How would he be able to stand in her presence again if his fears turned out to be true.

He prayed that they never would be.

Yet if his recent interactions with Bonnie were anything to go by, then obviously, she held feelings towards him. However, it was due to all other recent events that he had found himself unable to talk to her privately. He vowed to find the time somewhere soon, he needed to tell her how much she meant to him.

He sighed and took his eyes off the ongoing interaction between Bonnie and Mike, looking elsewhere around the room. Everyone else seem to be very glad that the nightmare was over with Toy Freddy punching his fist in the air, Puppet clasping their hands with glee and Foxy patting Jeremy on the back as a form of congratulations.

Even Mangle who was hanging on the ceiling and dazing down at Jeremy appeared to be grinning in delight.

Wait, since when did Mangle get on the ceiling?

Within the blink of an eye, Mangle dived off the ceiling like a blot of lightening, Jeremy only had a split second to notice before he was knocked to ground and pinned in place with Foxy staggering back in shock. Jeremy shot Mangle a look of extreme annoyance, he was done with sudden shocks for a day.

"Jesus Christ Mangle, a little fair warning beforehand would be ni-"

His words became stuck in his throat as he recognised the colour in Mangle's pupils…two blazing white dots.

This wasn't Mangle, this was possessed Mangle and her sadistic smirk gave Jeremy every reason to worry.

And worse still he didn't have his sten gun with him for it had been knocked out of his hands when possessed Mangle crashed into him.

_"It's me Jeremy!" _she hissed venously through gritted teeth.

However, before she could even attempt to bite him, using what limited movability he had, Jeremy grabbed her mouth with his hands and attempted to keep it shut. Although it was clear to anyone watching that possessed Mangle held the upper hand, using her endoskeleton hands to pin his hands down to the floor.

"SHIT!" was all Jeremy could scream, trying desperately to prevent her teeth from ripping his face off as her normal set of hands tried to pin the rest of him in place.

_Possessed Mangle's actions amounted to that of a snake…strangling its prey before administering the final blow._

Within an instant all the other Fazbears rush in on the scene, some grabbing near chairs with Foxy being the first to reach him and swiftly administering a sharp smack of the chair against possessed Mangle's head. Only for her react just as swiftly by grabbing the chair with her hand, stopping it completely in mid-air, Foxy soon found himself struggling to match her strength_._

_Where they really this physically strong in when they were possessed?_

His contest of strength with possessed Mangle only stopped when Toy Bonnie came around the other side and brutally smacked her in the head. The impact hit her with enough force to knock her off Jeremy, with possessed Mangle rolling away, before stabilising herself.

Everyone else charged in on the scene, whilst they couldn't physically attack possessed Mangle themselves, they could trap her with chairs and tables. However, possessed Mangle appeared to be expecting that such action would be taken as she could see chairs and tables being lifted off the ground by invisible hands and brought towards her. Within an instant, she jumped upwards and grasped the pizzeria ceiling with her endoskeleton hands, digging them in ensure a tight grip.

She was too far away to be hit by chairs although Jeremy's sten gun possessed the range to reach her.

Upon retrieving it he fired up an almighty hail of bullets at her, attempting to kill her or at least knock her off the ceiling.

Possessed Mangle knew what he was trying to do, so she raced around in circles to trying to flank him. Although Jeremy had wished for endless ammunition, he was struggling to track her movements as she dashed from one direction to the next, whenever she caught onto the direction of his bullets, she would immediately change her path and go off somewhere else.

However, she ran right over Mike, who took the opportunity to shoot at her with his shotgun. He aimed the gun upwards, tracking possessed Mangle until she was almost on top of him. A hand rested itself on his shoulder, out of the corner of his eye, Mike saw that the sleeve matched that of Goldie's.

"Tell me when to fire Goldie, in case she changes direction ok?" Mike asked, keeping his attention on the fast-moving possessed Mangle.

Suddenly the grip on his shoulder tighten and then Mike was yanked upwards with such force and speed that he dropped his shotgun.

"GOLDIE WHAT THE HELL!"

He spun round…only to come face to face with possessed Goldie expressing nothing other than full on rage.

"HOLY SWEET MAR-"

He was cut off by possessed Goldie throwing him into the nearby wall with a loud aggressive scream.

It was followed by a thunderous smack as Mike's back hit the wall with force.

Everyone else turned and saw the incident, only for possessed Goldie to teleport out of sight and then reappear before Mike as he was picking himself up after being slammed into the wall. Although he was dazed after the impact, Mike knew he was in the deep end when possessed Goldie reappeared before him, angrier than ever.

How did he escape previously and for that matter, how did possessed Mangle escape too?

Unless they backed off from the blaster fire and never attempted to enter the office, that's why they never saw them until now.

They had been waiting for the right opportunity….and now they had it.

An immense wave of pain washed over Mike as possessed Goldie punched him hard in the stomach, pushing his back even further into the wall. He then grabbed his throat with his other hand and started to strangle him, cutting into his airways. Possessed Goldie growled as he tightens his grip on Mike's neck, whilst the latter fought back, trying to pull his hand off, but possessed Goldie's grip was as strong as steel and wouldn't give way.

While possessed Goldie's attack on Mike had everyone's attention for the moment, possessed Mangle took it as an opportunity to launch another attack against Jeremy, which she did with a speed yet unseen as she raced across the ceiling and dived towards the floor, landing on it and before Jeremy could react she then leapt up at him like a dog and knocked him to the ground.

However, this time, he didn't lose hold of his gun as he had tightened his grip on it in the few microseconds he had before she made impact. Possessed Mangle pinned him to the floor with her endoskeleton hands which gripped his arms and used her legs to trap his legs under hers. With her real hands, she didn't grab his throat which he expected, but rather instead covered his nose and mouth preventing him from breathing properly. In an adrenaline fuelled situation such as this with his heart pounding rapidly against his ribcage, Jeremy's need for immediate oxygen grew dire as his lungs started to scream for fresh air.

Possessed Mangle's smile only grew in sick delight as he struggled with her to breathe.

Yet he still had his gun in his grip and while his arm was pinned, his hand wasn't.

Trying to lift the gun up was one thing, it was another when you were trying to do it while fighting off someone who was trying to kill you. Yet despite his mind starting to go dizzy from the lack of oxygen, he was able get the gun into position. Pulling the trigger, he fired a single bullet into possessed Mangle's side, she screamed as the bullet made its impact against her ribcage. It was enough for her to remove her hands from his mouth and nose, as well as loosen her grip on his arms.

With the opportunity at hand, he headbutted her in the face, punched her hard in the chest and brought the gun round to smack her in the side of the head.

That…was a lot of pain to receive in the space of five seconds.

Finally, he kicked her off him whilst she was still screaming in agony.

Then and in rather good timing Puppet turned up behind possessed Mangle and whilst the latter was distracted by the recent pain, smacked in the back of the head with a chair. Even though it made her dizzy, she still jumped up at the ceiling and began to swing away. Jeremy was quickly on his feet and fired spray after spray of bullets in her direction, scaring the ceiling with bullet holes.

Yet despite her quick speed, he got two or more three shots into her.

Unable to take the immense damage, possessed Mangle fell to the floor, screaming in agony as pain raced through her body. She hit the floor with a deafening smack, it was enough to break bone. Gripping his sten gun tightly in his hands, Jeremy slowly approached her, only now, she didn't appear to be in any shape to be moving. In fact, it looked as if she was on her last breath, Jeremy knew she was now dying. He then turned his gaze to Mike who was still struggling to fight possessed Goldie, who held him firmly in place against the wall. Freddy had just come to the rescue with a chair and brought down against possessed Goldie's head.

However, the man without even turning round to look, grabbed the chair with his free hand and held it in mid-air, much to Freddy's shock and amazement.

Whether he was possessed or not, Goldie was still very strong.

Then and with great strength, possessed Goldie, whilst still holding onto the chair, swung it hard against the wall resulting in Freddy impacting it face first. It didn't stop there as possessed Goldie started to swing the chair back and forth against the wall, making Freddy hit it again…and again….and again.

"Looks like…. I've got the…better treatment out of…the two of us," Mike joked, watching Freddy repeatedly get himself face slammed into the wall.

Freddy gave him a glare of annoyance.

"Says you-"

BASH!

"Who has-"

BASH!

"His hand-"

BASH!

"Around your-"

BASH!

"Neck!"

Then Bonnie appeared next to Mike, having slipped round possessed Goldie, plus she had his shotgun.

"Here, quickly, before he notices," she whispered, placing it in Mike's free hand.

"With pleasure," Mike replied, bringing it round to get a clear shot.

However, possessed Goldie saw the exchange and knew what Mike was planning to do. He knew that something was fighting with him for the chair even though he couldn't see who it was and to make the situation even more complex, his grip on Mike's throat was the only thing keeping him pinned against the wall.

Yet it couldn't let him use the shotgun, something would have to go. With an instant, he threw the chair away, which resulted in Freddy being flung across the room, luckily Toy Freddy caught him…as well as getting the chair thrown in his face with a deafening smack.

And yes, that did hurt a lot.

Meanwhile possessed Goldie now with his left hand now free grabbed hold of Mike's right hand and pinned it against the wall. At the same time, he took his right hand off Mike's throat and used it to grab hold of his left, the one holding the gun and tighten his grip on his wrist.

Doing so meant that Mike couldn't use the shotgun, possessed Goldie only continued to tighten his grip on his wrist, it became so tight that his hand started to go pale white and in the end Mike was forced to let go of the shotgun. Bonnie moved to retrieve the shotgun off the floor so she could have a go at killing possessed Goldie, only for him to stamp on it with his foot, trapping it there so no one could pick it up.

Pushing Mike even further against the wall, possessed Goldie leaned in, breaking into Mike's personal space. His white dots for eyes shone with an inner rage that was unparalleled.

_"Do you remember me, Mike Schmidt, I almost caught you on your fourth night, do you want to try it again?" _

His voice…it was childlike, sounding nothing like Goldie, yet it clearly contained a mocking tone.

"Mike, he isn't real, he's just a physical manifestation of your fear of us going rogue again," Bonnie remarked, trying to get the shotgun out from under possessed Goldie's feet.

"I know that Bonnie, he's just my fear of you lot attacking me again, yet he's still here trying to kill me!" Mike replied, clearly not enjoying the situation as possessed Goldie smiled at him.

_"It's me!"_ it sneered, as Mike desperately struggled to break free.

"Bonnie, just shoot the fucker, he's giving me the evil look!" he yelled in frustration as possessed Goldie's hands were like an iron chain that seemed unbreakable.

"I'm trying, but I can't get the gun, he's standing on it!" Bonnie shouted back, trying her best to pry the shotgun loose.

Then the real Goldie appeared, holding a chair, having teleported behind his possessed counterpart.

He smiled, he knew immediately what to do.

He swiftly smacked possessed Goldie in the back of the head, the impact didn't move him, but it did stun him momentarily.

Quickly Goldie teleported to the other side of his possessed counterpart and hit him again, this time in the side.

Possessed Goldie reacted by reaching out with one of his hands to grab the chair, yet Goldie teleported away to avoid his reach. He reappeared on the other side and proceeded to repeat the pattern, bashing the chair against the leg of his possessed counterpart. Possessed Goldie growled in rage, he was being attacked, yet he didn't know by who or where it was coming from and it annoyed the hell out of him.

Yet Goldie didn't stop and continued to press his attack forward, resulting in possessed Goldie becoming even more enraged.

_"WHERE ARE YOU!"_ he screamed, turning to face his attacker only to see a chair in mid-air which kept on disappearing.

When Goldie smacked him in the back of the head again, possessed Goldie reacted with the speed of lighting, turning round and grabbing the chair with his hand.

_"There you are!"_ he hissed, there was no hiding the sadistic pleasure in his voice.

A look of fear crossed Goldie's face.

However, Mike took the opportunity with equal vigour, now that he was mostly free of possessed Goldie's grasp.

He sharply kicked possessed Goldie in the back of his left leg and then smacked him in the back with his free fist, making the man monetarily stumble forward.

In the immediate confusion, Mike fully broke free of possessed Goldie's grip. His stance was weakened enough for Bonnie to pry the shotgun out from under his feet.

"MIKE, GRAB IT!" she yelled, throwing it up towards him, he quickly seized hold of it. Possessed Goldie quickly sensed what was about to happen as he felt the shotgun being moved from under his foot. He turned around with his fists at the ready, only to be greeted with a shotgun barrel being pressed right against his face and an angry looking Mike staring him down from the other end.

"IT'S ME!" he shouted and pulled the trigger.

Possessed Goldie's eyes widen within the split second of life he had left before his entire head was blown clean off with an almighty spray of blood, gore and bone. The now headless corpse stumbled backwards from the impact for a few seconds, kind of like the way a chicken wanders around the farmyard after having its head cut off. However as expected, it finally fell backwards and landed on the floor, resulting in a large pool of blood spreading out across the polished marble.

That just left Mike, Bonnie and Goldie all covered from to head to toe in blood and gore. Mike was not that bothered, after nearly being killed by a possessed version of his friend, he now lacked the capability to be shocked anymore. Goldie was just stunned, technically he was covered in his own blood and innards, it was something you had to see with your own eyes to fully understand.

Then again, he had lived through stranger days.

Bonnie of course delivered a more typical reaction to the situation.

"AAAGH, WHAT THE HELL, GET IT OFF ME, I HATE THIS!" she screamed, trying desperately to wipe the blood and entrails off.

It was just one big mess.

Mike however decided to release some pent-up rage by repeatedly firing at the body and kicking it harshly, his anger becoming ever more apparent with each kick.

"FUCK YOU, YOU SMUG MURDEROUS BASATARD!" He yelled.

He continued to fire shotgun rounds into it, effectively breaking the body up into pieces.

"THIS IS FOR MAKING MY JOB MISERABLE!"

"You don't have a thing against me, do you?" Goldie asked, looking concerned by Mike's treatment of what otherwise was his body.

Mike looked up to meet his gaze.

"No, just this guy, you and I are on good terms, so don't worry, it's just when you go all possessed that I get a little edgy."

Still he continued to kick at the motionless corpse.

"And yes, Goldie as I told you back in 1993 or 1994, I accept your apology for your behaviour, it's all water under the bridge."

Goldie however wasn't fully convinced, given Mike's clear enjoyment in defiling the corpse of his possessed self.

"Are you sure, you still seem to hold some anger towards me?" he asked cautiously.

Mike merely replied in an amused tone with.

"Well…maybe a little."

He then shot at possessed Goldie's private parts, blowing them right off.

"OK THAT WAS UNCALLED FOR!" Goldie screamed, now clearly enraged at Mike's action.

"Relax, what's he going to use them for anyway?" he asked plainly, ignoring the 'I'll kill you right now' expression he was getting from Goldie.

Bonnie meanwhile was still trying to get all the blood and gore off, clearly not loving the sensation.

"This is so disgusting and horrible," she moaned, attempting to shake it all off.

"Is it over?" a voice called.

All three turned to see the others on the far side of the room, it was Balloon Boy who had asked.

Goldie waved his hand at them, signalling that it was ok to come forward.

"Yeah, we are fine, the other me is dead," he said as they approached.

"How dead?" Toy Chica asked, concerned that Goldie appeared to be completely covered in blood.

"Try having your head shot off," Goldie replied with a victorious smile.

"That's pretty much dead for me," Freddy commented, rubbing his face, which still hurt after being slammed into the wall only minutes earlier. As expected, the headless body of possessed Goldie started to fade away along with all the blood and gore that was spread across the floor as well as what covered Mike, Bonnie and the real Goldie.

"Well I am glad that it's all over," Foxy muttered, sighing immensely.

He then gestured to the fading body of possessed Goldie and where the body of possessed Mangle was.

"With them being dead and all."

"Yeah, so with our fears conquered do we return to the real world now?" Mike asked, cradling his shotgun in his hands.

Goldie nodded in confirmation of Mike's words.

"Yes, we will return to the real world and iron out our plans for when we take on the Nightmares this afternoon, I guess everyone would like to recap first beforehand?" he asked, looking around.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I do have a few questions about the operation?" Toy Freddy remarked calmly.

"Well, we have the time to ponder on such things," Jeremy muttered cautiously, casting a glance back at where possessed Mangle lay dead.

As expected she wasn't there anymore having faded away.

His eyes narrowed as he scanned the scene.

Wait…what was that…red….something red…._blood. _

There was a small pool of blood where he last saw her, but she wasn't there.

Quickly all five of his senses came online as panic quickly took hold of his mind.

"Jeremy?" said a voice as a hand tapped his shoulder. In his fear fuelled mental state, Jeremy spun round and pointed the sten gun at the intruder with his finger on the trigger. It was Mangle, shocked beyond anything else to see Jeremy pointing a gun at her face, her yellow eyes widened in fear and surprise with the colour in her face going white to match that of her hair.

Everyone looked shocked, unable to believe what they were seeing with their own eyes.

Luckily for both their sakes, Jeremy restrained himself from going any further.

His fear subsided and he slowly lowered the gun away from her face.

"Sorry Mangle," he mumbled.

"Didn't mean to scare you."

He reached over and placed his free hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"False alarm."

Something shifted on the edge of his field of vision.

Quickly he jerked his head upwards at the ceiling.

And there she was…possessed Mangle, clearly wounded and still bleeding, but on the verge of pouncing.

She barred her teeth at him and then leapt, suddenly everything slowed down, going into slow motion. There it was with possessed Mangle leaping down at Jeremy, who brought his gun up with the real Mangle just looking confused at what Jeremy was doing. She saw the direction of his eyes and turned around to see what it was that had caught his attention. Her yellow eyes widen in fear as they locked contact with blazing white dots of her possessed counterpart.

She looked horrifying, with all the blood adding to her monstrous, ghostly appearance, now Mangle could finally see why Jeremy had been afraid of her for so long.

The words of her inner fears came rushing back to haunt her.

_"What's done cannot be undone Mangle, you of all people know that."_

_"This your legacy."_

_"You cannot be forgiven, and nor do you believe that you deserve it in the first place."_

They were right, she was a monster.

Mangle opened her mouth to scream as her possessed counterpart drew nearer, everyone else was too shocked to do anything as the unfolding scene neared its climax. Suddenly there was several loud shots, ringing out across the room, destroying the silence. Right before Mangle's very eyes, possessed Mangle appeared to twitch like she had a seizure as several red holes materialised across her chest. Possessed Mangle let out a shriek of pain as the bullets ripped through her body.

Suddenly. everything appeared to drop out of slow motion, as possessed Mangle still screaming mind you, passed straight through the real Mangle like a ghost before hitting the floor at Jeremy's feet. Mangle slowly turned around to see Jeremy towering over the now critically wounded possessed Mangle, whose breathing was noticeably rasp and inconsistent. With a cold, frustrated look in his eyes, Jeremy slowly pointed the barrel of the gun downwards at his attacker, putting the laser sight right between her eyes, those cold yet anger filled eyes.

"Playtime's over."

He then pulled the trigger, putting a bullet in her head and ending his fears once and for all, with the shot ringing out everywhere at once.

With his foot, he pushed the body away and looked up at Mangle. She appeared to be quite shell-shocked, after having her possessed counterpart fall right through her. She then started to run her hands across her hair as images of what just happened raced through her mind.

"I don't hate you Mangle, not anymore, that was decades ago, and I know you are no threat to me," Jeremy began softly, dropping his weapon to the floor.

"However, when the ghost children take hold as they did recently."

He gestured towards the now lifeless corpse of possessed Mangle, lying motionless nearby.

"Especially when their angry and vengeful, then I can't help but fear the worst."

There was a slight pause before Mangle nodded.

"I understand completely, Jeremy, obviously, the rest of us and the children need to sit down and talk things out again," she replied, although her tone was low, it was as if she was ashamed of allowing herself to end up in such a mood.

Yet Jeremy's reconciliation did little to lessen her sense of guilt and worthlessness.

With the body of possessed Mangle now starting to fade away, Jeremy turned to meet the others.

"Now, we can leave, there's only so much of the past that I can relive before it gives me nightmares," he stated, normally he would be joking, expect this time he wasn't, his tone was cold, clearly, he had enough of the dream world. Goldie nodded, he was also eager to return to the real world, looking at everyone else, he reasoned that they could all do with a break.

"Ok, I think I got this, everyone think of the desire to wake up, if you think about it for long enough, your brain will realise that its asleep and start the wake-up process," he ordered, clasping his hands together. Everyone closed their eyes and allowed their minds to conjure up the desire to become awake, focusing all their mental attention on the subject.

Slowly, the pizzeria began to fade away, the office, dining room and stage all vanished to be replaced with an empty world of bright whiteness.

And then, one by one, they all faded away into nothingness as if they never existed in the first place and with the last one gone, the entire dream world turned grey and then finally to black like the night sky.

It was time for phase two, to meet the Nightmares. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've glad to have made it this far into the story because starting with Chapter 46, we can begin to move into the really 'good stuff'!
> 
> Thank you to those who have left kudos, there is still a significant amount of story left to get through.
> 
> Please review, I appreciate your feedback. :-)


	46. Into the Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here's chapter 46, this one took me quite a while when I was originally working on it.  
It is quite big, but there is alot of content to get through and I wanted to put everything into proper focus, without spliting the chapter into different sections as I have done for previous chapters.  
There is a song in this chapter and it's 'Nightmare' by NatesWantsToBattle, a very good FNAF song and perfectly suits the emotional themes of the chapter.  
I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, so do enjoy.  
Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I've missed and thank you to those who have left Kudos. :-)

**Chapter 46**

** Into the Unknown. **

** _"Not all those who wander are lost..."_ **

_ **J.R.R. Tolkien** _

No one knows what death is like, what happens to the human soul when the organs stop functioning or when the eyes roll back in on themselves.

Those who have died, have not found a way to tell us what comes after.

In a more religious sense, the understanding is quite clear, either you go to heaven or to hell, depending on how you've lived your life. Then there is the matter of Limbo, the waiting room for the dead, empty, vacant and seemingly infinite. There is no sense of time, or place, or meaning in this unknown dimension which exists between the real world and the next. It is an isolated pocket, hovering around the fringes of existence, you think of it as a bubble, but if anyone were to find themselves inside that bubble, then they would learn for themselves that Limbo is endless, no boundaries or limits mark its end.

There is only blackness and silence…nothing else.

The function of this desolate wasteland of the dead was to act as a waiting room for the souls of the deceased, as they were judged for which plane of existence they should pass onto next. Depending on how they lived their lives, a soul's time in limbo could range from one year alone to that of a hundred thousand. Once their time of judging had passed the soul would go to whether it was directed and that was that…gone…the end. However, not all souls who lingered in Limbo were being judged, others were just stuck. Unable to move onwards to either heaven or hell, because under their own free will they refused to leave, determined to remain so they could finish something which they couldn't in their waking life.

But often enough those souls that refused to move on weren't of the friendly variety…

Yet despite that, they were not the only group of souls that existed in Limbo.

It was a minority, but these souls weren't officially dead yet, they still had a chance as slim as it might be to return to the real world if the right conditions were met. Often because they had the strong will to push themselves through, or had friends who could help guide them back into the embrace of life.

And it is with one of these souls that we start our chapter.

_"Spring…don't leave us...not now."_

_"I love you all….keep…on…smiling….."_

Then he let the sweet embrace of enteral sleep overcome him…his eyes slowly closed and his hands relaxed by his side…he stopped breathing.

There was nothing….nothing but cold, heart wrenching silence.

All that he could feel was the sensation of drifting away into the darkness. Those last few words stayed with him though, echoing about in the dark, shifting in their intensity from a loud scream of sheer emotional desperation to a soft hushed whisper of secrecy.

"So…is this death?" Springtrap asked himself, he couldn't tell if he had a physical form or if his eyes were open or closed. Initially, he couldn't even hear his own voice, it was as if, the feeling of sound had to return to him first.

Everything was far too dark to understand what was going on around him.

Was there even anything around him?

Was he still falling, that was the last thing he remembered feeling once he embraced death.

He couldn't feel anything around him, there was nothing.

He had no sense of direction, he was lost.

"I might as well try to figure out what the afterlife is like," he stated out loud, the only thing which he knew so far was that he could hear his own voice. Slowly he opened his eyes, being wary of what he might encounter, as it turns out there was no need as he was completely alone. Looking around he could see his own hands, feet and body, but surrounding him was pitch blackness, yet he could see himself clearly. He looked up to see if there was a light shining down on him, maybe heaven, that was known in popular culture to hold a bright yellowish light with some iconic golden gates and fluffy clouds.

Expect there was no light above him, in fact there was only more darkness, it was like his immediate surroundings were lit up, but everything else remained hidden from sight.

And of course, being in a situation where you don't know what's going on gets to people and Springtrap is no different.

"Hello!" he called out.

Getting no instant reply, he cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled out in an even higher volume.

"HELLO!"

Still no response from the world of the dead.

"IS THERE ANYONE OUT HERE!"

He tried to move, but found that he couldn't tell if he was moving or not, there was no sense of direction, nothing to act as a landmark.

Everything looked the same.

"Is this death?" he asked, as he spun around on the spot.

He sighed deeply.

"If it is, then I can see why life was so worth living."

Still, he kept on trying to find his way through the surrounding darkness.

"Is it just me in here?" he asked, knowing that he would receive no answer to any of his questions. He didn't understand what was happening, he knew that he was dead, but why was he here in this dark and empty place. If this was Limbo, the supposed 'waiting room' of the afterlife, then what was it that he was waiting for exactly?

He certainly didn't know, he had some regrets, but they were minor in comparison to others.

He was all alone in this world, just Springtrap.

"I am still here," he whispered to himself as he appeared to drift in the vast emptiness of the void, or at least he got the sense that he was drifting.

"HELLO, CAN ANYONE HELP ME?" he screamed with all his might, he could feel his voice travel, spreading out across the darkness to where he didn't know. Still he kept on drifting ever onwards without know where he was or what his destination is. Just a man with greenish blonde hair, two tall tattered bunny ears, a pair of battered out black shoes, a worn out greenish golden suit which had clearly seen better days with a set of trousers to match.

He attempted several tires to establish communications.

"HELLO, GOD, OR SOMETHING!"

"I'M DEAD SO NOW WHAT!"

"IS THIS IT, BECAUSE IF IT IS, THEN HEAVEN IS OVERRATED."

Yet he got nothing in response, just empty plain silence.

He tossed and turned, but he still didn't get any sense of where he was heading in this dark and lifeless world. However, all the silence did give him time to think things over. He didn't regret giving his life to save Goldie, not one bit and he was glad that he was able to get him to safety. He sighed and lowered his head as a thought entered his mind.

_"Although it would have been nice for me to have said goodbye to him properly…just once."_

Shaking his head, Springtrap knew that now he needed to find out where he was exactly, although he highly doubted his chances of success.

Yet past thoughts and memories kept on coming back to him.

_"Welcome kids to Fredbear's Family Diner, home to fun and adventure."_

_"Well SpringBonnie, what song have we got for today?"_

_"Oh it's one of your favourites kids, it's the Humpey De Dumpty song, come on let's sing along."_

_"YAAAAA!"_

_"Who wants to win a free plushie!" _

_"ME, ME, ME, ME!"_

_"I hope this never ends Springs."_

_"Me too Goldie."_

Springtrap smiled to himself, now that he was no longer angry with Goldie anymore he could view the past in a more positive light than he ever could before. Those were the golden days, when life was predictable without any massive upheaval.

_"Happy...days...thee happiest day." _He thought to himself, the memory brought a sense of warmth to his body.

Although he was dead, he knew that he had helped to bring those happy days back for the others, give them something to aim at.

His death was not in vain, he knew that to be true.

Still he didn't want to die, but at least he had gotten rid of Nightmare Fredbear, he was a blood thirsty psychopath if there ever was one. One less Nightmare for the others to deal with, plus with Goldie back, they may uncover the rest of the truth. Springtrap sighed as he floated about in the pitch blackness, he wasn't asking for much but given what he had just done, sacrificing himself for the greater good of his wider family, he at least expected to arrive at the gates of Heaven.

But no, all he got was cold blackness to greet him.

"I'm really loving the reward," Springtrap muttered sarcastically under his breath, although no one would hear him out here.

He attempted once more to get some idea of his bearings, but all he ended up doing was spinning about widely in all directions. The act frustrated him, he didn't like this situation, particularly because he didn't know what he was doing, or why he was here or what was even going on. Yet as he tried to reposition himself, out of the cold, lonely darkness, a soft yet depressed voice called from all directions, surrounding him.

_"You know…I'm…."_

"Wait, who is that?" Springtrap called, tossing and turning as he tried to pinpoint the voice's owner.

"Who are you?"

The voice appeared to ignore Springtrap's calls for identification, appearing to continue on its own pre-set course.

_"I'm not one for romance…..I'm haven't really given it any thought actually."_

Then his memory kicked into high gear, with one person coming to settle in his mind, he could see them clearly as if they were right in front of him.

"Mangle…?"

_"However...if there was…someone...who I might be interested in...who I thought I could enjoy falling in love with."_

"Wait, what are you saying?" Springtrap asked, holding his head in his hands, now he was just confused. Why was she saying all of this and why was he hearing it?

Was she saying all of this right now, or was this just a memory of sorts?

_"I would have chosen you…..I felt…..that we…have a similar backstory and that somewhere….depending on who made the first move that we could light a spark….and see where it goes from there."_

That struck him like a lightening blot, he wasn't expecting that.

"I…I…I…I don't understand?"

Why would Mangle want to be with him?

Ok, they got on well, but they were just acquaintances on a conversational level, barely even friends. He certainly didn't see her as anyone special, not to say that he didn't value her as a person. She along with Freddy had helped to convince him to join with the others and save Goldie.

And before that she had been the only one to come and talk to him after his rampage, she had made the attempt to try and reach out to him. In some case, they did have a similar backstory, they were both rejected and unloved by the company. He had been isolated and kept away from public view, whilst Mangle had been bullied by children and left to fend for herself when the Toys couldn't step in and support her.

"She has been nice to me, she did help me rediscover myself and she was one of many who had attempted to save me from dying," Springtrap whispered to himself, locked within his thoughts.

Of course, how could he forget about that, she was determined like the others to save him, she cared…clearly.

_"I'm sorry Springtrap….we're sorry."_

Oh yes, she cared, in him she had found someone who knew what it was like to be rejected and forgotten, she had found a kindred spirit.

"I am extremely grateful for her efforts, but I don't see her like that….do I?"

He was surprised that he was even asking himself that very question, he pondered going back through his memories, trying to piece things together.

Yet the voice called out again, disturbing his thoughts.

_"Perhaps, once Goldie awakes we can move closer to the truth. . ."_

Not a second later, Springtrap felt something warm and soft being pressed against his forehead. Instinctively he reached up and touched the area, but didn't come across anything physical, yet the warm sensation remained, it felt tender and sweet, rippling out like a tidal wave across his entire body.

Was it a kiss?

No sooner had he thought of it, the feeling vanished completely.

_"Thank you SpringBonnie."_

And the voice went too, but Springtrap wasn't ready for that.

"Wait…Mangle wait," he cried, reaching out into the surrounding darkness.

"I want to know…why?"

The voice did not return much to his sadness.

"Please…don't leave me here...alone."

There was nothing, but cold empty silence, he sighed deeply and lowered his head.

"Why am I still here?" he muttered and of course in a world as lonely as this, no one answered.

Now only after hearing Mangle's voice, did he truly feel alone.

"Why am I still here?" he asked again, raising his head to the surrounding darkness.

"Give me an explanation, please?" he asked, to the universe at large.

Still no answer, only blackness and silence. Feeling a well of frustration build up inside him, Springtrap clenched his fists and tilted his head back slightly before venting out his anger.

And boy did he roar.

"WHY AM I STILL HERE, AM I DEAD, OR AM I ALIVE, WHY CAN I HEAR MANGLE, WHAT IS THIS PLACE, WHAT IS GOING ON, SOMEONE GIVE ME AN ANSWER RIGHT NOW, OR I AM GOING TO LOSE MY MIND IN THIS FUCKING AWFUL PLACE!"

He felt his anger being carried out across the infinite vastness of this place, like a wave washing over the shoreline. Perhaps something out there in the vast darkness would hear him and grant him the answers which he so deeply sought.

Yet…there was no reply to his cries, just emptiness, it had a bitter feeling.

Springtrap breathed out, venting all of his frustration so he could be calm again, getting angry wasn't helping. This was cruel, beyond sane, he hadn't done anything wrong, rather the very opposite, yet why was he in a place like this? He couldn't reach any logical conclusion, he tried to see it from a religious perspective, yet even that didn't see to work, as religion tended to be very fixed on a various number of issues.

It was either dark or white, there was hardly any grey areas….apart from one.

"What if, I am still alive, what if I cannot move on, is something or someone keeping me here?" he asked.

Springtrap turned spun around on the spot, thinking his theory over.

"Do I still have a purpose, am I yet to die?"

He turned to face the surrounding darkness.

"WELL…WHAT SAY YOU UNIVERISE, AM I ALIVE OR DEAD?"

No answer as expected.

Deciding to do something about the lack of any commutations, Springtrap attempted to move. Bringing his arms forward, and tucking his legs in, he propelled himself into a swimming position, and thrusted himself outwards into the dark unknown.

Well…he tried to.

"What the!"

He was surprised to see that all his arms were doing was pushing themselves through empty space, air in fact, not moving him forward though. He could feel his legs kick at nothing, just flailing about in open space, not pushing himself anywhere.

He was not moving; all he was doing was making himself look like a complete idiot.

"Good thing no one is here to see this," Springtrap chuckled to himself.

"Or else I would look like a right fool."

_"You can say that again and your actions seem rather strange to say the least."_

The sudden appearance of the voice called Springtrap to attention, he turned around, seeking the source, only to find nothing.

"At last someone and who are you exactly?" he asked, sounding both desperate for a conversation and relieved that he wasn't alone in this desolate place.

Instantly the voice replied, it was smooth and childlike.

Yet it sounded vaguely familiar to Springtrap and it enquired him on that fact.

_"Don't you remember us, Springtrap…from the dream?"_

Once again Springtrap's memory was sent into relocation mode, trying to pin an identity to the voice. It sounded so familiar, he had heard it before he was sure of that, but from where. . .the dream world. Then like a light bulb being switched on, he remembered, the ghost children from the dream world, in which his mind had finally freed itself after trapping itself there.

"It's you, the ghost children whom Vincent killed, isn't it?" he asked, seeking confirmation. Instead of a reply like last time, he got a flash of bright whitish light, so intense was it in its brightness that Springtrap had to cover his eyes. Once the visual explosion died, Springtrap removed his arms and dropped out of his 'swimming stance', which he had forgotten that he was still in.

He was met with a jaw-dropping sight…

All eleven-ghost children, although they weren't in their traditional ghostly white and transparent forms, they looked life-like…very life-like.

They were wearing normal causal clothes, very outdated clothes mind you, but they had human faces, real hair, and their eyes didn't glow like they would as mere spectres, but instead displayed varying shades of blue, green and brown. They were human and like Springtrap they had left the world of the living, but that had been decades ago for them. They all bore recognisable characteristics in which Springtrap could use to attach to the individual Fazbears.

Balloon Boy's ghost child for example wore a flat roundish cap and held a balloon, although it looked a bit odd on a girl.

Chica's ghost child held green eyes and had bright sunshine like hair, whilst the Toy Freddy ghost child had bright bluish eyes and light brownish hair, plus his clothes looked more polished, when compared to that of Freddy's ghost child. Small details, but they meant a lot, given how similar the Originals and the Toys were to one another physically. The Puppet ghost child was easily recognisable by means of its black hair with the iconic purple tears' marks craved down its face, although the ghost's gender was unmistakably that of a boy. Slowly, the Puppet ghost child approached Springtrap, effortlessly gliding through the air, or rather space between them, quickly closing the gap.

The Puppet ghost child held a mixed expression of joy and sadness on his face and his eyes seemed to be unreadable when they locked with Springtrap's greenish grey.

"_Hello Springtrap,"_ he said, his voice was calm, inviting, but there was an undertone of sorrow to it, that made Springtrap feel uneasy. "Welcome to Limbo, to the enteral night, the roaming fields of the dead."

Then they lowered their head, now looking more sad than happy. "_We are happy to see you again, although not in these circumstances_."

"_We're sorry that we couldn't prevent your death, you didn't deserve this fate, and nor did they deserve to lose you."_

The Puppet ghost child then approached Springtrap, cutting close to his personal space.

_"All this time, we trembled in fear at the mere sight of anyone that slightly resembled the evil bunny man that lead us away to our graves."_

_"And in our fear, we lashed out in our rage."_

Then the Puppet ghost child looked up to face Springtrap directly.

_"However, seeing your acts of sacrifice and heroism against such monsters and our murderer, gives us some small comfort that the image of SpringBonnie might be cleansed of the Purple Man's taint one day."_

Yet despite their warm words, they looked crestfallen and their eyes were now filled with sorrow. _"Yet, it matters not, we are resigned to the coldness of the void, bound to the physical plane through unwilling vessels. . ."_

_"All we can do is hope that this nightmare ends, and it can only end, when we are able move on, but we can't, for the Purple Man remains beyond our reach."_

Immediately Springtrap knew what or rather who they were referring to, with the 'Purple Guy' really being Vincent Afton. However, there was much that he didn't know about the past thirty years. Goldie and the others had filled him in on a lot of details, but there was still much which he didn't know or fully understand. Yet from his observations it was clear that Vincent had inflicted a great deal of pain on everyone ever associated with Freddy's, especially the children who he had killed in cold blood and were now trapped in an endless cycle of agony, vengeance and despair.

How could one man deliver so much pain and why?

Springtrap sighed internally, he had no way of gaining answers for his questions, and even if he asked the children's spirits, they wouldn't know much, probably only recalling the day of the deaths and maybe a few other moments in the afterlife. The ghost child of Goldie sighed and lowered his head, allowing his dark golden hair to fall over his eyes. His mournful sighs immediately caught Springtrap's attention, as well as that of the other ghost children. _"We are broken, lost, afraid. We've been stuck in this state for so many years. We cannot control anything other than possess someone or something, and even then, we do not have full control of our emotions, in our earlier days as ghosts, we often lashed out."_

He lowered his head even further and started to cry.

_"We're monsters, striking out at anyone we found."_

_"We've killed so many people because we wanted justice and thought that they were him,"_ he sobbed, covering his eyes so that the others couldn't see his tears, however his despair was obvious to everyone.

_"WE'RE CONDEMNED!" _he wailed uncontrollably. Another ghost child, presumably Foxy's turned and hugged him tightly, silencing his cries as he fell into the warm embrace of brotherly comfort.

_"No, we're not condemned, there is still hope for us,"_ the Foxy ghost child whispered, comforting the Goldie ghost child, with his words having an positive effect. Springtrap stared in disbelief, his eyes darting from one ghost child to the next, seeing their despair and emptiness. Murder, children killing people and possession, he was certain that no one had told him about this part of the Fazbear's past. This was news to him, his mind was blown and for children to commit such horrific acts, it was unbelievable. Yet they had been forced into that terrible position by the cruellest of people. It just occurred to him that there was a lot which he didn't know about the ghost children individually, in fact, he had only just worked out that ghost children were related to the Fazbears by that of their clothing, let alone their actual names.

"Listen, I never got the chance to ask…nor was I ever properly told, but what precisely is your connection to the Fazbears?"

That unearthed another untapped series of questions in his mind that linked together to form a complex spider's web.

Yet his question had caught the entirety of the ghost children's attention, everyone was now focused on him, even Goldie's ghost child had stopped his muffed cries. The ghost child who looked a lot like the Puppet, who Springtrap had already guessed to be the leader, cleared his throat before speaking.

Seeing how it had been a ghost for the longest out of all of them, it made sense for it to be in charge.

_"We…"_ he began softly, although he sounded wary.

_"We were killed by the Purple Man, the one everyone else calls Vincent Afton, by someone whom everyone thought to be a trusted member of staff." _

The pained look in his eyes were clear for Springtrap to see, resonating with his own feelings of immense pity for these broken souls.

_"By someone we blindly trusted with our safety." _

He started to walk, that's right walk on empty space, wandering around the stationary Springtrap, his voice still sounding wary and on the brink of despair.

_"Our world changed forever that day, we were plunged into the cold darkness of death, lost, scared, and of course angry at the injustice of it all."_

_"We had no idea what to do, of how to escape our prison."_

_"Then we found a way out, well we thought that we had. . ."_

He spun round to face Springtrap, now glaring at him with a cold stern expression, gone was the child like features.

His voice had also changed, becoming more direct and dismissive.

_"In our blind rage and sorrow, we killed the nightguards mistaking them to be Vincent Afton, we didn't think, we just acted, regardless of who they were."_

_"They would beg for us to spare them, swore to us that they were innocent, but we didn't see them as we really were, in their place we only saw SpringBonnie laughing mockingly at us, provoking us to embrace our collective bloodlust."_

_"Our hands were covered in blood, but we didn't care, not until we had a long quiet period there was no way we could satisfy our bloodlust, but instead reflect to the pass time until the day mister Afton returned."_

"_And now the night guards in turn have returned for their vengeance in force, although they've probably been trying to come back for years,"_ the Toy Bonnie ghost child said sorrowfully, hugging herself.

_"If they find out how to return to the physical plane, then they will come for us, thirsting for our enteral demise."_

_"Not if we can convince them to let go of their hatred of us and redirect it towards the Purple Man, Rachel convinced one of them to forgive us,"_ the Freddy ghost child exclaimed eagerly, turning to face the Toy Bonnie ghost child. The one now known to Springtrap, as Rachel moved about on the spot as she looked back and forth between her brethren.

_"Only just though, I thought that he was going to hand me over to his companions, he had every reason to, even though I apologised to no end for my cruel actions,"_ she muttered regretfully.

_"I fear that we won't be able to save them all, their bloodlust maybe too entrenched within their souls for them to see the light."_

She lowered her head and spoke softly, but with a pained tone.

_"Even though it is our fault for why they ended up that way."_

_"A tragic case of mistaken identity,"_ the Puppet ghost child added, his voice was a mixture of both regret and subtle anger, probably both originated from his sense of deep shame for luring more people into the dark. Only the more he spoke, the more evident his anger became, outshining any other tone, until it had become dominant in his expression.

_"That vile, cold hearted man, he's the cause for everything and he's never shown any remorse, alone regret for his actions."_

_"I just want to know where he is so I can possess Puppet, before driving a stake into his heart and watch him bleed out for hours on end,"_ he hissed fervently, as his hands quickly turned into fists.

Then the Puppet ghost child's tone became even angrier and hate filled, as he moved towards Springtrap, making him feel a little unnerved.

_"Had we mistaken you for being him, you wouldn't be here, instead you would be in a place of fire and brimstone…you know of what I speak,"_ he uttered coldly, his burning desire for revenge was very evident in his expression as his eyes seemed to pierce Springtrap's very soul with a knife. Springtrap's eyes widen, as he saw that the other ghost children all possessed the same look, angry, cold and stern, there was no kindness in their eyes which had once stood supreme.

"Wait, what, a lookalike me killed you all, I don't understand, I wasn't present at the time, let alone conscious," Springtrap protested, declaring his innocence.

_"We know, but you do bear a strong likeness to him,"_ Toy Bonnie's ghost child replied, plainly, although her expression of anger didn't change.

_"Very strong. . ."_

She broke away from the others and started to move around him, circling Springtrap like a shark.

_"Don't worry, we will not hurt you, to tell you the truth, we think, judging by our own memories that this other version of you was a suit, one which Vincent wore."_

"But if you think, another version of me is what killed you, then how to you know it was Vincent, I mean we all know that now, but what was your evidence?" Springtrap asked, turning around on the spot to try and catch a glimpse of her as she passed him by.

_"He confessed to the Fazbears and indirectly to us, one day he just turned up out of the blue and admitted it, the whole thing, although he made sure that the Fazbears couldn't stop him from leaving, he always thinks one step ahead."_

The ghost child of Bonnie sighed with frustration as she kept on circling him.

_"Hence why we are still in this mess and it is 2015 already."_

"He just confessed and that was it?" Springtrap asked, he found this all to be very confusing.

_"To be fair, we suspected that it was him, but we could never prove it to be the case, unlike the Puppet's ghost child, we didn't see him, only a lookalike to you with a knife, even the voice was different, he made sure that he couldn't be tracked,"_ Mangle's ghost child stated, flying about with her bright yellow eyes burning away in the darkness.

_"Ever since then, we've always been wary of him, our emotions influenced the Fazbears, both the Originals and then the Toys, they became more prone to sudden mood swings."_

A sigh of remorse emitted from the ghost child of the Puppet.

_"Vincent is cunning, even though I knew it to be him, I could do very little to stop him."_

"How, why not attack him outright and kill the bastard?" Springtrap asked, eyeing, to him that seemed to be the most obvious choice of action, quick and descive.

Yet the ghost child shook his head in dismal.

_"What would it do, but get Puppet into trouble, I was out of my depth back then as was she, more than me though I think. I was still very emotional and a number of occasions I nearly made the Puppet lash out at the worst of moments, neither of us had any hard proof, nothing would stick, even when the Puppet told the others everything she knew, which they didn't take very well mind you."_

He muttered something low under his breath.

It sounded like something along the lines of them trying to kill her.

However, the Bonnie ghost child spoke up.

_"Yes, they were very angry at her for having held the truth from them for so long, and when I mean angry, I mean murderous and enraged, I seriously think that without Goldie's intervention they probably would have killed her right there and then." _

_"But it was only with Vincent's confession that everything was proven to be correct, there was no longer any lingering doubt over the killer's identity, although he didn't tell them why he did it, much to their cries for answers and an explanation." _

_"He enjoyed seeing their distress as he refused to give an explanation for his murderous acts."_

Then the Puppet ghost child, spun round and faced Springtrap, although its expression was no longer stern it was still quite serious.

_"We are talking about a man, who knew how to play pretend, to look normal on the outside, compared to what he really is inside."_

_"Act one way, when you're really the other. . ."_

"Manipulation,"was all Springtrap said darkly, he could picture it now, Vincent Afton acting as a normal employee at Freddy's in front of everyone, while seeking to gain people's trust so he could exploit it for his dark and murderous intents.

A true wolf in sheep's clothing and a crafty one at that, although Springtrap would hate to commend him for his cunning.

_"The trail has probably gone cold, he was able to cover his tracks well and we cannot find him, but he always seem able to find us," _the Puppet ghost child said, with a tone of frustration, although the word frustration might be an understatement.

His hands tighten to become fists as his eyes narrowed, clearly, he was getting angry.

_"He's been allowed to walk free, while we've been trapped here for God knows how long!"_

Springtrap could easily sense that the child was in deep distress, so he tried to offer comfort. "Surely, he can make a mistake, slip up, he isn't infallible," Springtrap stated warmly, although he tried to sound direct as well to make his point known. He could see their discontent, their rage, their sorrow, all melting together and threatening to become an emotional maelstrom.

"If he so good at luring you into a trap, then why not try and do the same to him, why not try searching for him?" Springtrap asked curiously.

Suddenly the ghost child of the Puppet broke through into his personal space, his eyes were ablaze with rage.

_"DON'T YOU THINK WE EVER TIRED, WE DID EVERYTHING WE COULD TO BREAK OF THIS CURSE, TO FIND SALVATION, ALL WE FOUND WERE MORE DEAD ENDS, DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE TRAPPED IN THE DARK AND TO BE DEPREIVED OF ANY HOPE!"_

There was moment's silence, as the bright eyes of the ghost child of the Puppet continued to burn with a hatred that seemed to borderline madness. Then Springtrap responded, speaking in a calm manner, but there was an undertone of sternness in his voice as he stared the Puppet ghost child down.

"I do know what it is like, to be chained, imprisoned, trapped within your own madness, it is all you can feel, in the end it all comes rushing out and makes things much worse than they already were."

He had after all been trapped in a coma and had almost descended into madness by the time, he stumbled upon the solution to escaping his own torment. He had only been out of it for a few days and the memories were still quite fresh. The Puppet ghost child's expression slowly dropped, relaxing even as his feelings turned from anger to confusion, then to realisation and finally mournful regret.

_"I'm…I'm…"_ he mumbled, backing away.

_"I'm sorry for…that…I shouldn't have…that was wrong of me. . .I overreacted."_

He started to physically shake, adding more to his overwhelming sense of shame for his behaviour.

_"The memories, the pain still lingers, I'm sorry. . ."_

Seeing how the child was in clear distress, Springtrap slowly reached out and placed his hand on his shoulder. He was visibly surprised that it didn't fall through, but instead remained steady for the boy was as physical and as real as he was.

"What happened to you was in indescribable, it was beyond tragic and it is, I am not angry at you, you have every right to feel enraged," he said softly.

The ghost child sniffled, continuing to look regretful_._

_"I…I…I... know…I know," _he replied mournfully.

He started to cry under the immense embarrassment of lashing out for no justifiable reason, but Springtrap quickly pulled him into a hug, muffling his cries.

"It's ok, it's ok, you're unsure of what's going on, you've suffered a lot, your angry, I get it and I'm angry too."

The ghost child just buried his head into Springtrap's chest, seeking warmth and comfort, it reminded Springtrap of his dream, with the two of them being on top of the burning makeshift platform surrounded by walls of ravenous flames. _"I'm…I'm scared,"_ the Puppet ghost child whispered, his entire body was now trembling. Springtrap said nothing, but continued to hug him, slowly looking back to see the sad mournful expressions of the other dead children.

_"We are all scared, we are on our own here in the dark, the freedom we have here is only an illusion."_

Springtrap could read their faces, they hated it here, they had been stuck here for decades, mere innocent children, taken away from the world in an unjustifiable act.

They wanted to leave, but they couldn't leave, not while their killer remains at large.

"You want to be free," Springtrap muttered, it wasn't a question, but more a statement of fact.

_"Free of all of it, everything, we hate it here, it is never-ending," _the Puppet ghost child whispered, although his tone was shaky and low. Seeing how the reality of their terrible situation was bringing them down, Springtrap decided to change subject, there was something which he was genuinely interested in.

_"Hey," _he began, patting the Puppet's ghost child on its shoulder.

The boy slowly looked up to meet care filled grey greenish eyes.

"Do you have a name; can you remember it?"

The boy's eyes appeared to look upwards as if he was trying to remember, his mind was probably stumbling its way through foggy memories, memories of another life that was long gone.

_"Mom, why can't I stay at Fredbear's, they're still playing?" _

_"Honey, you have school tomorrow and besides Fredbear and Springbonnie properly have their own lives to live."_

_"What do you mean?"_

A soft, feminine hand came down and lightly patted his hair in a loving gesture.

_"You'll understand when you're older Charlie."_

Charlie…his name was Charlie…

_"Charlie, my name is Charlie,"_ the ghost child muttered, feeling surprised at the result, it was as if he was discovering this for the first time.

Springtrap smiled warmly.

"Charlie, that's a nice name, who exactly?" he asked curiously.

Charlie mentally searched for his surname…but he couldn't remember, his memory was too foggy, his ability to recall things had faded away over time.

He was just simply Charlie

_"No,"_ he sighed, regretfully.

_"I cannot remember much…only the time leading up to my death."_

Springtrap pitied him, to only remember one's demise was tragic, but given its impactions, it clearly overshadowed everything else about the boy's life. He slowly turned to face the other children, who had noticeably drawn themselves closer to Springtrap.

"Can you all remember your names, who you once were?" he asked, shifting from set of eyes to the next. They all nodded slightly, but they looked quite unsure.

_"I am Susie,"_ the Chica ghost child pipped up.

"_I'm Sammy,"_ the Toy Freddy ghost muttered, looking unsure, unable to tell if what he was recalling was real or not.

_"I'm Emma,"_ the Bonnie ghost child whispered, clasping her hands close to her chest in a peaceful manner.

_"I'm Jeremy,"_ the ghost child of Mangle stated in a confident manner.

_"I believe I was a Charlotte,"_ the ghost child of Toy Bonnie said, visibly confused over her identity.

_"I am Gabriel,"_ the ghost of Freddy commented.

_"I was called Fitz,"_ the ghost child of Foxy muttered, sounding unsure.

_"My name is Thomas I think,"_ the ghost child of Goldie said quietly.

_"And I am Cassidy,"_ the ghost child of Toy Chica whispered, coming across as disoriented, as she spiralled about on the spot.

_"I am Rachel…but my surname escapes me,"_ the ghost child of Balloon Boy's mumbled, clearly struggling to find her words, let alone her memory.

_"I cannot remember much; I can't even recall my own mother's face, let alone my father's."_

To Springtrap, this was ground-breaking, he couldn't even begin to imagine a life after death, your past life would fade away from memory and our current occupation would creep in and take its place. "I am in your world, yet I can barely understand the sorrow which you have undergone," he whispered, he was surprised that despite being out here for so long, madness it seems hadn't settled in…yet.

Suddenly Charlie appeared in front of him, his sudden appearance out of nowhere took Springtrap by surprise, even without the traditional ghostly transparent design.

_"Well, you want to know about our sorrow, there is no need to speculate, we can show you, in first person."_

Springtrap instantly raised his eyebrows, he didn't like where this was heading.

"Wait, what?" he asked, clearly astounded by the boy's words.

Charlie reached out with his hand, Springtrap backed away…while he tried to, he still hadn't worked out the means to move properly. Charlie with one hand, grabbed Springtrap firmly by the shoulder, stopping him dead in his tracks.

Well…to be fair, Springtrap wasn't even moving to begin with.

With his other hand, Charlie slowly placed it on Springtrap's forehead.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Springtrap demanded, he didn't agree to this. Yet, Charlie didn't stop in what he was doing, maintaining a calm expression as he pushed his hand into Springtrap's head in a steady manner.

_"You cannot know the depth of one's sorrow, until you have experienced it for yourself."_

"Wait, hang on, I didn't ask for this treatment," Springtrap protested, trying to break free, but found the child's grip to be as strong as solid steel.

Charlie merely shock his head, as the other children closed in around the two.

_"I know you didn't ask for it, but you need to know, to truly understand our pain."_

Springtrap felt a strange sensation wash over him, his head, his mind started to spin, his vision began to blackout, or to put it more correctly his vision start to fill with bright whiteness.

_"The common phrase is suffer not little children," _Charlie muttered coldly, his facial expression slowly morphing into one of immense anger.

Gone was the child like innocence, now replaced by malice and rage.

_"But suffer…we did."_

Then Springtrap blacked out completely, with his mind tumbling deep into the unknown.

* * *

(Begin song here).

_We see Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria at night in the early 1990s, it is rundown and decaying._

"**Just sleep, just dream."**

_Its rooms are dark and desolate._

"**Just sleep, just dream. . ."**

_Nothing good dwells within its walls._

_We see the lone figure of possessed Freddy, mindlessly wandering through its halls._

"**Just sleep, just dream. . ."**

_His hate filled eyes tell a thousand stories._

_We see the tear streaked ghost of Charlie outside Fredbear's Family Diner._

_We then see the ghosts of Gabriel, Fritz, Emma, Susie, Thomas within Freddy's Pizzeria._

_It is then followed by the ghosts of Sammy, Rachel, Charlotte, Cassidy and Jeremy within the Toys' Pizzeria._

_We then see possessed Bonnie aggressively searching for the elusive 'Purple Man'._

"**In the back of my mind, I was trying to chase a monster this whole time."**

_She sees her blood covered hands._

**"But I couldn't see the monster was me, and no one heard our cries."**

_Sorrow has been replaced by anger._

"**Now I've run out of tears."**

_There's no peace in death._

**"The time's come for me to disappear."**

_Only pain and darkness._

"**Get me out of this mess and away from this stress."**

_She screams in bloodcurdling anguish._

"**Set me free so I can rest!"**

_We see the children's' ghosts covered in blood._

**"We're only kids who lost our way!"**

_Hope doesn't exist._

**"But if we wait long enough then we'll be saved!"**

_The years blend into one._

"**Just sleep, just dream!"**

_They act out aggressively through their mortal vessels._

**"This isn't fair, no we're not just what we seem."**

_They're chained until the end of days._

**"We want to fly, but our souls are trapped inside."**

_Feeling nothing but pain, sorrow and fear._

"**It's not a game not to play, we're forced to hide."**

_There is no inner peace._

**"Just sleep, just dream!"**

_It's a boundless nightmare._

**"It's only a nightmare and soon we'll be set free."**

_The faces of the children flicker amidst the static of the camera feed._

"**And soon we'll be set free. . ."**

_Childish laughter fills the air, while murderous eyes glow in the dark._

_We then see possessed Mangle staring at the nightguard through the open door of the security office._

"**And I've been crying out for help."**

_Tortured feelings rage inside._

**"I know I bite, but I mean well."**

_She gives off a pleading expression._

**"Can you see my disguise, I'm different inside, can you break this spell?"**

_Yet anger is surging throughout her body._

**"Now the ghosts from before, they're knocking and breaking down your door."**

_She reaches out for the nightguard._

**"So please set us free, now you have the key."**

_Suddenly, she lashes at them viciously._

**"Cause I can't take the pain no more!"**

_We see the twisted forms of the children's ghosts._

**"We're only kids who lost our way, but if we wait long enough then we'll be saved."**

_Hope is fading._

"**Just sleep, just dream!"**

_Their vessels groan and scream._

**"This isn't fair, no we're not just what we seem."**

_Their living tombs seem inescapable._

**"We want to fly, but our souls are trapped inside."**

_Feeling nothing but abandonment and vengeance._

**"It's not a game not to play, we're forced to hide."**

_No sleep, just restless dreams._

**"Just sleep, just dream!"**

_A never-ending nightmare._

**"It's only a nightmare and soon we'll be set free."**

_We see all eleven children alive and happy at the pizzeria._

_Then we see the spectre of SpringBonnie standing over them, with their bodies being pale and lifeless._

_We see the children within their Fazbear vessels, surrounded by savaged bodies of dead nightguards. _

_We then see the dead nightguards having possessed prop suits, twitching and moaning as they stand. _

_The children look twisted and dark._

_The scene changes again, and we see Vincent Afton as SpringBonnie towering above them all like a puppet master._

_The murderer, his victims and their own, all tangled up together in a complex web of blood and misery. _

_It is like a labyrinth with no exit, a maze with no hidden prize._

_Just a path that leads you deeper and deeper into the abyss._

"**We're only kids who lost our way!"**

_Salvation is fleeting._

**"But if we wait long enough then we'll be saved!"**

_Anger morphs into sorrow._

"**Just sleep, just dream!"**

_They've become what they've despised._

**"This isn't fair, no we're not just what we seem."**

_Spirit and vessel bound together._

**"We want to fly, but our souls are trapped inside."**

_Constantly living in fear and rage._

**"It's not a game not to play, we're forced to hide."**

_There is no ability to rest._

**"Just sleep, just dream!"**

_Freedom has become an illusion._

**"It's only a nightmare and soon we'll be set free."**

_They've embraced the nightmare._

(Song ends).

* * *

Springtrap let out an almighty scream, as his mind ached from the immense mental strain as the life like images left him.

It took him a few seconds to recognise his surroundings, searching around from left to right in a frenzied fashion.

He found that he was back in Limbo with the ghost children, not in the pizzeria and seeing the various bloodcurdling acts that the ghost children had committed through the Fazbears. Then there was the unbearable sorrow and pain of being left in the dark, hoping that someone would come and free from their torment. It never came and with the absence of hope, slowly the children succumb to their collective desire for vengeance, becoming bloodthirsty, with the act of killing being a form of relief from their inner despair.

Even if the feeling of sweet satisfaction only lasted temporary, before the chronic agony of loss returned, the act alone was worth it. Yet Springtrap was surprised that they were still able to hold themselves together despite being trapped in a constant cycle of sorrow and anger. Surely being trapped in that state for over three decades would have sent them spiralling into madness.

"How…how did you...find the strength... to continue?" he asked fervently, gasping for breath.

Charlie approached, pushing past the other ghosts.

_"In the darkness of death, our anger became our strength, it was married uneasily with our humanity, well…"_

Charlie sighed and looked away for a moment, starting briefly in the surrounding darkness.

_"What's left of it, considering the amount of blood that we have spilled."_

"Then how to do you know that you can win?" Springtrap asked, wanting to know more. By now having fully recovered, he turned to meet each ghost child in the eye.

"If Vincent has been hiding for all these years, if there is no hard evidence to convict him, and if he has allies in the form of nightmares?"

The ghost child of Chica, now known as Susie spoke up.

_"We no longer believe in justice, we take the rules into our own hands now."_

_"And even with his nightmare friends, Vincent cannot hide from us, they have their weakness, everyone does,"_ Jeremy added, the ghost child of Mangle.

_"It's only a matter of time,"_ Sammy sneered, being the ghost child of Toy Freddy.

_"And we've been holding out for years,"_ Emma muttering, her purplish red eyes, symbolising her identity as the ghost child inhabiting Bonnie.

_"We can wait a little bit longer."_

She turned to meet him, eye to eye.

_"With Vincent dead, only then can we be free…truly free." _

Then her voice took on a more heartfelt tone.

_"And with your help Springtrap, we can finally make our freedom a reality."_

"How exactly?" Springtrap asked, sounding quite confused, to him there was no obvious path of returning to the land of the living. "I am dead, just as you are," he said plainly, pointing to himself, as if Emma was mistaken in her belief that was a way that he could be useful in this situation.

He couldn't figure out how to move for a start. Emma however merely shook her head, giving Springtrap a small reassuring smile. "_You're not quite officially dead, like we are, you are a unique situation, your soul is actually still attached to your body and Charlie here has an extraordinary gift."_

_"Through him and Puppet, we were able to physically remain after having left our old bodies."_

Yet Springtrap objected, he couldn't see the link.

"I am dead, I left my body when I ended up in here and you are also present, this is Limbo, the waiting room for dead. Unless I possess something there is no way back for me," he said, expressing his disbelief and confusion. Not that he wanted to remain in this place if he was given the choice, but as far as he knew, all he could do was wait for some higher being to pass judgement on him.

_"Giving gifts, giving life,"_ Charlie muttered under his breath, he now sounded stoic, but there was an undertone of regret as he spoke.

_"It was done with the best of intentions, but it ended up spiralling far out of my control and I made "Puppet felt terrible and she hated herself."_

_"She hated herself so much and seeing the horror that we had unleashed, she tried to. . ."_

His voice trailed off, but the deeper meaning of his words was evident to everyone else, even Springtrap understood the dark reality of what Puppet was facing, given what he had just been shown by Charlie.

He then turned back to face Emma.

"How you return me to my original body, even so, won't it be rotting and useable?" he asked slowly, pushing aside his doubts.

"If I were an animatronic, then we wouldn't be having this problem."

_"True, that would be easier to deal with, however, you've been dead for about a day and with Charlie's ability and our combined strength, we have an opportunity to bring you back fully,"_ Emma answered excitedly.

She then gestured to the darkness surrounding them.

_"It was just a matter of finding you in this vast place."_

She chuckled and for a second, Springtrap swore that he heard Bonnie in her laugh, could they and the Fazbears rub off one another?

_"And besides, it would be tragic, for you to really go, seeing how you've only just got back after a very long sleep."_

Springtrap sighed cheerfully, with his eyes expressing delight at the prospect. "Well going back would be nice, a second chance is great and all, to patch things up with Goldie and to draw a line in the sand about our past is something that I would certainly look forward."

He raised his hand to catch their attention, before they tired do anything else to him.

"However, before I go back to the world of the living, I want to know how you can move, just pure curiosity, since I've been incapable to do so since arriving here?"

The ghost children all looked at one another, with shock and surprise being their collective expression.

It was an odd thing to ask, given all that had just happened, it seems to be so out of place given the situation. However, they answered, with Charlie being the one to speak.

_"Well, you just move by using your mind, just imagine it, the stronger your will is, the move likely it'll happen, that's how we learnt, although it wasn't easy to understand at first."_

Springtrap closed his eyes, just one go, what could the harm be.

_"Move, move, move forward," _he mentally muttered to himself.

_"Move…move...move."_

He then opened his eyes to find that…he was moving…a bit too fast though, in fact it was more like racing forward into the deep unknown. He looked back to see the ghost children flying after him, being mere distant spots of lights. No one had told him that you had to imagine your own speed limit too, this was Limbo, it shouldn't be that complicated.

"Ok, looking back, this was probably too much to ask for," he muttered, fully realising his error.

Even though everything appeared to be the same, he could tell that he was moving, judging by the fact that spots of light which were the ghost children kept on changing as they struggled to match his speed. "How do I stop exactly?" Springtrap called out, his voice struggling to reach across the vast divide that separated them. One of the ghost children, possibly Jeremy replied, but Springtrap struggled to make any sense of his words, then they all started to shout.

Something along the words of…

_'Look…out!'_

The words confused Springtrap, what else was there out here, this was Limbo, its space was infinite.

Nevertheless, he turned…and saw why the reason for their warning. Because coming of the pitch darkness right before him was a house, the windows were closed, as was the door and the lights were not on. Naturally, this sort of development would bring up many questions, but Springtrap only had enough time to voice his opinion.

"Oh shit!"

He slammed into the house's side, not hitting one of the many windows, but impacting right into the wall with a solid crunch.

The children finally caught up with him but were able to stop in time from hitting the house themselves. "You could have told me how to stop when you informed me on how to move properly," Springtrap muttered, as he pushed himself out of the wall, which appeared to have taken no damage whatsoever.

_"We tired,"_ Emma shrugged humorously.

_"We can't say that we didn't try."_

"Thanks," Springtrap muttered sarcastically under his breath, as his body recovered from the initial shock.

Now he took a good look at what he had just crashed into. It was definitely a house, two floors roughly, with each one sporting about five windows. Springtrap looked around, it was just a house, floating about in the darkness of Limbo.

Why it was here of all places?

Curiosity instantly took hold, the house seemed to emit a sense of mystery that pulled at Springtrap's desire to explore.

"What could you possibly hide," he whispered, gripping the outside window frame so he could pull himself into a better position to see what lay inside.

At first, he thought that the window he was looking in was foggy, so he rubbed on the panels with his hand, but nothing changed, he then realised that the window wasn't foggy, but that the lights inside were not on, preventing him from seeing anything. Slowly, he gripped the window's underside and pulled with all his might, at first it didn't move, but gradually it shifted upwards, grinding against its internal gears as Springtrap forced it open all the way up.

He peered inside, looking around.

Immediately he was greeted with a dusty smell, letting him know that this place was old. From what he could spy out in the darkness confirmed that this place hadn't aged well. He could see three corridors at most, one which lead up towards the left and the opposite one heading right, both had windows decorating the side that he was on. The third corridor was right in front of him, leading away from the row of windows into the darkness…into the bowels of the house.

Everything looked dusty, with the greyish wallpaper looking very old, its wear and tear was telling its age, whatever colour it originally sported seemed to have faded away with time. There were various mini tables posited at certain points along the corridors, some with a lamp, others with a book or two and some with nothing.

Above all, it was quiet, too quiet and that caught Springtrap's attention, it made him feel nervous.

"Interesting," he muttered, still feeling the desire to explore, there was something about this house that was drawing him in.

_"This is a bad place."_

He turned around, to see all the ghost children, standing a fair distance away from him.

_"A very bad place, there's a cold nasty vibe to it,"_ Charlie stated cautiously, yet he held a serious look as the other ghost children huddled behind him.

_"This house is not empty, even though it may appear to be."_

"And how do you know that?" Springtrap asked curiously, but it came out wrong, as he sounded blunt as he spoke.

Charlie's eyebrows narrowed at the sense that he was being challenged.

_"We can sense it, there's something evil in there, and I don't fancy going inside, not in a million years,"_ he replied sharply.

"And do you know why this house is evil?" Springtrap asked curiously, turning back to look inside again.

_"I do not know why, but I can sense it, for whatever reason this house is not welcoming to strangers and you are trespassing if you go inside," _Charlie answered, his voice was cold, but he spoke from conviction. Springtrap sighed, lowering his head, Charlie was right, he was knowledgeable in such things having been a ghost for thirty odd years…it was time to return to the physical plane.

He looked up and…

Wait…was what that…over here…on the wall.

Narrowing his eyes to get a better look, Springtrap spied a framed picture on one of the far walls.

The picture showed a child, a boy of about ten, in a greyish looking t-shirt with blue trousers and judging by his expression, he didn't seem to be overwhelmingly happy to be here. Yet that wasn't what had caught Springtrap's attention. Behind the boy was a stage on which stood Goldie, although he was more in his old Fredbear clothes with the usual golden suit and the purple top hat and bowtie to match.

And what made it even stranger was that Springtrap himself was there on stage alongside him, playing his banjo.

Plus, the whole scene looked unrecognisable, he didn't recognise the kid, nor did he recognise the surroundings, there was something inscribed below the picture on its wooden frame.

He could just about make some words, with it reading as:

_'**Happy Days at Fredbear and Friends'.**_

Fredbear and Friends. . .

Springtrap felt very confused. He certainly didn't remember ever being at a 'Fredbear and Friends', to him there was only Fredbear's Family Diner.

So why was he in the picture exactly?

"I was in a coma for thirty-seven years…so why don't I remember anything to do with Fredbear and Friends?" He asked himself, although of course no answer came to him.

Goldie hadn't told him anything relating to that place when he was alive, why though?

He and the other Fazbears had told him a significant amount of their past history, quickly bringing him up to speed.

_"Vincent, the murders, dead children, trying to escape the past, that was a lot for me to take in," _Springtrap mentally muttered himself, casting his mind back to when he first met them all on Mike's airship.

Yet his mind immediately dragged up what the ghost children had just told him, with them possessing the Fazbears, murdering the nightguards and those unfortunate victims surviving beyond death and were now attempting to search for them.

"It was clear that Goldie and the others have a dark history, they just didn't tell me all of it," Springtrap mumbled to himself. Yet what could be so bad about Fredbear and Friends that prevented Goldie, or the others from telling him about its existence?

Did it somehow link in with what had happened and what was currently going on?

Springtrap returned his focus to the picture, he looked closer, practically leaning in through the window. He could see that the boy didn't look all that glad to be there, he seemed nervous, on edge in fact. Curiosity once more took hold as Springtrap pulled himself inside, effectively sliding in through the open window. This act not too surprisingly resulted in several gasps from the ghost children.

_"What the-!"_

_"What the hell are you doing!"_ they cried, rushing up to the window and forgetting about their own fears for a second.

"Having a look," Springtrap answered plainly, brushing off their concerns.

Upon dusting himself down, he approached the picture and examined it in full. Yes, it was everything which he had seen before, the boy, Fredbear and himself all in the frame at a location that he didn't recognise.

"I don't understand, why can't I remember that place," Springtrap whispered to himself, feeling even more confused.

_"Get back outside right now, this place is evil, and we need to leave,"_ Susie called, standing outside the window with the others.

_"The Fazbears are waiting, time is of the essence,"_ Sammy added, his eyes darting about, scanning the surrounding gloom. Springtrap sighed and shook his head, he held his hand out towards them, signalling them to stop. "No, hang on for a second, this place has a connection with myself and Goldie, maybe there's something in there which can help us against Vincent, and give me an answer to what this picture means."

_"Your're seriously not thinking about exploring this place, are you?"_ Charlie asked, concern was his overriding tone.

"I'm not thinking about it, I'm doing it," Springtrap replied as he strolled forward.

_"You don't know lies in there if you go in!"_ Cassidy exclaimed, voicing her opinion, loud and clear. "I know that, but I have to take that risk, we have the time and I'm pretty sure the Fazbears are doing fine without me," Springtrap answered, walking into the darkness without a care.

"What's that old saying, if you don't try, you'll never know."

_"What about curiosity killed the cat," _Charlie remarked, replying with a phrase of his own.

"Good point," Springtrap added, emerging out of the darkness, he offered his hand to them.

"Care to join me, if we find nothing, then we leave, ok…how about an hour?"

Charlie folded his arms, a sign of immediate disproval.

_"Twenty minutes…at the most."_

"Half an hour."

_"Twenty-five."_

"Half an hour."

_"Twenty-seven."_

"Half an hour and that's my final offer."

There was a pause, before finally, one of the ghost children, Gabriel sighed in defeat.

_"Ok, I for one accept that offer."_

He then climbed inside, stumbling through the window to join Springtrap. "Anyone else?" Springtrap asked, extending out his hand towards them. The ghost children glanced at one another, all judging who would be next, but not wanting to take the plunge into the unknown themselves.

_"I'll go, it might be worth it after all,"_ Susie muttered, pushing pass the others to make the necessary space to climb in.

_"And if there isn't anything to find, then we'll know for sure."_

She crawled in through the window and joined Springtrap and Gabriel.

_"Springtrap does have a point, we don't know everything either, if Goldie is in a picture, then this house must be contacted to him somehow,"_ Cassidy stated, pushing past everyone else to climb through the window.

_"I'm serious, this house isn't what it appears to be, can't you all sense it?"_ Charlie asked, his eyes locked with Cassidy's eyes. The ghost girl chuckled lightly, patting him on the shoulder as she walked past.

_"Yes, I can feel it, but I'll won't be alone in there."_

_"You know, I am curious about the house, I want to explor_e," Sammy spoke up, jumping up and down and raising his hand in the air. Everyone stepped aside for him, as he eagerly climbed inside to join the group. Charlie sighed and buried his head in his hands, this wasn't going as he planned. "You know Charlie, you are a lot like Puppet when you sigh, that's not a criticism by the way, just an observation," Springtrap muttered plain, although internally he was amused by Charlie's expression.

_"He will take it as criticism though,"_ Emma whispered under her breath, steadily moving away from Charlie in anticipation of what was to come.

And she wasn't disappointed!

_"Like Puppet, you mean grumpy and moody!"_ Charlie shot back, his eyes now filling with extreme annoyance.

"Well…when you put it that way..." Springtrap muttered, rubbing his neck in unease.

"Yes."

He then instantly raised his hand, to stop Charlie's anger which was evidently building.

"BUT….if I may add, you do have your strong will and determination, which is a very positive thing to admire."

"Plus, you're also kind of stubborn," he whispered under his breath.

You can learn a lot through mere observation. Charlie vented his anger through long drawn out breaths, time itself appeared to stand still as he debated with himself over what to do.

In the end he came to answer.

_"You know what…fuck it,"_ he groaned, it sounded very odd for a child to swear, with Springtrap feeling rather taken back by his choice of language.

_"I'm joining you, even though there's a part of me that is screaming not to."_

He turned to see Charlotte, the ghost child of Toy Bonnie.

_"You're in charge until I get back."_

Her bright green eyes sparkled with joy for being given command.

_"Yes,"_ she hissed in triumph, punching the air with her fist.

Charlie grabbed hold of the window's frame and proceeded to clamber on inside. "Anyone else?" Springtrap asked, to which the other children slowly backed away from the window, not wanting to go inside what they considered to be a death-trap.

_"I think this is it,"_ Susie stated, folding her arms, Springtrap noted that she has a strong resemble to Chica when she did that.

_"Mmm, how strange,"_ Gabriel muttered, feeling the wall with his hand, running it across its faded colours.

_"I can feel real objects again."_

_"Hey so can I!"_ Sammy cried out in joy, stomping on the floor and feeling the soft fabric beneath his feet.

_"Everything is real, it's not transparent anymore."_

"So, you can feel again?" Springtrap asked, he felt confused, probably for the tenth time.

_"Yeah, we have been dead for thirty odd years, so this is new to us_," Susie replied, brushing her hair back behind her ears.

She smiled sweetly.

_"I do wonder though…"_

She then turned and softly punched Charlie in the shoulder.

_"HEY!"_ he growled in response, but she laughed humorously, before replying with.

_"As I thought, we can feel pain again and are therefore human, it's as if we were alive."_

"No fighting at Fazbear's please children," Springtrap joked, pushing them apart before Charlie could administer his vengeance towards Susie.

However, as he struggled to keep the two children apart, a serious question appeared in his head. "A thought occurs, quite a significant one, what were to happen if we were to encounter so serious trouble and cannot get out?" he asked curiously, although with a hint of firmness in his tone, turning to face Charlie. His question was enough to calm the boy down, completely snapping him out of his vengeful demeanour towards Susie.

_"Well,"_ he began calmly, standing back and out of Springtrap's grip.

_"We are all connected to eachother, being a close knit group that slowly formed over the decades we gradually learnt how to read each other's feelings mentally, we have a strong sense of eachother and react accordingly."_

He then gestured to the other nearby children as if to emphasise the spiritual connection that they all shared.

_"They should be able to sense our feelings and if we feel any negative emotion to an extreme degree, then they will come looking for us."_

_"Yeah, you guys can count on us!"_ Charlotte cheered from outside, followed by the sounds of the other ghost children agreeing to the notion.

"Are you sure Charlie?" Springtrap asked firmly, wanting to be dead sure before they took a further step into the dark.

This time Charlie didn't take Springtrap's words as something to be challenged, but rather a desire for solid confirmation on having a means for escape. He firmly nodded, with a determined look in his eyes to back up his conviction. Springtrap in response smiled warmly and lightly ruffled Charlie's hair as he pasted him by. Although Charlie didn't smile, he did like the feeling of appreciation that the kind gesture gave him.

"Then we go, come on, stick close, I don't want any stranglers," Springtrap ordered, taking the lead into the darkness of the central hallway that lay stretched out before them.

He then turned around and held out his hand towards the children.

"Follow me. . ."

Yet the fearful expressions on their faces caught his attention and he could tell by the direction of their eyes that wasn't the looming darkness that had frighten them.

It was his hand. . .

"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding somewhat puzzled.

_"Your words and the gesture with your hand, he did the exact same thing when he lured us away,"_ Gabriel muttered defensively, although he carried a nervous undertone as he spoke.

There was no doubt as to who _'he'_ was and the mere mention of him made Springtrap feel angry at how much that bastard had gotten away with over the years.

Well. . .it was time to change things.

Expressing a serious feeling of determination, Springtrap maintained his out stretched hand. "I am not him; I won't mislead you," he said stoically, further expressing his feeling of injustice towards everything that had happened.

"Things can get better, trust me."

_"We know that you're not him,"_ Charlie replied modesty, with some of the other children nodding in agreement.

_"I trust you SpringBonnie,"_ Gabriel said warmly, stepping forward.

_"I trust you too,"_ Sammy voiced aloud, joining Gabriel, he was soon joined by the other ghost children declaring their trust in him.

_"At least, this is a start,"_ Springtrap mentally commented, feeling honoured with them placing their faith in him, despite being a good lookalike to the other_ 'SpringBonnie'_ that had claimed their lives in cold blooded murder.

_"I know that this risky, but there has to be something of importance in here that could possibly help us in defeating Vincent and his Nightmare friends,"_ he mentally muttered to himself, getting his thoughts in order.

He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand grip his.

He was surprised to see that it was Charlie who was lightly gripping his hand, given his temperament, he was the last person that he had suspected. Then he felt another hand take hold of his free hand, he turned to look, seeing that it was Cassidy, interlocking her fingers with his.

_"Let's go SpringBonnie,"_ she whispered, sounding small, but there was an undertone of determination in her voice.

Holding onto both hands with a strong grip, Springtrap turned and headed into the wating darkness, with the other three children following on close behind. They felt a mixture of fear, concern, safety and courage as they descended into the unknown, letting the darkness swallow them whole, vanishing before the eyes of their friends who were stationed outside the open window.

"Ok, from here on out, unless it is very urgent, it is complete and utter silence," Springtrap whispered sharply, getting his point across as he led the children forward.

"Because if anyone or anything is actually living here, they probably aren't the friendly type as you say, and I wouldn't want to risk waking them up. . ."

He tightened his hold on Charlie and Cassidy's hand, but they didn't complain, being fully aware of the dangerous situation that they were putting themselves into. Springtrap walked further into the darkness, it was completely pitch black in here and they were alone.

"This place is probably big," he whispered, still not losing his sternness, he carefully trended the soft carpet beneath his feet.

"Do not for any reason wander off, keep together and above all else. . .follow me. . ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll leave you all theorize on what could potentially happen next. ;-)  
The ghost children are meant to be stuck in an moral grey area, as what they've done is deplorable, but also understandable, given how they died.  
Regarding Springtrap's return, I know that this will to some extent undermine the impact of his death, but rest assured I have put a lot thought into how this will play out.  
I did intend to bring him back at some point and through him, the more obscure elements of the story can finally come into play, Limbo, the ghost childern and the FNAF 4 house to name a few.  
Springtrap is my favourite FNAF character period, so it is nice to bring him back. :-)  
Please review, I appreciate your feedback.


	47. Pizzeria Masquerade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here's another chapter, not exactly on schedule, but right now is good enough.  
Either way, this chapter does go over my 10,000 word limit, but I needed to round things out to properly conclude the chapter and avoid any continity errors.  
As usual I appolgise for any grammar mistakes that I've missed, but there shouldnt be too many.  
There isn't a song in this chapter, I don't wish to over use them, but there is a song that I wanted to use in a previous chapter that I will implement in the next one. ;-)  
Enjoy, and thank you to those who have left Kudos so far.

**Chapter 47.**

**Pizzeria Masquerade.**

_"**Run if you can. . ."**_

_"**They are lurking everywhere beside you there; did you see them demons in disguises?"**_

_"**Oh my, is it too late?"**_

_"**To escape this game, that we made especially for you?"**_

_"**Do you really even have a clue, that this is your fate!"**_

_ **'Do You Even'? by ChaoticCanineCulture (CK9C) and Elizabeth Ann.** _

It was 2:45pm, only a quarter of an hour until the 'supposed' meeting with the Nightmares.

All the Fazbears, including Mike and Jeremy had gathered around the kitchen table in order to hammer out the inner details of the plan.

At its head sat Goldie, drawing on a piece of paper with a pen.

When he was done, he laid back in his chair, allowing the others to see what he had drawn, yet all they saw was a massive circle.

They looked at Goldie in confusion.

"That," he began, pointing at the circle with an outstretched hand.

"Is the dream world and everything outside it is in the real world."

"So, ideally a small number of us enters the dream world and keeps the Nightmares' attention fixed on them, we lure them into a false sense of security and then as the rest of us come in, those already in the dream world trap the Nightmares so they can't escape?" Freddy questioned, laying out the detail for everybody.

"Are you sure that they will buy it though, won't they sense a trap?" Chica asked, running her fingers lightly along the circle's outline.

"They have huge egos, but they are not stupid that's for sure, whoever goes in needs to put on a convincing act."

"Trust me Chica, they won't get suspicious," Foxy remarked.

"Why?" she asked, turning to him.

"Because they don't know that we can lucid dream, for example, the last time any Nightmare met us in a dream was with BB, but we couldn't lucid dream at that point, in fact we didn't even know that such a possibility existed."

He then raised his hook in a statesman like manner.

"They believe that they hold superiority in the dream world and let's be honest here, what's the Nightmares' main characteristic?"

Puppet hit the nail on the head.

"Superiority complex."

"Agreed," Toy Freddy added, folding his arms.

"We don't need to act Chica, just be normal and their high opinion of themselves will do the work for us," Foxy finished.

Chica thought it over before answering.

"I like your answer Foxy, but my main concern was, would they not be surprised with us turning up anyway, because in their minds we've stepped under our own free will onto grounds where they have complete power, you've seen it as I have, they can literally transform the environment around them and bend it to their will."

She turned to the circle and pointed at its centre.

"If I were a Nightmare, I would sense a trap, no one would willingly put themselves in that much danger."

She sighed.

"I am not against the idea, far from it, but I am trying to see it from the Nightmares' perspective, I am worried that they will bail and run before we can even begin."

"Chica, has a point," Mike added, sounding cautious.

"They do know that Goldie can enter dreams as well as pull other people in as showed by how he and Foxy were able to save Chica. Even if we don't display our new gained powers, they wouldn't like the idea of being outnumbered."

That earned several nods of agreement from some people.

"No, they will not run from us."

All eyes turned in the direction of the voice to see Balloon Boy sitting in his chair, he still looked a little frail and pale in the face after his recent incident.

"They called this meeting, they want it and we are expected, why they want it I don't know, maybe they will tell us when we get there."

He slowly gestured over to the paper.

"Given what they did to me, why waste all that energy and effort just to run away from us, and they demanded more than several times that I carry that message."

"I say we go forward with the plan and adapt to whatever comes our way, it will be risky and we will be putting our hands close to the fire, but if we can pull it off, then we will all sleep easy," Mangle stated, bringing her opinion to bear.

One by one everyone agreed to her statement, the end justified the means.

"Ok, first things first," Goldie stated cautiously, as he glanced around the room occupants.

"Who wants to be on the scout team, the ones who will distract the Nightmares?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Toy Bonnie spoke first.

"Given what I've heard from the Nightmares themselves, I believe that they are expecting the Originals to turn up, I base that belief on how they've talked about them."

She turned to face the people in question

"Overall, they see you four as their main rivals, not us."

She then raised her hands up.

"Not, that I want to throw you all into the fire head first."

Bonnie smiled in response, seeing the humour in the Toy's words.

"That's ok, Bonbon, I see your point, after all as Toy Chica did say that they look a lot like us, so in a way we are their mirror image."

"I'm in, mainly so I can wipe the confident smiles off their smug faces," Chica said eagerly, folding her arms in strong defiance.

"Count us both in," Freddy and Foxy both announced together with some semblance of eagerness and determination, clearly following Chica's example.

Goldie appeared to draw their initials as well as that of the Nightmares within the boundaries of the circle.

"So, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy will enter the dream world and face down Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy."

He turned to meet them; everyone's eyes locked.

"You need to bring them into a false sense of security and if you can, find out why they are helping Vincent, but most of all you need to make them think that you'll be all that they'll be facing."

"No one expects the Fazbear Inquisition, fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency," Jeremy joked, Mike smiled, he got the joke. The Fazbears however did not, looking rather confused by Jeremy's reference.

They had never seen or even heard of Monty Python before.

Goldie smiled to himself, he found the other Fazbears' confused reactions to be somewhat humorous.

Yet he continued with what he was previously saying.

"I know this part is complex and in fairness, everything can very easily go to hell once you're inside, I even wonder why I am laying things down as I am, but I fear that it is best to prepare in case."

He sighed, pausing slightly before pointing back at the circle that represented the dream world.

"Once we are all inside, the Originals and I will attempt to pin the Nightmares down, whilst the Toys use their powers to create a shield of sorts which will block their attempts to escape, therefore they cannot wake up and escape, the key point is being able to maintain that shield to keep them pinned in place."

He continued.

"That is properly the part with the most risk, as we'll properly be facing our own fears personified and if the Nightmares think that they're losing, then they will throw everything at us to give them a chance to escape."

"And what about the dead night guards, if they show up?" Bonnie asked cautiously.

"Aye, they would be quite the spanner in the works they would, we can't will them out of existence," Foxy added sombrely.

"And they would be a force to be reckoned with."

"At best, we would just have seriously hinder them, or keep them isolated from everything else, based on Balloon Boy was told by the Nightmares, they guided the night guards into BB's dream, so they probably don't have any actual power whilst in the dreamworld," Toy Bonnie answered.

"It's just their physical strength we would have to concern with."

"So, whether the night guards turn up or not we can deal with them," Goldie began.

"Our main aim is to overpower the Nightmares with our lucid dreaming abilities and then extract as much information as we can from them, preferably by ripping into their minds, just like they did to us."

"I get the strong feeling that the method I used to briefly connect link my mind to Nightmare Freddy's was instinctive, but given how Nightmares Freddy and Bonnie acted, when the latter showed BB her mind strings, it is clearly a skill that they possess.

"If I were to give it a name, it would be called 'mind melding' and somehow it is possible to learn it." Freddy said thoughtfully, trying to make sense of his thoughts and memories. "Given what happened to you Freddy, it probably is instinctive, there isn't a pattern to follow, it just happens, but maybe it is a natural ability for the Nightmares given their origins," Toy Chica muttered casually. "However, it is only fitting that we give them a brutal taste of their own medicine," she said, now sounding very eager at the thought of getting payback.

"Believe me, I would love nothing more than making those sick bastards suffer, if I have a sadistic side, that's when I would show it," Chica added, she had Nightmare Freddy particularly in mind for some nasty torture.

"And then we kill them I assume?" Puppet asked, leaning forward onto the table, she also came across as tempted by the idea.

"Killing them means we have less to deal with and that will give Vincent much reason to worry."

"I am all for that idea," Mangle added with a smile.

However, that brought concern looks from the others.

Mangle had failed to beat her personified fear and that brought risks, which the Nightmares would surely exploit if she was present in the dreamworld.

"However, considering what happened with me, it would be best for the rest of you if I were to stay here, avoid becoming a liability," Mangle said softly, looking rather downcast.

"It's a shame lassie, it really is, I was hoping that you would be able to join us, your quick reflexes and endoskeleton arms would definitely come in handy," Foxy remarked casually, reaching out and patting her on the shoulder. "Thanks Foxy, but at least I will be able to keep an eye on things here and if the worst were to happen, then I can wake you all up," Mangle replied, sounding a bit more confident in her tone, but still sad that she would be missing out.

"We'll keep you company Mangle," Mike said reassuringly, patting her on the head and ruffling her hair, making it all messy.

He and Jeremy had learnt how to lucid dream, but they were to assign to be backup, to go and get the others out of the dreamworld in case things went very wrong.

Plus, they would monitor situation here, in case Vincent really did try to pull something off, whilst most of them were in the dreamworld dealing with the Nightmares. Guns were a very good solution to an onslaught of endoskeletons and if Vincent dared to show himself then he would face a very hostile reception, but it would force them to fight on two fronts instead of just one. Everyone just hoped that the situation would never get that bad and with the city's lockdown still in force, it would be difficult for anyone to move around with law enforcement occasionally patrolling the streets. However, with the Fazbears' past experience, it was far better to be safe than sorry.

"So, are there any other questions?" Goldie asked curiously, gazing around the room.

"Any concerns, I know this is risky."

Mike glanced at the oven clock, it was 2:55pm, almost zero hour.

"Guys, I hate to disturb but time's almost up," he announced, getting everyone's attention.

Goldie pushed his chair back and rose to his feet.

"Are we all in on this?"

The collective response was "Yes, we are."

A minute later, Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy and Goldie were all assembled in Freddy's and Bonnie's bedroom.

"Ok, here's some sleeping tablets to help with the process," said Goldie, dropping two white coloured pills into each of the Originals' hands. "Now, if I've figured this out properly then I should be able to sense your emotions whilst you're in there, so I'll have an idea of what's going on, but I wouldn't be there myself, not initially."

"Nor will I do it when you first fall asleep," he added.

"Why?" Freddy asked, although he understood the plan, it still felt as if they were wandering about in the dark.

Goldie paused for a moment, thinking of what to say, before replying.

"Because based on what I saw Nightmare Freddy do after he attacked Chica."

Chica shuddered ever so slightly at the mere mention of the attack, yet she was reassured by Foxy and Bonnie holding both of her hands to steady her.

Goldie continued.

"He actually left the dream and I chased him back to the pizzeria, therefore he must travel in spirit form, leaving his physical body behind, yet that doesn't stop him from seeing what's going on around him and when they turn up and see me watching you four sleep, they will suspect something's up."

He sighed, lowering his head.

"So unfortunately for you four, we will all be spread around different parts of the house doing normal things so to remove suspicion on their part, so effectively for the first five or so minutes you'll be on your own in there."

The very idea of being left alone with their Nightmarish counterparts caused the Originals' hearts to skip several beats. Goldie placed both his hands on both Freddy's and Chica's shoulders and beckoned Bonnie and Foxy to come closer.

"Don't worry though, once seven minutes are up by which time, they should have entered the dream world, I will come and examine the situation, if you all hold hands together. Then I will be able to get a better picture of the emotional situation, it'll be a form of 'semi-sleep' so you shouldn't feel my presence and hopefully nor should the Nightmares."

"And what if they decided to attack us outright?" Bonnie asked dismissively, raising a very critical issue.

"You said it yourself that this is a very unpredictable situation, the last thing we would do is over-plan, when something goes wrong, it will go wrong."

Goldie frowned, that was a good point and over-planning was a danger in itself.

"Tell you what, I will return in three minutes, that should give us enough breathing space," he replied.

Bonnie smiled, that reassured her of their safety.

"Then again, if they called this meeting, then they will want to talk to us, not kill us," Chica stated, trying to reassure herself. "Well, I'm ready to kick the Nightmares into the next century, for me it's been long overdue," Foxy growled, eager to get started. "We have two minutes left, better get into position then," Goldie muttered, glancing at the clock which sat on one of the bedside tables.

Together Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all laid down on the bed side by side and gripped their hands together tightly. They all took their respective sleeping pills and closed their eyes. "I'll be back in three minutes, rest assured that should things get out of control, I will come and pull you all out, we've got your back," Goldie stated confidently, reassuring them of their safety.

"However, most of all do not show your powers, we need to keep the element of surprise, they need to be fooled into thinking that they hold all the cards."

"Understood," Bonnie replied, allowing her mind to drift as the sleeping pills began to take immediate effect.

"Stay together above all else," Goldie ordered.

"Do that and you'll be safe."

And that was the last thing they heard before they fell into the realm of dreams.

Goldie glanced at the clock, it was 14:59, one minute left.

He looked down at the sleeping Fazbears, they looked so peaceful, even though the place where they were going to was anything but peaceful. "Better move into position then," he muttered, turning to leave, knowing that should the Nightmares be true to their word, then they would be here soon.

He left and closed the door behind him, leaving it ajar.

_"Out of all things we've done together, this is by far the most serious,"_ he thought, as he headed towards the kitchen. There he would begin a game of cards with Mike and Mangle, to further add to the art of deception that would greet the Nightmares when they arrived.

This move was very risky, there was no denying that, but luckily Goldie knew that they could quickly adapt as the situation evolved. He just prayed that Freddy and the others could handle themselves in those first three minutes. . .

* * *

_Inside the dream world. . ._

Freddy opened his eyes, judging by his immediate surroundings, they were back in the first pizzeria again…home.

"Well, I couldn't think of a better place to talk, considering what happened here all those years ago," Foxy said casually, looking around in interest. Everything was in its place, tables, chairs, the main stage, pirate's cove with its purple star decorated curtains. There was even a pack of party hats placed along the centre of each table from top to bottom.

Yet equally the pizzeria showed significant hallmarks of neglect after being left to deteriorate since its close in the mid nineteen nineties.

"Christ, we have really let this place slide in recent years, just look at all the rot and decay, honestly what's keeping this place together?" Chica sighed.

"We must have violated so many health and safety laws," she muttered bitterly, shaking her head at the dismal sight of the walls which contained many cracks and holes. "Yeah, but what money do we have, we only ever had enough to feed ourselves and even then, that was just because Jeremy and Mike kept on sending us any spare money they're earned by post," Bonnie remarked warmly.

"If we want to relive this place, then we are going to need truckloads of cash to achieve that," Freddy stated, running his hands over worn and faded out 'welcome' posters.

"Remember we have a bad reputation, so we must spend hundreds to thousands of dollars to promote ourselves in a positive light to the public."

"Yeah, I can also see several lawsuits coming our way," Chica added, sighing again, their financial outlook was pretty bad.

"Still," Foxy began warmly.

"There is always hope, it's been thirty years since the Missing Children's incidents, and the Bites of 1983 and 1987, we've lived in the shadows of those events, but nothing bad lasts forever."

Foxy turned to face Freddy.

"There's always light at the end of tunnel," he said, smiling.

Bonnie chuckled at Foxy's words.

"Yeah, we're still here."

She looked around, glancing at their home, which was rifled with old age and a dark history.

"We can rebuild."

"So, do we just stand here and ask the Nightmares various questions when they turn up?" Chica asked, sounding confused.

"In all honesty Chica, I have no idea of how we get them to talk about their alliance with Vincent, better yet how do we tell if they're lying?" Freddy enquired, throwing another question into the mix. "I would hate to play the guessing game, but we could try and use what they told BB to verablly corner them and expose their lies," Foxy suggested curiously.

"If they tired to mislead us, then they will contradict themselves and we can call them out on it."

"Indeed Foxy, that would be the best way to filter out their lies," Freddy muttered.

"Although the threat of physical force could always help," Chica suggested playfully, earning a small smile from the others. "Not now Chica, later, when the moment is right," Bonnie replied plainly, although there was an undertone of eagerness in her voice, evident of her desire to get even with the Nightmares.

In casting her eyes around, she soon found the clock, sited just above the main stage.

It had just gone three.

Yet there was nothing, an uneasy silence settled over the group.

"Well, either this was a massive stitch up on their part, or they don't know anything about being on time," Chica muttered, sounding slightly annoyed as she folded her arms.

Again, there was nothing but a cold hard silence.

There were no Nightmares.

"Well, I now have the suspicion that this was all a ruse on the Nightmares' part, whilst we're in here, they probably about to attack us at home," Foxy groaned, feeling annoyed that they have been outwitted. Freddy sighed, the sense of humiliation was annoying, almost as much as that rumbling noise…wait… where was that coming from?

Then they all noticed the noise as the rumble quickly turned into an earthquake and soon the entire pizzeria was shaking wildly like a plastic bag in a force five hurricane.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL!" Freddy yelled; this was completely unexpected.

The rumbling and shuddering of the earth only grew louder as everything around them shook violently.

Chairs and tables rattled in all directions, pots and pans in the kitchen slid about everywhere at once, light stands swung violently from their holdings and the inner pipes creaked and groaned as the entire building was stretched and compressed to its breaking point. Then a harsh and unforgiving wind blew in out of nowhere, ripping up numerous chairs and tables and flinging them in all directions, most ended up smashing against the surrounding walls.

"EVERYONE DUCK, GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR NOW!" Foxy yelled, pushing Chica to the floor and pinning her in place with his body as a witch's storm hurled about above them.

Bonnie only had enough time to pull Freddy down to the floor before a chair whooshed over him and impacted itself into the wall behind them, breaking itself apart into thousands of small wooden fragments. The Originals hugged the floor as everything around them rapidly descended into utter chaos, it was like something out of the Wizard of Oz. Of course, with the noise being generated, it was next to impossible to hear one another and even when they crawled up next to each other and shouted into one another's ear, it still resulted in nothing.

"IS THIS THE NIGHTMARES' DOING?" Bonnie shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth as she yelled into Chica's ear.

"WELL, WHO ELSE WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" she shouted back.

"I HOPE WE ARE NEAR TO THREE MINUTES, BECAUSE THIS IS ABSOLUTE CHAOS!" Freddy bellowed, hoping that the others would hear him despite the howls and roars of the hurricane like storm that filled the pizzeria.

"GUYS, GUYS, DO YOU HEAR THAT?" Foxy cried, putting his hand to his ear, out of the four, he had the best hearing.

"WHAT DO YOU HEAR?" Chica asked, having to scream her question into his ear.

"SOMETHING, BUT IT IS NOT WILD LIKE THIS STORM," Foxy replied, his answer confused Chica, what could he hear exactly?

However, she soon caught into his meaning as the storm's cries appeared to die down, only to be replaced by something else…something which upon hearing it sent shivers up her spine. Four voices, all singing in harmony, yet they sounded demonic, cheerful and not all that too dissimilar from their own.

_"WE'LL…MEET AGAIN, DON'T KNOW WHERE, DON'T KNOW WHENNN!"_

Suddenly, amidst the howls of the storm, there was a flash of immense bright light from the direction of the stage. It was so bright that it momentarily blinded the Fazbears, as they were unable to shield their eyes in time. They all forced themselves to look at the floor to prevent any serious damage to their vision. However, the light immediately died down and mostly noticeably so did the storm, fading out to the point at which it no longer existed, almost as if it never happened. Although the huge chaotic mess it left behind was an obvious clue.

Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy slowly raised their heads, an impressive sight met their eyes.

For there on the stage before them, as clear as day, was Nightmare Foxy, sitting down behind a professional set of drums. Then there was Nightmare Chica, standing next to him with what appeared to be a nightmarish version of Chica's cupcake in her hand, whilst her other was set on a beautiful wooden crafted piano. She was also wearing the same clothes, all worn out and rugged, in fact it seemed that the Nightmares' clothes appeared to be reflecting that of the Fazbears, just like their personalities did.

Everything acted like a mirror.

On the other side of the stage was Nightmare Bonnie, carrying a fine-looking guitar, only with a skull and cross bones symbol at the very end.

And finally standing between the two, but slightly in front was Nightmare Freddy himself, with an efficient, polished microphone in his hand. _"OH, I KNOW WE'LL MEET AGAIN, SOME SUNNY DAY!"_ he sang as the other Nightmares played out the last tunes from their respective instruments from a song that none of the Originals recognised, although it did sound playful.

Then the Nightmares all bowed as one would do before an actual audience.

Once done, Nightmare Freddy reached up and proceeded to straighten his writhed top hat.

_"Well hello again!"_ he said eagerly, grinning at the Originals like a Cheshire Cat.

_"Are you ready for round two?"_

* * *

The wooden floorboards creaked as Goldie walked down the corridor towards Freddy's and Bonnie's bedroom.

_"Hopefully things haven't gone south,"_ he thought as he neared the door, he had left the game of cards behind, to 'go and see where the Originals were'.

He knocked on their bedroom door.

"Guys, are you in there?" he called, keeping up with the illusion.

When he got no answer, which he expected, he slowly pushed the door fully open. He smiled when he saw them all lying in bed together.

"Ahh, so you are asleep then," he muttered, acting all surprised as he entered the room.

Upon reaching them, he laid his hand out on top of Freddy's head, stroking his soft brown hair. Secretly though, he pushed up his hand into Freddy's skull and reached out with his mind, tapping into Freddy's emotional state through the physical link he had created. In doing so, he entered some form of semi-sleep, as his eyes closed and his mind expanded as he reached out towards the other Fazbears, trying to read their emotions so he could understand what was going on in there.

At first, he could sense Freddy, he felt cautious, wary, as if he was being watched. Then there was Bonnie, her emotions consisted of being attentive and nervousness. Chica felt scared above anything, properly because of what Nightmare Freddy had done to her. And lastly Foxy felt angry, yet at the same there was a strong element of the need to keep calm.

Overall the collective feeling was one of awareness and not letting anyone's guard down.

Goldie narrowed his eyes as he reached out even further, looking beyond the Fazbears.

Nothing, he felt nothing, still nothing, again just an empty stillness.

Then. . .he felt it, something evil and cold, but only for the briefest of seconds. He sensed his mind recoil sharply from contact, the same way someone instantly removes their hand the moment they touch a very hot object. It was Nightmare Freddy, he was in the dream and therefore so must be Nightmares Bonnie, Chica and Foxy.

They had taken the bait, a good start.

Goldie retreated out of semi-sleep, allowing himself to fully return to the real world. He turned around, headed for the door, leaned out into the hallway and called for Balloon Boy. Within seconds BB arrived, having just left the Toys who were watching TV in the lounge, again adding more realism to the illusion.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, he knew whatever it was that Goldie had to say, it would be important. "Tell everyone else that the Nightmares have entered the dream world with the Originals and to stand by for any sudden emergency," Goldie ordered to which BB nodded in confirmation.

"I will remain here to monitor the situation, should anything serious arise then I will call you."

"Sure thing," Balloon Boy replied confidently, before turning around and running off back down the corridor to inform the others.

Goldie meanwhile returned his attention to the Originals.

_"Ok,"_ he mentally muttered.

_"We just have to sit and watch. . .for now."_

* * *

Freddy slowly pushed himself off the floor, pulling Bonnie up alongside him, likewise Foxy was doing the same as was Chica.

After dusting themselves down, they meet the Nightmares' gaze. Freddy's eyes briefly glanced at the clock, it was now 15:03, good, Goldie should be watching them now.

"We're ready for round two, or round three, or hell even round four if you want us to be?" Bonnie stated adamantly, glaring at her Nightmarish counterpart. Nightmare Bonnie smiled sweetly, clearly she was enjoying the mood that drifted over from Bonnie.

_"Well, that's good to know, we like a challenge," _she replied, far too cheerfully for it to be normal, but then again, she was anything but normal.

"So, why did you call us, what's the purpose of this 'meeting'?" Foxy asked suspiciously, gesturing to the area around them.

That was a good place to start.

Nightmares Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all appeared to lean towards Nightmare Freddy and whisper various stuff in his ear, but they were too quiet to be heard correctly. Nightmare Freddy responded by whispering stuff back at them, obviously, they were structuring their response to Foxy's question.

However, eventually Nightmare Freddy gave an answer.

_"It is kind of complex, but the main reason is that we wanted to see if you would actually turn up and then of course we all felt that you want answers to various questions, this game has been going on for quite a while."_

So, it was indeed a test as Toy Chica had eluded to, as well as tapping into the desire of them seeking answers.

Then Nightmare Chica spoke up.

_"I'm sure you are all confused by recent events, everything is being turned in on its head, isn't it?"_

She suddenly glared at Freddy, with her yellowy orange eyes fixed upon him.

_"Freddy. . ."_

She continued.

_"Nightmare Fredbear thought that you would be confused when considering what Goldie has told you."_

Freddy's eyes narrowed at Nightmare Chica's words and the latter merely grinned at his expression, she knew that they had been told about the Bite of 1983.

_"You thought you knew the past, yet there was clearly more to it, more than you could ever truly hope to realise."_

She smiled sweetly, flicking her dark blondish hair back behind her ears and posing victoriously at Freddy.

_"Admit it,"_ she demanded.

"I'll admit it without hesitation, I never saw it coming, it was a complete mindfuck, but he had his reasons to hide the truth from us," Freddy remarked, he didn't understand what Nightmare Chica was hoping to gain out this.

"He has nothing to hide from us anymore and if you hoped that uncovering it would break us then you were greatly mistaken."

_"Mmm, interesting point, but breaking you lot up wasn't what we expected to do with that fragile piece of information,"_ Nightmare Chica replied, sounding impressed and yet disappointed at the same time.

Then Bonnie intervened and took the conversation off in a different direction.

"Well, we have turned up anyway," she said, sounding eager to move on. She gestured towards the nearby mashed-up piles of tables and chairs which lay scattered around main dining area.

"Care to take a seat, if there are any left?" she asked sarcastically.

Nightmare Foxy's predator like eyes briefly flashed a bright reddish brown, before fading back to normal.

He chuckled, as if he was amused somehow.

_"Well raised Bonnie, however, there is no need for seats," _he remarked coolly.

_"This should be a quick 'affair'."_

How exactly?

His choice of words gnawed at Bonnie's curiosity, but she resisted the urge to ask, less he attempt to lead her astray. Then Chica asked a question, the contents of which grabbed Bonnie's attention.

"Was the whole point of dragging Balloon Boy through that nightmare just to give him a message to bring us here?"

"Bringing in the dead night guards and those animatronics, wasn't it all just a bit excessive?" she asked bitterly, and you could see the anger in her eyes. Nightmare Bonnie cocked her head slightly, and like before she wore a sweet smile that seemed to be more cold than warm, possibly betraying her inner thoughts.

_"He refused at first, so we had to make him agree, everything was more or less done to push him towards our intended outcome and fear is a very strong motivator for anyone," _she said smoothly, not doubting the ingenious of her method.

_"Everyone is afraid of something."_

"Like you?" Chica inquired coldly, her eyes narrowed at the Nightmare's smile, she loathed the mere sight of it.

_"Yes, we are not immune to fear itself, even though we largely embody it," _Nightmare Bonnie answered plainly, speaking as though it was common knowledge.

"We already know that you fear death above all other things," Foxy muttered, the anger in his eyes was evident. "If that kid is able to move on before you can break free of him, then you can't exist anymore and that fact must claw away at your ego of being all powerful and the stuff of nightmares," he said cautiously, restraining himself from saying anything that would be more provocative, despite the strong urge to do so.

_"True,"_ Nightmare Freddy answered modestly, gesturing to Foxy with his claws.

_"I'll be honest with you there, but you are ignoring the fact that the child cannot break free of himself, he is unable to move on."_

As he spoke, a creepy smile appears with his dark red eyes glinting with an inner desire for mischief.

_"However, you can only die once. . ."_

His smile grew as he raised his hand, only for naked electricity to spark and crack into existence between his fingers.

_"Care to be reminded of that fact?"_ he asked deviously.

"I've been reminded more than I can count, I don't need you of all people to set an example," Foxy replied harshly, his eyes conveyed his deep seated anger, he wasn't in the mood to mess around.

"Besides, I thought that we were all here to talk, not fight."

Nightmare Freddy seemed to have got the message, with the electric sparks vanishing from his fingers.

_"Fair enough,"_ he muttered casually, lowering his claw.

_"This conservation is interesting enough to dissuade me from trying to kill you."_

Foxy was about to response, but Freddy intervened, sensing Foxy's anger and his desire to provoke, so he asked another question to pull everyone's attention elsewhere.

"Where did you get all of those animatronics' from, how would you or Vincent have access to their blueprints?"

In truth, Phone Guy's confirmation of the company's expansion plans did cement their existence, but Freddy wanted to know how they gained possession of them, for such things would have been a company's secret and not shared lightly with employees. Plus, he was also hoping to buy them more time to lure the Nightmare into a sense of false security, although their own sense of superiority in the dream world was probably helping him anyway.

_"Ah, yes,"_ Nightmare Chica remarked, grinning from ear to ear with a smile that seem to forewarn of something vile coming from her thoughts and the excited spark in her eyes only further added to that feeling.

_"Vincent had some major help in getting his hands on them from their actual owner and creator."_

She sighed, sounding very blissful as she talked.

_"They are state of the art, not that they were ever designed to be cruel, but we've made them our own now."_

Then she suddenly clicked her fingers, expressing a look of complete excitement.

_"In fact, why don't we show them to you, I am sure that BB described them in vivid detail but seeing is believing after all."_

_"Great idea, N-Chica, why not make things a bit more festive,"_ Nightmare Bonnie said eagerly.

_"More company the merrier."_

Yet Chica protested at the idea.

"Wait, why are you-"

DECLUNK!

Suddenly, all the lights went off, plugging the entire pizzeria into utter darkness. Immediately, Freddy felt the physical presence of the others near him, closing in to protect each other, should the Nightmares attempt to ambush them in the dark.

_"Their designs are truly stunning, a true work of art,"_ a voice called out from beyond Freddy's sight, but he knew it to be Nightmare Foxy.

_"I think that you guys would like to see them up close."_

_"And while we are at it, let's go for a change in scenery, the old Freddy's is a bit too bland for my taste,"_ Nightmare Chica uttered aloud, voicing her displeasures.

_"How could someone as monstrous as you have any concept of 'taste'?"_ Freddy mentally muttered in disgust.

Then there came the sounds of the walls shifting, wood creaking, metal stretching and gears shifting, echoing everywhere at once as the Originals' minds mentally pictured what their eyes could not see. The sounds grew in their intensity, seeming to come in from every direction, reaching a new height of sound it as if they were screaming. Nor could they see the Nightmares' eyes, for there was no light in the darkness, no glow that would give away their location.

The sounds and not being able being to see what was going on scared the Originals, and they genuinely hoped that Goldie was watching in on them.

DECLUNK!

Suddenly the lights came back on, momentarily blinding the Originals as they had to cover their eyes.

When they lowered their hands, a damming sight met their eyes.

Animatronics, dozens of them filling the space before them, all appearing dormant, with their eyes closed. They were just as Balloon Boy had described them, polished, new and very realistic. The Rockstars stood idle on the main stage, with their instruments in their hands. Excluding the Rockstars' animalistic design it was almost like looking at yourself in the mirror. The animatronics known as Candy, Cindy and Blank were there somewhere off to the left side and they were also motionless and seemed to be asleep.

The Mediocre Melodies were stationed on the Rockstars' right, although they appeared to be frozen in a state of entertainment, with their hands on their instruments and eyes open, but they didn't play and nor did any sound come from them. Cadet Candy was positioned among them, slightly leading forward in a manner that meant it was deactivated, with its array of colours looking dull and lifeless.

Near the Originals was the shiny and polished looking animatronic that was recognised as being Funtime Chica stood idle alongside the hulking form of Music Man, whose six legged appearance, big smile and black soulless eyes was unreeving to look at. Standing next to Music Man was the animatronic that was presumably El Chip, given his beaver design and Mexican style clothing, much like the other two he also appeared to be dormant.

Then standing before them all was Lefty himself, the one that Balloon Boy had been encased in like a prisoner within a cell.

The animatronic's human appearance could certainly fool anyone who didn't know the truth about it and yet having a human look to it made Lefty appear seem more unsettling than the others. Because you knew that underneath, he wasn't really human at all, just made to look it and there was some sinister element to that line of thinking, even if originally none had been intended.

Yet there were two more animatronics than BB hadn't recalled, one of which in particular looked like an animatronic version of himself, but much more feminine in terms of appearance. The animatronic wore a mixed yellow and purple shirt and beanie, with purple trousers and was decorated with two pink cheeks, possessing bright green eyes and light brown hair. Her design as very much like that of a munchkin from the Wizard of Oz, but as with Lefty, there was something of a dark edge about her, despite her innocent appearance.

On her chest was her name tag, identifying her as: Dee Dee.

Standing next to the animatronic known as Blank was an adult male monkey animatronic dressed in green overalls and possessed a red guitar. Much like the other animatronics in the group the monkey character was slumped forward and had his eyes closed, as if he was sleeping, but the Originals knew him to be dormant.

As with Dee Dee, the name tag was on his chest, it simply read as: Chester.

Every single animatronic looked brand new and fully capable of carrying out any task that was required of them, they were simply breath taking to gaze upon.

Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were amazed by the mere sight of the animatronics that neither of them initially noticed the changes that had taken place around them.

When they finally did notice, they were shocked and a little unnerved.

The pizzeria had been altered, to the point where the differences were obvious and recognisable.

The dining area was still very much the same, although it had been enlarged to a similar size like that of the Toys' pizzeria. The wrecked pile of the chairs and tables had been removed, as if it never existed in the first place. Around the room were various neo stage lights and brand-new posters emphasising the words 'Only the guilty fear punishment', or 'Justice is long overdue' and 'Welcome to the circus of damnation'.

The toilets that were usually located on the dinning area's right side had vanished completely and were replaced by a series of filtration vents that were just big enough for someone to crawl through.

On the right side was a mixture of things, pirate's cove and the door to Parts and Service were still there, but between them was another door that didn't exist in their old pizzeria.

Where it led to was anyone's guess.

Now looking behind them, the entrance to the kitchen remained, but in addition, prize corner had been added with shelves and the Puppets' music box. The two hallways leading down to the security office were now gone and, in their place, stood two more vents and a door. It felt as if the entire pizzeria had been transformed into a brand-new version of itself, but with a cuddlier theme given the various animatronics on display. Yet it only acted a cover for the evil that lay hidden under its cute farce.

It very much felt like the prelude to a nightmare, when everything looked safe, before suddenly unravelling as the dreamer's fears took them into the darkness of their own mind.

Speaking of nightmare, where were the Nightmares themselves?

They were no longer on the stage, in fact they weren't anywhere to be seen, which instantly had the Originals rattled and feeling a heighten sense of nervousness. Even though they had the power to lucid dream and defend themselves against the Nightmares' apparitions, they were still fearful of things taking a drastic turn for the worst.

However, the Nightmares' absence was getting them all on edge, no matter where they looked, they could not find them. Foxy, having the best hearing out of all of them darted his head about in all direction, listening intensely for the slight sounds that would give away their location. His eyes were narrowed as he attempted to focus, fearing that in one moment his Nightmare counterpart could suddenly leap out of thin air and engage him in a brutal contest of strength.

And yet he found the lull to be far more unnerving, as the fear of the unknown crept into his mind.

_"Where have they gone, they couldn't have left, otherwise none of this would be here,"_ he thought, still looking all around him for any sign of his would be foes.

He quickly glanced back at the others and they were doing the same, looking gazing their eyes in all directions for any indication of the Nightmares' location, whilst trying to maintain a calm face.

_"Why would they need all of these animatronics though?"_ Foxy mentally asked himself, only for the answer to suddenly hit him like a lighting blot to the chest.

He remembered Balloon Boy's recalling of his experience with the Nightmares.

_It heavily involved the animatronics, with the Nightmares possessing them. . ._

Then as if by pure coincidence, there came a creaking sound from Lefty, as the animatronic in question powered itself up, shifting its posture to becoming fully upright.

Foxy's eyes immediately widen as did the others, with Chica stepping behind Foxy for protection as Freddy and Bonnie gazed on in horror at the spectacle. Lefty slowly opened his eyes, as he tightly gripped his microphone, appearing to find himself staring at the group. His pupils, one being a bright yellow and other a blackness void narrowed as he smiled. The smile itself being an expression of delight, but it thinly veiled a dark intent.

Slowly, he stepped forward, his feet created a foreboding echo as he was the only one making any noise.

Finally, he spoke, with his voice being both youthful and confident.

"Fazbears, aren't you impressed by what you see, your replacements?" he asked, switching his gaze from one to the other.

"Not really," Bonnie muttered coldly, folding her arms.

"They can never come closer to the actual thing, for all their abilities, we'll always have the passion."

Visibly Lefty seemed to be impressed by her answer, tilting his head from side to side, as if he was thinking her words over, but he eventually responded.

"Still, they are a magnificent bunch and passion can be fabricated, in the end you would be replaced," he replied smoothly, before turning around to gaze at the various animatronics on display.

"I suppose that both of the missing children incidents were a blessing in disguise for you lot, as it prevented Fazbear Entertainment from substituting you and shelving these guys instead," Lefty said calmly, although he knew exactly what sort of reaction he was going to receive.

"It was anything but a blessing!" Chica snarled, feeling the urge to tear Lefty apart, limb from limb.

"We have more worth than these soulless replacements 'mate'!" Foxy growled, flaying his hook in an aggressive manner.

"The Toys didn't have any worth as they were meant to be disposed of, or _'put down'_ and you know that the blueprints for all of these guys exist, so you didn't mean much to the company in the end," Lefty remarked firmly, shaking his head in dismay. "Just a series of cogs in a machine that could be switched out at the company's leisure," he muttered dismissively, although his cold smile showed his true mood, even though he had his back to them.

Internally, he was relishing the act of getting them annoyed.

Then quite suddenly Freddy marched forward and japed Lefty in the back, causing the animatronic to immediately spin round on the spot and judging by the look of annoyance on his face he didn't like the act. Freddy however couldn't care less as he stared Lefty down.

"Listen 'Nightmare Freddy'," he spoke in a frustrated, but cold tone.

Personally, he didn't know the identity of the Nightmare possessing Lefty. Yet he assumed that it was probably Nightmare Freddy, given how he had possessed Lefty last time when confronting Balloon Boy.

_Yet, he could be wrong. . ._

"These things aren't real, no matter how realistic you are able to make them look," Freddy argued sternly, with his annoyance morphing into anger as expressed by the dark look in his eyes.

"We're still here and always will be."

Lefty's annoyed expression dropped slightly with Freddy's next words.

"We know your weakness and you clearly know ours, but you offered to answer our questions and we're waiting."

Freddy lean in close, his eyes were ablaze with a cold fire that seem able to pierce Lefty's, but the animatronic wouldn't fold. Rather he smiled for he seemed to enjoy Freddy's intense glare.

"So, I'll ask, how does this all end?"

"And what does Vincent gain out this alliance with you?"

"Because if you ask me, looking back right now, everything that has happened to us since the First Missing Children's' Incident feels personal and for Vincent to keep on harassing us even after everything is long gone. He obviously must have a deeper motive than simply a bloodlust for killing children."

Lefty's smile remained, however in his eyes, or rather eye, his inner mood appeared to change, giving off a thoughtful expression.

Clearly Freddy's words had hit deep, but eventually he responded.

"How does this all end, well it should end as all great tragedies should, with absolute destruction for both the guilty and the innocent, so that in the end nothing remains," Lefty remarked smoothly, speaking with pure conviction in his tone.

"The slate shall be wiped clean and this story will end for all of us, we will all be at peace, although it will be peace on _'our'_ terms."

He then looked at Freddy in the eye and Freddy swore that he could sense the persona of Nightmare Freddy talking back to him through Lefty's voice box. The animatronic's words stuck a familiarity chord with him, as it was the same thing that BB had been told.

_"There is no way, in which this game ends with everyone getting a happy ending."_

The fact that the Nightmares intended to kill him, and others was no surprise, but it was now clear that everything that had been happening since the Nightmares had turned up was done with aim towards a particular goal. It felt calculated, deliberate, almost surgical in its handling, like a strategic move on a chess broad against an opponent who only recently realised that they were playing.

Lefty continued to speak uninterrupted.

"And as for what Vincent gains, well our support, but you already know that, so I'll drop a hint instead."

"Through us, it is easier for him to achieve his happiest day, he could have easily returned to your dump of a home so many times in the past and killed you all, but he didn't. He doesn't want to end this feud quickly, no, because he wants to wear you down, to strip you of everything you hold close to your hearts, and he's done a pretty good job at it so far."

That was true, Vincent had single handled sunk Fazbear Entertainment, stained the Fazbears' past with blood and consigned them to waste away in a rundown pizzeria. Yet, putting everything into perspective, there was now a strong feeling of deliberation in Vincent's conduct that Freddy hadn't fully noticed before.

It was like a serial killer cutting up their victim piece by piece in a long and drawn out process. Bit by bit, they would remove parts of the body that weren't essential to the victim's survival, but would cause immense pain nonetheless, dragging out the screams for the torturer's sadistic enjoyment. This process would continue as the horrific ordeal neared its end, with the killer stripping the victim of nearly everything, bar the vital organs to keep them alive throughout the entire event, until finally, after taking the victim to the brink of death, they would end their agony with a gory and yet swift demise.

And Vincent had in effect done that, stripping Freddy and the others of everything they cared about, save for their own lives.

He could have killed him and the Puppet back in 1987, after he had knocked them both out when they'd encountered him in that hallway just after committing the second MCI, but he didn't.

Instead he had let them live, to feel the agony that he had caused and there was strong evidence of Vincent's actions leading towards a singular outcome.

_"I only want to kill as many as I need to."_

Freddy's memories flickered back to that moment, when Vincent had him in a chokehold. He didn't understand what Vincent meant by those words back then, but he did now. Vincent wasn't just killing kids because he wanted to, although there was no doubt that he enjoyed the act, taking passion in the savagery and horror of it. However, he always had a long-term goal in mind when carrying out such dark and vile acts, he was always looking at the big picture.

Even if the path to that particular goal was vague, which it had to be because there was no way in hell that Vincent would have able to twist events and his own knowledge in his favour without knowing the risks or adapting to changing circumstances. Yet, he clearly understood when an opportunity presented itself, or when it was going to appear and thus prepare for its arrival as best he could.

Freddy had questioned his own interpretation of Vincent recently and only now did he feel the various pieces beginning to reassemble themselves, forming a new image. Yet it was currently left unfinished, there were gaps that couldn't be filled with what he already knew, and he wanted to know more.

How much had changed in the last few days, it hadn't even been a week and already his long-held interpretations of past events were being ripped asunder with sudden reveals and reinterpretations. At this rate of new discoveries Freddy felt like he was going to start questioning everything soon. With old and new interpretations melding together to form an indecipherable mass of information that he wouldn't be able to pry open, no matter how hard he or anyone else tired.

Then a new realisation dawned on him, quickly cutting through the rest of his other thoughts to become centre stage in his mind. Given the current state of things, he and his family had nothing left, but themselves and Mike and Jeremy's support, they didn't even have a proper home anymore.

Everything else had been stripped away from them.

That only left the killing blow, the move that would bring this nightmare of living suffering to an end. Vincent's recent intrusion into their lives after a long period of inactivity, the arrival of the Nightmares and even the resurrection of the murdered nightguards, could they all be a part of his attempts to create some sort of finale?

_When the slate would be wiped clean and the nightmare would end for everyone. . ._

Judging by Lefty's look of confidence, the Nightmare within him could sense Freddy's inner mood as the true picture began to finally show itself to him.

"You see it don't you?" Lefty asked modestly, now catching Freddy's attention.

"How little you understood back then and now when the curtains pull back, you are left with the haunting realisation that everything that happened was to cause pain, a deep and enduring agony, but not without good reason."

Then Lefty's smile dropped, and he became blank faced, showing no emotion as he slowly turned round and began to walk off towards the main stage, with the faint sound of his internal gears working away filling the air. Freddy, however wasn't ready to stop questioning, as in a moment of open anger, he reached out and grabbed Lefty by the shoulder, pulling him back hard, with more force than he intended, but Freddy's desire to know burned inside of him like a wildfire.

"No, you don't get to leave it on a cliff hanger like you always do, what do you mean by 'not without good reason'?" he demanded in an enraged tone.

"Everything done to us by that murderous bastard was 'justified' somehow, the hell he put us through was for a 'good cause', how exactly?" he roared, his inner annoyance having already morphed into anger fully burst onto the scene.

This time Freddy wasn't leaving empty handed, he would get some proper answers before this nightmare was officially over.

Lefty, or rather the Nightmare possessing him didn't like the sensation of being grabbed and he quickly spun round and with sufficient force smacked Freddy in the chest with his microphone hand. Lefty's angered look on his face was evidence enough of his displeasure towards Freddy's attempt to control him. The impact knocked Freddy back slightly, but he quickly moved to regain his footing, with Foxy immediately appearing on Lefty's right flank and slashed at his microphone with his hook arm. Foxy's hook caught Lefty's microphone and kept it pinned, bringing it away from Freddy, yet Lefty didn't act against Foxy.

Instead he remained stationary, keeping his focus on Freddy, despite Foxy being close by.

If the other Nightmares were still around, then they clearly hadn't come to their brethren's aid.

Lefty then straightened himself and fiddled with his bowtie, before speaking.

"What do I mean by everything being done with a good reason in mind, well, personally I don't think that it is my place to explain Vincent's motivations, I'll leave that to the man himself,"

However, Freddy grabbed hold of him viciously by the shoulders, not caring about the conquences of his actions, the anger in his eyes was evident.

"No," he said quietly in a low tone, although again the anger and frustration in his tone was obvious to everyone.

"You are going to tell me what Vincent's motive is, and I am well aware that you would know it, or I'll have to drag it out of you!" he demanded coldly. In the back of his mind, Freddy understood that he was probably playing into the Nightmares' hands. However, at the same time they didn't know that he and the others had gained the ability to lucid dream and if he could understand it fully, then he might be able to link up with the Nightmare's mind and viciously comb it for answers.

It would certainly be a shock to them and could even scare them into confessing the truth.

"What is Vincent's motive for everything, you forced us to come here, you should answer our questions in return," Chica growled, raising her fists, ready for a fight.

"And if you are Nightmare Freddy, then we have a score to settle," she hissed sternly, the rage in her eyes was evident as the memories of her injuries inflicted by him raced through her mind like a bullet train.

Bonnie was more level-headed, but she looked visibly angered with meeting nothing but more dead ends.

"You told BB that you need to kill us to free the child and therefore free yourselves, that's your motive, the motive of the nightguards is quite simple, but you're deliberately avoiding explaining to us what Vincent's motive is," she remarked in an annoyed tone and her eyes narrowed, visibly showing her frustration.

"Now why would that be exactly?" she enquired coldly.

She assumed however that the Nightmare was just teasing them and dragging the situation out for their enjoyment. After all, the offer of answers had been enough to bring her and the others here, so the Nightmares clearly understood how important and therefore enticing the lure of answers were to them.

Yet in the amidst of her thoughts, a question exploded into being.

_"Why would Vincent call upon the aid of nightmares belonging to a child that he potentially has no connection to, is it just because in the case of that one child his nightmares become real sentient beings?"_

The thought caught her full attention as she debated it, making her stop and wonder.

_"But then, is there something special about this child that made his nightmares real or has this happened with other children as well?"_ she mentally asked, finding herself to be enwrapped by the theory.

_"Was it just a cause of opportunity and either Vincent or the Nightmares reached out to eachother and their goals somehow became aligned?"_

_"Yet, given how they interact with eachother, it has to be something much deeper than that. . ."_

Suddenly at that exact moment Lefty broke his right hand free of Foxy's grip with a hard tug and immediately proceeded to say.

"Did Balloon Boy tell you what Lefty's 'speciality' is?" he asked curiously, yet the dark intent in his voice was obvious.

"We can hurt you know," Bonnie said bitterly, putting her thoughts on hold to verablly counter him, but Lefty merely turned to her and smiled coldly. "True, but we can inflict far more pain then you can and Lefty here was redesigned for such a purpose," he said confidently, before turning his gaze back to Freddy, who was still gripping his shoulders.

"I wouldn't get too close to this particular animatronic if I were you."

Then his expression instantly darkened.

"Things can very claustrophobic. . ."

Then he whispered in a sinister tone.

"Let me make space for you, for there is room for one more. . .inside."

Instantly, several things happened simultaneously.

Both of Lefty's eyes rolled backwards, giving him an empty stare as his mouth now fully hung open, exposing his endo jaw.

He emitted an electric scream that filled the air with terror as he stretched his voice box to its limits.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"

Freddy immediately covered his ears with his hands, as did the others and backed away, but as he did Lefty sprung his trap. His chest, revealing itself to be a series of plastic and metal plates covered by clothes and imitation human skin swung open wide and a terrifying mechanical claw leapt out of the dark confines, reaching for Freddy.

Thankfully, Chica and Bonnie were able to grab Freddy and pull him back beyond the claw's reach, with it snapping away at nothing but air. Foxy also jumped back in shock and horror, moving well beyond the claw's capability to grasp him if it tired. Yet Lefty didn't have a mechanical claw for snatching people in his stomach when Balloon Boy first met him.

However, a certain part of Nightmare Freddy's conversation with BB resurfaced in Bonnie's mind, as she recalled the memory.

_"Lefty was never made and thus never used, well at least, not the way he was meant to be used."_

_"He is ours now, our creation, with a few special features added for our entertainment."_

So, the Nightmares had seen Lefty's blueprints, twisted his design to suit their devious purposes and then changed his features again to be whatever they wanted for this occasion.

He had become their puppet, and now Bonnie could see the full innerworkings of Lefty and the Nightmares' handiwork. His endoskeleton was twisting and bending, the infamous springlocks were creaking and snapping, with there being a noticeable space in his stomach section. It was more than enough to fit a child, or even a young adult if Lefty's endoskeleton were to be pushed back further enough.

With his head twitching in a possessed state as his mouth hung open and both his eyes being two vacant black holes, Lefty looked terrifying to witness.

Then with his non microphone hand, he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, light-hearted party music started to play from the stage, followed by the combined sounds of multiple animatronics turning themselves on, although it was being drowned out by Lefty's high pitch screaming.

Funtime Chica's faceplates shifted about as she rose fully upright, her purple eyes glowing bright as she looked around. Equally, Candy, Cindy and their group activated, their collective gaze turning in the direction of the Originals. Then playful retro music emitted from Cadet Candy's inbuilt speakers, as his colour pattern lit up. There came the sound of shifting gears as Music Man rose up to his full height through the use of his six spider legs and he cast his soulless black eyes at the Originals, as did Le Chip.

At the same time, the Mediocre Melodies and Dee Dee switched themselves on, their heads lifting upwards as their eyes flickered open. Immediately, like all the other animatronics, they turned towards the Originals and Lefty, almost as if on command.

Their collective expression was one of distrust, annoyance or an intent to harm.

"Looks like you guys are in a heap of trouble," Funtime Chica cooed sweetly, stepping forward as she flashed them a bright smile.

"How unfortunate, uh oh, how unfortunate, un oh!" Dee Dee sang, shaking her head left to right as she grinned coldly at Foxy in particular, her child like face expressing devious intent and malice. It was obvious that these animatronics were being directly possessed by the Nightmares, as they were walking and talking. Whereas all the others were merely stationary and just seemed to stare into nothingness.

Yet, it was also clear that the Nightmares were controlling the stationary animatronics, influencing them through some unseen channels.

Then lastly the Rockstar animatronics activated and as they did Lefty withdrew his chest claw and stopped screaming. In one swift motion, Lefty closed his chest plates, re-rolled his eyes forward and closed his mouth, he was back to normal with his human feature settling in across his body. It almost like the animatronic elements of his body had vanished without trace, but the Originals knew better.

A demon in disguise indeed. . .

The stage creaked as Rockstar Bonnie slowly stepped forward, holding his guitar. So, he was the fourth possessed animatronic, that at least completed the circle.

Although, why had they remained in the shadows, whilst Freddy had physically confronted one of their own was puzzling?

Unless, they figured that they didn't need to intervene at that particular moment.

"Hello boys and girls, are we ready?" Rockstar Bonnie asked in a cheerful tone, yet there was a dark undertone to his words, as he gazed over the entire scene, especially at the Originals.

"I hope that we are indeed ready, because the show will begin momentarily."

He then raised his hand, catching everyone's attention, although the numerous stationary animatronics maintained their malice filled gaze towards the Originals.

Lefty by this point had taken the opportunity to retreat and stand alongside Funtime Chica, with the Originals having let him go. They didn't wish to cause an uphill battle, but rather to keep playing into the Nightmares' illusion that the latter possessed all the cards. Their secret weapon would make its impact when the timing was ripe and they knew that Goldie was probably watching them, waiting for what felt like the right moment to intervene.

"Very soon, we'll have several extra guests joining our pizza party," Rockstar Bonnie said casually, although with an undertone of deviousness, as his eyes cast themselves over the whole gathering.

However, his words caused a spark of panic to erupt within the Originals' minds.

_"Wait, do they know that Goldie is watching, are they even aware of what we plan to do?"_ Foxy mentally questioned.

He tried his best not to show his inner panic, but it was a worrying thought, because if the Nightmares somehow suspected a trap, then things could get nasty very quickly. It was just like what Chica had warned them about earlier at Jeremy's kitchen table.

What if they already knew that he and the others wouldn't come there willing, no one would put their lives on the line without some form of backup, especially in this type of situation. They were literally in the jaws of a waiting trap and it could be sprung at any time, particularly if the Nightmares felt that they were about to be ambushed. At that point they might either retreat or seek to take the chance to kill Foxy and the others in one go. Although that would be a good time to showcase their ability to lucid dream and to defend themselves.

_"I just hope that Goldie is aware of going on, or else he'll be sorry,"_ Foxy mentally grumbled, repressing his fear. Yet the heighten feeling of tension did not disperse but merely grew.

Turning to look at the others, Foxy could see that they were putting on a collective front of inner strength, so not to show their fear.

Bonnie looked stern and cold, with her eyes seeming to be lit with determination as she had her arms folded, waiting for what Rockstar Bonnie would say next. Chica appeared to blank faced, although her closed fists indicated her inner rage at the situation as well as her desire to get even with Nightmare Freddy, should the opportunity arise. Freddy meanwhile was a mixture of emotions, seeming to look determined, but also taken aback by the number of animatronics that they faced. To see himself in animatronic form felt strange, if not a little unnerving.

The everyone just seemed to be staring back at eachother as time appeared to stand time.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Suddenly, everyone's attention was immediately drawn by the sound of something banging loudly against the Parts and Services door.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

It sounded very angry and savage, with one blow instantly being succeeded by the next in a frenzied fashion.

Whatever was on the other side sounded desperate to get out.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

The door was repeatedly slammed against, with enough force to make its metal frame buckle and bend, as various dents began to appear in the metalwork.

BANG!

BANG!

Everyone was now staring at the Parts and Services door as the brutal hammering against it continued. The stationary animatronics just looked at the door with a collective blank expression, for they lacked the capability to be fazed or scared, being soulless machines. Even the animatronics that the Nightmares were possessing didn't look concerned, sharing the same unreadable expression as the others. However, Originals felt afraid, for they knew all too well what probably causing the banging, the anger and mere savagery of the act pained a clear image in their mind to whom the perpetrator were.

Then the possessed animatronics all smiled, particularly Lefty's whose smile was dark and foreboding, it was as if he could sense the Originals' inner fear as he turned to face them.

"Well, are you ready to be reunited with your all 'old friends'?" he asked, sounding very pleased with this new turn of events.

"It's good to see that they've shown up, after being guided in."

His words stirred up more questions in the Originals' minds.

How had _'they'_ been guided into a dream exactly?

Yet they dared not to ask, for their attention was fixed solely on the door.

BANG, BANG!

BANG, BANG!

BANG, BANG!

The banging sounds only grew louder and angrier, whatever lay behind that door, it really wanted to break free and it soon became clear that multiple things or people were involved in pounding away at it. The door was put under further stress with its metal framework groaning in protest as the dents that peppered it grew.

Lefty spoke in delighted anticipation of what was soon to come, with his voice having to rise in volume to overcome the friezed hammering against the Parts and Services door.

"This is round two and the skeletons in your closet are now out to play. . ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all know who is coming. ;-)  
The stage is set, the lights are on, but are you ready for the performance of a lifetime?


	48. Sinister Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here's chapter 48, I did have a lot of fun writing this one up.
> 
> This is a very large chapter, a common theme throughout this story, but this has now become my writing style. However, its focus is actually quite simple and I really wanted to get inside the head of one particular character.  
The song in this chapter is one that I've wanted to use for quite a while, it's 'Locked Up' by Divide Music, it's about fictional serial killer Michael Myers from the Halloween horror film series and it fits very well.  
A huge thank you to those who have left Kudos so far.
> 
> Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I may have missed and do enjoy. . .

** Chapter 48. **

** Sinister Encounters. **

_ **"What is this new prison?"** _

_ **"Is it me trapped, or is it you?"** _

_ **"Perhaps it's us both."** _

**Withered Bonnie from Ultimate Custom Night.**

The humming sound of the airship's turbines drowned out most other sounds, as Vincent administered the screwdriver to the nail, gently applying a steady pressure to it as he forced the nail into a proper position.

He held the device carefully with his free hand to steady it as he worked, focusing on the task at hand.

Working in silence was a nice way to pass the time, as well as to keep himself occupied from less pleasant thoughts that he would rather not deal with. Plus, he was used to spending days on end down in his workshop basement on various projects, either being experimental in his work, or refining existing ones. He enjoyed it, the art of creation and making the finished results mimic the actions of the living. He couldn't deny that it was a chore, but he loved his work and until his dying breath he wouldn't stop creating.

He slowly applied further pressure on the nail, firmly cementing it into place on the makeshift helmet that he had built a few hours earlier. He figured that he needed to make some adjustments to ensure its effectiveness, but overall, the helmet should do its job just fine when the time came.

Although, it did require a bit of luck on his side, but he had been lucky so far, why not gamble a bit more?

It wasn't like he had anything left to lose, save for his life of course.

He was prepared to comprise should events not go the way he intended, but his impact on the scene should be enough to wrestle control of the initiative from whoever was holding it.

If it didn't. . .well, he would have to make sure he made it out alive so he could try again later down the line. Still, he had a thing for being adaptable, seeming to recognise when an opportunity presented itself.

He sighed as he held the helmet gently in his hands.

The device was ready for use, well the maths should have checked out, unless his research was severely flawed. God alone knows what would happen to his mind if things went south with this thing when he put it on.

Still, he had been in risker situations in the past and still got by just fine, minus a few innovations and bruises.

He should have been more careful back in the Toys' Pizzeria though, had anyone walked in on his fight with Freddy and the Puppet, then he would have surely been a dead man. Greeted by the cold comfort of a jail cell, or most likely the electric chair. However, he was fortunate enough that the incident caused by Mangle had created enough of a panic that it had most people fleeing for the exit without looking back, so great was their terror.

Yet, Vincent found himself both loathing and yet admiring Puppet's efforts to stop him, it worthy of his respect given how far she went.

"That dam clever girl," he chuckled, sounding amused.

"She nearly had me, bringing in Freddy was unexpected, I knew that he was physically strong, but when he was possessed. . ."

His eyes narrowed, remembering the shock he felt back then when Freddy charged at him, with Freddy's eyes being two glowing white dots full of rage and malice.

"He had a strength all onto its own, his attempts to beat me was. . .admirable," Vincent muttered softly, for the fear he had felt in that moment was very real, even though he didn't particularly show it.

He certainly remembered their voices though.

_"It's me."_

_"It's me too."_

The strained and hate filled tone that they both spoke in sent chills up his spine as they both glared back at him. At the time he suspected that it was the ghosts of the children he had previously murdered talking back to him, expressing their anger at their untimely demise at his hands.

He understood they would have killed him if they got the chance that day, Puppet especially given her hostility towards which had existed from the moment they first met.

Little did he know back then. . .what or rather _'who'_ was affecting her mood.

Even when he finally did know what was going on with Puppet and the others, there was far more that eluded him, remaining hidden beyond his sight. Yet, the whole experience at the Toys' Pizzeria had shaken him somewhat, his near defeat had been a punch to the face, a strong remainder that he wasn't invincible, let alone all knowing.

Looking back, he had pushed Puppet into a corner, constantly teasing her and in the end, she fought back, with a lot of force. Hadn't it been for his taser than he probably wouldn't have walked away that day and made his escape in the ensuring panic that he had deliberately created. Yet, the cold and vengeful expressions of both Freddy and Puppet haunted his mind for a while after and the full realisation of what he was potentially up against scared him.

The ghosts of his victims seeking his blood and desiring revenge. He had seen enough_ 'odd'_ behaviour from the Puppet during the times that he interacted with her to give an indication that something was wrong. Truthfully, he didn't know anything about her being possessed back then, he just assumed that the stress of the situation was manifesting itself in her moods. The way her eyes shone just a bit brighter with her voice sounding almost male like in some conversations, when her anger and immense dislike of him was most evident.

Vincent scowled internally, as the memory of his first serious encounter with his victims from beyond the grave played itself vividly in his mind's eye.

_When he started to see the big picture for what it truly was. . ._

* * *

_Hurricane Utah July 1987. . ._

_Vincent kept a strong hold his tool box as he made his way over to the Puppet's music box to perform some quick repairs while the hordes of children were distracted by the Toys' musical show; following Jessica Woods, Amy Crawfield and Henry Williams who were preoccupied in their group conversation._

_Up ahead, the group spotted Puppet and Balloon Boy by the music box sharing what seemed to be a one-sided conversation, with Balloon Boy trying to pry an answer out of Puppet but to little avail._

_"Hey, Balloon Boy, Puppet, having a break, we can't blame you," Henry remarked warmly, quickly catching their attention._

_Vincent maintained a blank face as he approached the music box, he knew that Puppet had raised concerns about it earlier today and he had been assigned to fix it before the Toys' show ended. Yet, as he stepped ever closer to the box, he couldn't help but feel delighted with the prospect of uncovering more of Puppet's strange mannerisms, a sense of excitement raced through him. There was a small part of him that did feel cautious though, but Puppet knew better than to act out in public and make herself look like the instigator. _

_As Henry, Jessica and Amy set about sorting out their various tasks, Vincent approached Puppet who was in the music box._

_However, he greeted Balloon Boy, patting him warmly on the head._

_"Hey Balloon Boy, how is your day going?" he asked, passing him by, but Balloon Boy didn't give him an answer. Yet Vincent didn't linger on it as his full attention was devoted to Puppet, who stood upright in her music box, gazing back at him with a hard look. Yet in her eyes, he could see that she despised him._

_However, Vincent acted with grace and care._

_"So, you mentioned that the music player is not working today?" he asked sounding inquisitively, although he was genuinely interested, as he tapped the edges of the music box._

_He loomed over her, casing the teenage girl in his shadow, it made her look small, but her hard and weary expression made it clear that she wasn't intimated._

_She replied to his question, sounding worn down, but the look in her eyes didn't diminish._

_"Yes, no matter what button I press the music just doesn't come on," she said plainly, pointing down at the mechanism that was situated just inside the music box._

_"Ok, I'll see what I can do," Vincent remarked, sounding rather determined, after all he loved a challenge, but behind his eyes he watched Puppet carefully, waiting for any sign that her 'other side' was expressing itself._

_He set his toolbox down and proceeded to open it up, he was sure that the wires had become crossed somehow._

_Jessica had set off to find some red balloons for BB, whilst Henry had finished stacking Puppet's various shelves with Fazbear plushies._

_"Ok, I think I'm done over here, Puppet is this good enough for you?" Henry asked, stepping back so Puppet could see his handiwork._

_"Yeah, that this fine Henry, thank you," Puppet replied gratefully, leaning back in her box._

_Then Vincent made his move as he reached down into the music box, getting his hands into the bowls of the machinery, seeking its circuit board and sound maker._

_"You seemed to be an easy person to please Puppet," he commented jokily, it was somewhat genuine, but there an undertone of coldness to it that he was sure she would pick up on._

_Immediately Puppet responded back with._

_"I do have my limits Vincent," she muttered coldly, turning to look down at him._

_"And you won't like to see them."_

_Yes, there it was, that viper edge to her, he had struck gold._

_So, he replied with._

_"I must admit that I too have limits-"_

_Immediately his words set Henry laughing his head off in complete amusement._

_"Ha, that's a first!" he shouted._

_Vincent sighed and remarked, quite casually._

_"Hey, Henry, you are no arch angel either, and before you get involved Amy, you're also cut from the same cloth."_

_"Guys, I'm not getting involved," Amy remarked humorously, holding her hands up, although she muttered several words under her breath which Vincent couldn't make out, but he was sure that it was a demeaning remark. _ _Then to the surprise of everyone, Mangle unexpectedly stumbled in from Kids' Cove, looking rather dishevelled and complained about her poor treatment at the hands of the hyped-up toddlers. _

_Amy offered to help her and led Mangle back inside Kids' Cove, aiming to settle the unrest that was plaguing her._

_Vincent returned his focus to fixing the music box, he had undone the screws holding the plastic cover in place and now had his hand in the bowls of the mechanism. Slowly examining each individual wire, certain that the cause for the music box's problem being that of a loose/broken or crossed wire._

_Even though he was leaning into the music box and therefore was very close to Puppet, he didn't feel unnerved by her being so close to him as he further examined the mechanism for its lingering fault. _

_Although he suspected that his mere physical presence was probably stressing her out, with her body language immediately expressing a stern coldness to him like she always did. _ _Yet, she wouldn't dare try to make a move against him in the open, she wasn't one to take a big risk, perhaps in fear of him retaliating in some way, which was highly likely given Vincent's own desire for self-preservation._

_He had killed before and in the event of protecting himself, he wasn't afraid to slit another throat. . ._

_However, despite all of that, it didn't mean that she wouldn't attempt to surprise him by some means, after all everyone has their talents._

_He had just grasped hold of the loose wire amidst the various cogs of the machine when he heard something in a dark tone that made him stop in mid action._

_"It's me. . ."_

_Vincent's heart stopped, or at least it felt like it had stopped._

_That voice, it sounded like a male with a coldness that threaten to freeze his blood as it cut through him like a sharp knife._

_He slowly turned to look up at the voice's source, finding it to be Puppet, only now she was visibly different to a far great degree than he had ever seen her before._

_Her eyes glowed bright, more so then was normal, but now they held a vengeful nature to them. She was literally glaring daggers at him as her anger seemed barely uncontainable. It as if she was fighting an inner battle to keep it subdued. Her whole face was twitching and jerking, as the hatred in her eyes grew in its intensity, on the whole she looked as though she was on the verge of slipping into the red mist and yet it was causing her immense pain._

_She was slipping into madness. . ._

_Vincent was beyond surprised; he didn't expect Puppet to display so much of her 'other side' and in full view of everyone else. The mere sight of her cold eyes and enraged expression shocked him to his core and with it came the feeling of fear, fearing that she might dare to expose him or at the very least attack him right in the open and all Vincent could do was stare back. For the first time, he felt helpless in her shadow as she towered over him like a black thundercloud with his eyes expressing a deep profound sense of uneasiness. _

_What was this exactly, why was he so afraid of her right now?_

_He had underestimated her and there a fear that she was going to try and get her revenge on him, because there is only one thing a cornered animal does when bereft of options. . .fight back._

_Then she spoke again and this time he couldn't misheard her._

_"I recognise you and I remember what you did to me. . .and the others."_

_Although he didn't fully understand Puppet's words, he could grasp that she was probably referring to the Missing Children's' Incident and the incident outside Fredbear's Family Diner, but it sounded so personal._

_Like Puppet herself had been present at both occasions when she never had been._

_Just as much as he evaded her attempts at questioning him, she never made it clear as to how she came to believe that he was the one responsible._

_He had hidden his tracks well. . .hadn't he?_

_The sense of hatred within Puppet's words didn't fit her, despite her constant hostility and wariness towards him, those words didn't suit her nature._

_And yet, he still felt clueless over why she was saying those words in the first place._

_Something didn't add up. . ._

_Unless, it was a theory and it was far from rational, but there was only one other person could possibly use those words in such a hate filled manner and make it sound so personal. However, Vincent steeled himself, losing his outward display of shock and fear, replacing it with a cold and equal hard look of his own, to show that he wasn't intimidated by her._

_"Somehow, you're here, having survived death and now you're seeing the world through her," he whispered softly, his tone was blank, he didn't wish to give any indication that he knew who or what she was talking about it._

_In his mind, Vincent half believed that Puppet was somehow pulling a mind trick on him, impersonating one of his victims to deliberately drag a confession out of him. Yet, she wasn't capable of mimicking voices and nor was she a risk taker as far as Vincent was aware. For all her actions against him, what little they were did not portray the image of someone who was capable of manipulation. _

_Still those facts didn't override Vincent's fear at what he was seeing, let alone what Puppet was saying. _

_This had to be a trick, however the other half of his mind believed that everything happening to him was indeed true, that somehow one of his past victims was literally speaking to him through the Puppet._

_He had heard about the rumours of the supernatural, the myths and folklore, even the stories surrounding the use of Ouija broads, but he never thought for one moment in his life that there would be any truth to those ghost stories._

_And yet his brain was struggling to think of a rational explanation for what was going on._

_Then Puppet leaned down, quickly closing the space between them, as her cold and bright eyes bore into his own. The intensity of hatred in her expression seemed to be more than strong enough to penetrate his soul. _

_"The others are under my protection; I will stop you."_

_"Do even you realise the kind of game that you are playing?" Vincent asked curiously, with a stern undertone as he kept up his stony expression, daring not to give away any indication of fear. _ _Puppet didn't answer, with her face continuing to twitch as she maintained her death glare at him, with her eyes seeming to be reaching deep into his own. Yet, with no answer being received, Vincent now found himself smiling with an amused and relived delight._

_His smile was both cold and menacing, as he felt his confidence slowly return to him calming his inner fear. Whoever was possessing Puppet right now, even if it was somehow one of his former victims, they didn't know how to stop him. _

_Where was their proof that he was the one responsible and where could they find evidence to prove it?_

_Puppet's whole expression and body language was nothing more than a front designed to scare him. Her or rather 'its' words were meaningless and possessed no weight behind them. _

_If she or 'it' dared to fight him right now, then he could easily take her on._

_"No," he said defiantly, his eyes now matching hers in becoming a dark and intense gaze._

_"You can't. . ."_

_He simply left it at that, he wasn't willing to give her or 'it' anymore ideas of what he was up to, even if they knew that he was the one responsible for their fate._

_Puppet in her demented state looked as if she was about to say something, when suddenly Jessica returned._

_"BB, I got the balloons you wanted!" she cried, clutching a bundle of red balloons in her hand._

_For Vincent, the air of tension that surrounded him burst like a bubble, it was gone in an instant and the real world returned like the tide rushing in over the sandy beach, covering everything in its path. _ _The immense look of hatred on Puppet's face quickly receded, just as the bright glow of her eyes died down, going back to their normal hue of white._

_The aggressive look on her face faded away, replaced by a more exhausted and moody expression, a look that was normally associated with her. Quickly, she stood up straight, retreating out of Vincent's personal space and never looked back, it was like a switch had gone off inside her, the transformation was instant. Equally, Vincent put on the blank, normal and passive face that everyone else was used to seeing. All traces of his cold smile and the hard look in his eyes vanished, the expressions of his inner mind retreated behind the veil that he shrouded himself in. _

_Yet his heart was still racing. . .just what the hell had he witnessed?_

_Did it really happened, or did he black out for a moment and vividly imagine the whole confrontation?_

_Puppet's full attention was immediately caught by Henry, who had just rearranged all the shelves with various plushies of the Originals. He and everyone else were completely unaware of what had just transpired._

_However, Vincent still felt lost in the moment, as his body worked on autopilot, reaching into his toolbox for the correct tools as he instinctively repaired the loose wire. Meanwhile his mind was vividly recalling that strange confrontation, trying to make sense of everything but failing to accept the deep implications of what he had just experienced._

_Yet, what if it was possible for someone to come back from beyond the dead, especially if they believed themselves to have 'unfinished business'?  
It was the only working theory that he had and its mere existence terrified him to his core. Even if one of his victims was possessing Puppet and couldn't stop him in any serious capability, it still scared him greatly._

_It was unpredictable and he hated that._

_However, at the same time, how was such a thing even possible?_

_Once he had fixed the loose wire, he instinctively pressed the play button on the mechanism and playful music began to sound._

_From that moment onwards the rest of his day became a blur, events merging into eachother to form an unrecognisable mass of memory that he couldn't unscramble. _ _No matter how hard he tried to concentrate on the world around him, his mind wouldn't let the matter rest and whenever he looked at Puppet, a chill ran up his spine whenever her eyes found his, glaring at him intensely and seeming to be monitoring his every move if she could._

_He knew and she knew that they were fully aware of eachother now and that she had frightened him significantly._

_The more she looked at him, the stronger the chill felt for he feared and suspected that something else, something far more emotionally driven, animalistic and vengeful lurked behind her eyes, watching him too. . ._

_Something or someone who refused to move on from the pain and agony that he had inflicted on them. _ _Yet, that incident at Puppet's music box never left him and he would do well to remember that dreadful sensation. For it served to remind him that for all his abilities and successes in this murderous destructive game that he had chosen to play, he wasn't all powerful and would need to watch over his shoulder for the unexpected._

_The very idea, that something sinister with an unknown face was watching him, seeking the right moment to strike maintained that fear which he could still feel after all those years._

_And yet, it had helped him to stay alive, enabling him to keep on coming back and to maintain control of the game. . ._

* * *

Vincent exhaled, releasing all his inner tension into the surrounding air as he delicately held the makeshift helmet in his hands, as if it was a personal item that he couldn't be parted with.

"I had underestimated her, I'm honest enough to admit that to myself," he whispered softly, yet his voice carried an undertone of frustration.

"Her possession threw me off guard for a while and it took me even longer to fully comprehend what was really happening to her and the others."

Then a small smile appeared on his lips as he spoke calmly.

"Yet, equally, she had underestimated how crafty I was, what I was willing to do achieve my ends, even though it came with great risk; particularly given the unpredictability of the situation in general and most of all what she and her _'companion'_ might do in the resulting chaos."

He gently placed the makeshift helmet on the table.

"Even though I won that round, the feeling of cold dread, the haunting sensation that when I looked into her eyes I was stumbling into something much deeper and darker than I could ever imagine."

He chuckled to himself, smiling even more as he realised something.

"It felt like I was falling into a pit, that I was no longer in full control and events could potentially overwhelm and consume me utterly for this road had no end."

Then his green eyes narrowed, and he stopped laughing, becoming serious.

"Well. . .I see the end now, it's just a matter of craving a path towards it."

He turned away from the helmet with his eyes now searching for something.

And then he found it. . .

"You would understand, wouldn't you?" he asked thoughtfully, staring at the collection of three soft objects and the wooden music box.

"You would know what it is like to have little to no control over events, as you find yourself dangling from a puppet string?"

He then reached out and placed his hand on one of the soft objects, feeling its fluffy surface tickle his skin.

"I know how it feels to be helpless, even though our respective situations differed greatly."

Memories of such times flickered vividly in his mind's eye, each one had him closer to death than the last, but he had wilfully put himself there so he could win. Then Vincent's tone changed to one of firmness, even though he continued to lightly stroke the object in a gentle and almost affectionate manner.

"However, coming to know that my past victims had returned filled me with curiosity, a deep desire to know more and an awareness of what could possibly exist beyond death."

He wanted to know, to understand just how the murdered children had come to inhabit the physical plane. It sounded irrational beyond belief to anyone else as well as quite dangerous, but it was intriguing nonetheless.

"Even though I understood that my freedom of action was curtailed, given that the Fazbears would eventually become aware of me and the unpredictability of what could follow; it was fascinating to see what they have become, innocents turned into feral beasts."

His eyes narrowed even more as his inner thoughts tossed and turned.

"However, I don't think that I can be fully blamed for what they turned into, at the end of the day, one has to take responsibility for their actions, I certainly take full responsibility for mine."

"Although. . ."

He then removed his hand from the soft object, breaking off his physical connection to his past.

"I will decide when my own judgement is due and in doing so, everyone else's as well."

His determination to dictate the game was strong and he would it seen through to the bitter end.

"In the end, it is only fitting, that everything should end together."

He smiled as his eyes glanced over to the SpringBonnie helmet that sat on top of the box at the far side of the desk. It gazed back at him with its lifeless green eyes.

"In the end, only a few things can or will last forever, isn't that right Springy?" Vincent asked humorously. The head of the SpringBonnie animatronic said nothing, continuing to look vacantly back at him. . .utterly lifeless, despite seeming so real.

Vincent chuckled to himself, momentarily breaking his mind's focus on his memories, before the subject reasserted itself to become centre stage in his mind again.

"Anyway," he said nonchalantly, turning his gaze back towards the three objects and the wooden music box.

"Even though trying to understand the supernatural and this new unpredictability that I now faced brought certain risks, it was too fascinating to ignore."

"Plus. . ."

"Puppet and her new _'friend'_ had given me an awful good scare and I felt concerned that the children could begin to assert their dominance and try to find me."

He felt his hands slowly morph into fists as his anger slowly materialized inside him, along with a sense of fear.

"I got the sense that I was in danger of becoming trapped, that my luck would eventually run out and my skills for all that they were worth would fail me, should I ever return to that God forsaken pizzeria."

"If I went back inside that building after everyone had moved back from Hurricane, then I would be making a death wish."

He sighed, once again releasing his inner tension into the air.

"My lone wolf act couldn't continue anymore without being noticed by Puppet and the others and yet I had to keep on hurting them, but what could I do when all eleven were arrayed against me?"

He already knew the answer to his question and he was just talking aloud; yet what could he do but cast his mind back over old memories until the endoskeletons arrived to confirm to him that the _'required assets' _had been collected.

"I felt cornered, even though I was beyond their reach. . .for the moment, so I tried to understand the laws of the supernatural, but I could only get so far and then. . ."

A spark of excitement filled his eyes, feeling a rush of enjoyment sweep through his body, as he spoke with delight.

"Help came from an unexpected quarter, out of the dark, I had my reservations, strong ones even, but I had no choice if I wanted to finish what I had already started."

His hands relaxed, ceasing to be fists, hanging by his side as he smiled. His mind began to replay those strange days that would ever stand out in his memories, despite everything else that he had witnessed when regarding Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.

"I felt as though I was stepping into a much bigger world, feeling my way through the darkness despite being led and in the end what I came to encounter was far beyond my wildest dreams and nightmares. . ."

* * *

_Greenfield Indiana late November 1987. . . _

_The air was still and quiet as the night rolled ever onwards; while amidst the inner confines of the house nothing moved, being covered in a smoothing blanket of darkness. _

_Everything was stationary, the lights were off, the rooms were empty, and the doors were either closed. _ _It was like the entire house lacked any life as no sound echoed through the air as silence reigned supreme. _ _The entire atmosphere was almost relaxing, in a way, minus the sensation that the surrounding darkness was suffocating everything around it._

_Then, there came a faint sound. . .from below._

_Slowly, much like approaching thunderclouds, the sound grew in strength, moving upwards and breaking the silence that had reigned over the seemingly desolate house._

_It sounded like gears shifting, with a soft humming noise, sort of like the sound that a fan makes when its blades were spinning. _ _At the far end of one of the house's hallways, a tall bookcase began to shudder as the sound got closer to the surface._

_Soon it started to tremble as did surrounding objects and furniture, as the source of the sound neared its destination. The mixture of sounds, the humming of a fan and the shifting gears all combined to generate a rumble that echoed throughout the house, more than enough to annoy anyone living here. Yet, there was only one person living here and they didn't mind the noise at all._

_Then the sounds stopped abruptly, ceasing to exist and faded into nothingness._

_For a moment there was nothing. . .just silence._

_Suddenly, the bookcase shifted over to one side as if it was on a roller. In doing so, it revealed behind it a sizeable double door. Slowly, the doors opened under their own power and from the emerging gap there came light, brightening up the immediate area as a male figure now appeared in the open doorway. _

_Vincent Afton sighed as he fully stepped out of the elevator's doors, hearing it close shut behind him. The bookcase began to slide back into its original position, completely covering up the entrance to his workshop basement._

_There was a secret combination that he used through the bookcase to unlock the entrance; a security feature he had created in case anyone dared to break into his house._

_Not that they would ever get out though if they ventured far enough inside. . ._

_He made dead sure of that possibility being nonexistence. _ _He slowly walked forward, bringing his torch out and turning it on, enabling him to see. He wasn't bothered with turning the lights on, especially in the small hours of the morning. Besides, he liked the darkness, it made him feel at home somehow, like it was embracing him._

_He knew where his bedroom was, bypassing the door to the bathroom as he walked onwards with the light from his torch craving a path through the dark._

_He loved being back in a familiar place, so he could be with 'them' again._

_He needed their comfort, if it was just through being physically close to them._

_They're still here. . .in some way._

_He moved through empty hallways, silently glancing at the various memorabilia of his old life, yet he didn't desire to remiss in what had once been. At least not to the point where he would feel his emotions threaten to overwhelm him in unending sorrow._

_At times, he felt that he was just holding on._

_However, he continued to move forward, heading down the hallway towards his bedroom, allowing himself to become lost in his thoughts. _ _His creations have done well today, those new improvements he had added to them had worked like a charm and had helped to make them seem more realistic than before._

_It was more than enough to take his whole breath away and he loved every second of watching their performance. _ _He wished that he could stay in that moment forever, to suppress his pain and to null his fears about what awaited him at the end._

_He tried not to think about it too much, for he was aware of where he would be going when this was all over. _ _Yet, he was doing it all for a good cause, his intentions were well meant, understandable even from a certain perspective, although his executions of said intentions were monstrous to say the least._

_However, he knew that he was past the point of caring about what anyone else thought of what he was doing or had done._

_Secrets are best kept to one person and no one else, less that other person was very loyal to hold such secrets. Yet, Vincent had no one to share them with, nor did he particularly wish to find someone with whom he could share. _ _Besides, he only let Puppet live because despite the scare that she had given him, he wanted her to feel the shame of her failure to save those children as a form of payback. In addition, he had done well enough already to hide any incriminating evidence that would lead back to him._

_He wasn't perfect, but he did know what he was doing and was very much aware of the conquences of failure. _

_He walked forward, everything felt still as things should be in this house, especially in the early hours of the morning, but did the air feel a bit cold. . .had he turned the heater off somehow?_

_As he approached the kitchen, coming into the lounge first as he made his way over, that feeling of coldness grew steadily in the surrounding air. There were things in the lounge which he would have found the time to gaze over, but right now, his interest lay elsewhere, fuelling his curiosity. _

_Vincent felt confused, had a pipe burst releasing cold air into the near vicinity?_

_He certainly wouldn't have heard it down underground, given the distance and noise that he was able to generate, but he was relieved to find that it wasn't a gas pipe as he couldn't smell anything odd. Soon, he reached the doorway that lead into the kitchen, but he discovered that the cold air had grown in strength and was producing quite a chill as it hit his body in waves. While this new event was concerning, Vincent was pleased to know that it wasn't a water pipe that had unexpected burst as there was no sound of running water._

_In fact, there was no sound at all, the kitchen was silent and yet the air remained undeniably cold. _ _Seeking out the source of the problem, Vincent slowly shone his torchlight across the room, from one end to the next. _ _He would find it, he was sure, as his eyes thoroughly searched for any potential giveaway to the problem's source. _ _The heating was indeed on in the house, he could tell as he made way over here and yet the kitchen was ice cold. _ _Things didn't add up, especially as none of the surrounding walls suggested a burst pipeline._

_He shone the torch light over various cupboards, the oven, the cooker, microwave and many other kitchen appliances. _

_The light passed over the kitchen table, a few chairs and then onto the fridge and the free-_

_Wait, what was that?  
Quickly, having registered that his eyes had indeed noticed something, Vincent turned the torchlight back across the kitchen table._

_There. . .the thing on the table, sitting upright and staring vacantly back at him._

_Immediately Vincent's eyes went wide, not with fear, but with recognition._

_His mouth opened, but no words came out, it was like some unseen force had its hand clamped his voice box, forbidding him to speak. _

_His hands were trembling, he felt fear and confusion rush through his body, overwhelming him as his mind protested at what he was seeing, as well as the implications of what it meant. _

_Instantly and without thinking, caring not for anything else, not even the cold air. Vincent marched forward, grabbed the object firmly and turned about, leaving the kitchen and heading back the way he had come._

_Yet, this time he had a different destination in mind._

_He felt anger, amidst his confusion and panic, what he had seen was impossible._

_That object should only exist in one room in this house, it shouldn't be anywhere else._

_It had to be an illusion of sorts, after all his sleep pattern had become dysfunctional since he had returned from Hurricane in Utah; as there was little to do anymore, with his main interest having encountered 'problems' that prevented him from advancing it any further. _ _His feet pounded the carpet as he walked towards his target, not wanting to waste any time. He was now following a series of doors along the left wall of the only other corridor in his house, not too far from his own bedroom in fact._

_He soon found his intended room, grabbed hold of the doorknob and pushed it wide open._

_He quickly stepped inside, casting his torchlight across the room, intending to find something._

_The light from the torch drifted over various objects and items, none of which were suited to him, but he was looking for a specific area. He turned the torchlight in another direction towards the room's far wall and there he found the spot._

_The others were still there, all lined up alongside eachother, all bar one._

_There was a noticeable empty space between those objects, a space that was meant to be filled by the very object that Vincent now held in his hands._

_And yet, it was always meant to be here, never to be moved._

_How could have it got from here to the kitchen?_

_Because there no way in which it would have moved on its own and therefore that only left one explanation._

_Someone had moved it. . ._

_The cold air that previously had felt faint given the distance from its source, now felt as strong as it did when Vincent was in the kitchen._

_It was like it had followed him, or it was now starting to spread throughout the house?_

_Yet, he was certain that he didn't see any sign of a burst pipe, so what was happening exactly?_

_His mind could be playing a trick on him, sleep deprivation could be having an effect. Yet, he was physically holding an object that had always been placed in this room and never anywhere else._

_Who had moved it and why?_

_Before he could ask himself another question, a thought burst into his mind._

_The house alarm, why hadn't it gone off, someone must have broken in!_

_Quickly deciding to investigate the matter, Vincent immediately left the room and headed out into the corridor, moving towards the front door where the house alarm was based, using the torch to light his way. _ _Soon he arrived, to find that the alarm was still active, evident by the bright green light that shone from its control panel._

_He had it contacted to his workshop basement, so he knew when it went off and thereby warn him of the house being broken into whilst he was down there. _ _However, looking directly at it, he could see that the house alarm hadn't suffered from any fault and was working as intended._

_What was going on?_

_How could someone break in and not set off the alarm, unless they were highly skilled at bypassing such devices and slipping in unseen. However, so far nothing seemed to have been taken from the house. _ _Although Vincent hadn't searched his own bedroom yet, where he kept some items that would be of interest for thieves. The rest were kept deep unground. . .safe from prying eyes._

_Amidst it all, Vincent could still sense that cold air, its presence was heavy, and it was all around him._

_It felt unnatural, like it was deliberately following him and that only further fuelled his fears. _ _As he collected himself, his mind returned to the questions that he had pondered when he was back in the other room. _ _The way that the object had been positioned when he found it in the kitchen, sitting upright and staring back at him, it felt strange._

_Like it had been deliberately placed in that position, rather than simply left lying down on the table._

_Almost as if in some way, it was waiting to be found. . .by him specifically._

_He alone of all people, would know what that moment meant, finding such an object that he highly valued in a place where it wasn't supposed to be. _ _Vincent felt confused above anything else right now, as he looked around about him, trying to find the source of his problem, but failing to see anything of note. Was someone toying with him, but whoever picked that specific object, must have known what it meant to him and therefore know him to a significant degree. _

_A fear loosen itself upon his mind like a massive downpour from a thunderstorm._

_What if the Fazbears in their deranged state had somehow managed to track him down? _

_In addition, what if they had left the pizzeria and broke into his house, aiming to seek vengeance against him for the crimes that he had committed and the immense pain that he unleashed on them?_

_Was it possible, how would they know where he lived?_

_The fear of such a possibility being real grew, because Vincent couldn't deny it as he had nothing else to go on. In his current confused and panicked driven state of mind he couldn't think logically._

_CRASH!_

_Suddenly, a loud noise of something falling over was heard from somewhere in the house, towards the kitchen. Instantly, Vincent spun round in its direction, but he saw nothing from where he was stood by the front door._

_Yet, it was clear. . .someone was here._

_At first, he wanted to rush on over and find the intruder, to then swiftly put an end to them before they could escape, yet logic was able to prevail over emotion in this instance. _ _The intruder or intruders, if there was more than one would most likely be armed with guns, making Vincent' knife next to useless._

_He needed his gun for this kind of situation, and he knew where it was, his bedroom was nearby and in the opposite direction of the sound. _ _Quickly, he made his way over there, entered and proceeded to unlock the safe where he kept an array of personal treasures, among them his pistol. His mind was trying its best not to be overrun by panic._

_"Compared to the shit that I've come to see and believe at Freddy's, this is child's play," he muttered bitterly to himself, in truth he had been through a lot worse than this. He smiled with dark delight as he brought his pistol out of the safe, feeling a sense of security rush through him as he gripped its handle, supressing his fear._

_"Now, let's see who you really are," he whispered sternly, with only one thought in mind._

_He then swiftly left his bedroom, having stuffed the object into his trouser pocket, so he could carry both the torch and the pistol. _ _Now, he retraced his route to the kitchen, so far there haven't been any new sound, just a tense silence that drifted through the cold air, sending goose bumps up Vincent's skin._

_Yet Vincent kept his focus, continuing to make his way into the lounge, seeing the doorway to the kitchen ahead of him._

_He gritted his teeth, he was ready for a confrontation, even to risk death, which he had already done so before._

_Yet now he felt that a lot was at stake, himself, his plans and most of all, his 'creations', he needed to defend 'them'. _ _He promised that he would keep them safe from harm, wherever it came from and in whatever form it took._

_The cold air was all around him; no longer did it seem to originate from the kitchen which previously had been the coldest room in the house. _ _Vincent leaned against the nearby wall, having turned off the torch once he neared the doorway._

_Then, he listened, waiting in the darkness, amidst the deadly silence for a sound._

_"Make a sound, make a mistake, I dare you!" he mentally cursed, hoping for the intruder to slip up and reveal themselves._

_Yet no sound came, only silence and for a while it begin to feel to Vincent as though all of this had been imagined by his sleep deprived mind; a lot of things that go bump in the house were often the house's internal pipes. _ _It may have been a few minutes, but to Vincent felt that though he had been waiting for half an hour and he began to get bored, wondering if he should just burst into the room and shine the torchlight everywhere at once until he found something worth using for target practice. . ._

_Creak!_

_Vincent didn't waste any time as he dashed in, shining the torch everywhere, prepared to fire blindly until he hit someone or something. _ _In the end, he could claim self-defence, after all someone had unlawfully entered his home, so he was covered from any murder charges. _ _Yet, he found nothing, no one was here, no matter how many times he shone the light around._

_Everything was in its place as before, nothing had been touched, Vincent stepped further into the seemingly desolate kitchen for a closer inspection._

_Well. . .as it turns out, not everything was in its proper place, for the changes were subtle, so small that they could it easily be missed with a glance._

_One of the kitchen table's chairs had been moved slightly, into a position that gave off the impression that someone may have been sitting in it and nearby on the floor were the remains of a smashed plate, with its broken pieces spread out apart from eachother._

_So that was the source of the crash, and to think it could make such a loud sound._

_Then again, nothing else was making any noise, so it had no competition in being heard._

_In addition, the table itself wasn't empty, for there was a note on it, handwritten by the looks of it. _ _Seeing no danger to be present, Vincent slowly moved over towards the table, eager to examine the note's contents. _ _He gave a passing glance to the chair as he set the torch down on the table, before reaching out and taking hold of the note with his free hand._

_Slowly, his eyes wandered down the page, as he began to take in its words._

_Suddenly, he found himself in the exact same mood that he had been in when he discovered the object._

_Confusion, then recognition and finally fear._

_The note was in fact a letter personally addressed to him; his hand trembled as he held it._

_His eyes went wide with shock as he continued to read._

_Certain parts stuck out in his mind, whilst with other sections he was too stunned to remember, but the letter contained many references to things that only he would know. _ _His planning leading up to both the first and second missing children's' incidents, information which he would never dared have shared with anyone._

_Even the knives that he had used, being ones that he had brought from home and then discarded afterwards were described in good detail, but who else would know such things about him?_

_His heart skipped several beats when he read one part that contained a vivid description of him killing the children, perfectly recreating the scene in his mind. Yet, it wasn't like someone had been present alongside him when he was carrying out the murders. It had just been him and the children in those backrooms._

_Nor, had anyone been present with him down in his workshop basement, when he was coming up with the means to carry out his killings._

_There was no way that Puppet would know such things, despite knowing him to be the man responsible for everything. Unless, she had been able to figure everything out and it is possible that the vengeful spirit of the child that resided inside of her had told Puppet what they had experienced in their final moments. However, even if that was true, it still didn't explain how she discovered his home, let alone get inside without setting off the house alarm, if she was indeed the one behind this._

_Plus, wouldn't the other Fazbears be here as well, stalking the house, trying to find him, groaning and moaning in their possessed state as they walked around?_

_No one else was here, but him. . .and his unwanted guest._

_It was unrealistic that Puppet, despite her desire to get revenge for those whom he had harmed would come alone to confront him._

_Yet, his feelings of confusion, profound shock and panic threatened to overwhelm him._

_"What the hell is this?" he whispered aloud, his tone was shaky, and it betrayed his fear._

_"How in God's name could anyone else know about this?"_

_He forcefully collected himself, preventing any emotional outburst and tried to figure things out rationally, as he began to read the letter again, slowly this time._

_It started out with:_

_"We are aware, of what you did Vincent Afton, we know of your direct involvement in the sadistic murder of children at Freddy Fazbear establishments, as well as your strong desire to inflict even more harm onto the Fazbear family that resides within."_

_"In truth, we know everything that you've done since June 1983, we've watched and listened for so long."_

_"The use of the SpringBonnie suit, hiding as a wolf in sheep's clothing, luring the children away to their deaths on the promise of enteral fun and happiness."_

_"Repeating the act again only a few days ago, with even greater results and despite the risks involved, your dedication whilst of great concern for others, is deeply admired by us."_

_Who wrote this letter and why, had he somehow earned the attention of a death cult and this was their offer of membership?_

_Granted, such groups did exist, but Vincent had absolutely no intention of joining them._

_The letter continued._

_"We know that what you are reading must both confuse and terrify you, to know that someone else is aware of your crimes, your fear must be overwhelming." _

_That was an understatement given what Vincent was feeling right now, as his sense of being insecure and fully exposed filled his whole being, threatening to physically burst out and manifest itself, if it were possible._

_"And to show that we are serious, that we truly know you mister Afton, does this explain your motive well enough?"_

_What Vincent read next left him feeling truly terrified and he could feel all the colour drain away from his face._

_How could anyone know about. . .'that'. . .he had only ever spoken of his motive to himself a few times, when he was completely alone._

_Well, when he 'thought' he was alone. . ._

_It was described it in immense detail, in clear black and white, staring back at him like the naked light of day. _ _Vincent physically trembled, he was truly scarred and suddenly he felt as though the grim reaper himself was now upon him, ready to deliver him gift wrapped to hell. _ _His life collapsed before him, now that someone knew about his crimes and importantly why he had committed them to the great lengths that he did. _

_Worse still, he had the strong impression that whoever had written this letter to him had the means to either expose him utterly, or to deliver serious harm, especially when considering that they had somehow got inside his house without making a scene. _ _The fact that he was staring into the unknown as it toyed with him, only further confounded his horror._

_Even more so, as he no idea as to who would know such details and know him on such a personal level and equally as well, why they would contact him in this manner. _ _A seemingly endless horde of questions assaulted his mind, all begging to be answered, but he lacked the ability to even attempt a response. _ _He felt empty and utterly alone in this moment, staring at the letter with a shell-shocked expression that embodied his feeling of complete helplessness._

_All this time, Vincent had imagined himself to be the puppet master and now it was as if someone had just suddenly grabbed hold of the strings and usurped his role, leaving him powerless and at their mercy._

_Perhaps that is how Puppet felt, well, now he knew what it was like to be playing second fiddle to someone else._

_He continued to read._

_"We know that you enjoyed every second of your 'work', watching the light fade away from their eyes as they emotionally drowned in never ending fear. . .you wanted to be the last thing that they saw."_

_"You loved being the one in charge of life and death, reclaiming what you perceived to have lost, it became addictive. . .didn't it?"_

_Vincent couldn't or nor would he deny it, he loved it, every moment and as far as he was concerned it was completely justified._

_There was no coming back from it, so he might as well go all the way and enjoy himself in the chaos that he was purposefully creating._

_"Yet, it seems that your enemies have become fully aware as to the identity of the one responsible for all of their pain. . .you, and now you face a dead end, for they will try to find you and you know what will happen if they catch you, for your luck has almost run out."_

_"However, our goals and yours, just so happen to align in this instance, for we too yearn to bring down the Fazbears to strip them of everything they hold onto, before finally delivering them into the depths of hell that await to swallow them whole. . ."_

_"If you accept our offer of help, then together, we can both be satisfied, for an enemy of my enemy is my friend. . ."_

_Despite the terror that he was feeling, Vincent couldn't help but smirk upon reading that last line, he could sense a great deal of arrogance from those who had written this letter, even if their offer of help was genuine. Yet the letter's contents only revealed more questions._

_Who else existed that could hate the Fazbears as much as he did and more importantly why?_

_Yet, it was true that an enemy of his enemy was a potential friend, although Vincent knew absolutely nothing about this stranger that offered to help him. _ _He wanted to know who this 'other' was, although he hadn't got the faintest idea on where to start looking. _ _Suddenly, his body underwent a weird sensation, like a chill was running up his spine and he felt that he wasn't alone anymore._

_Almost like someone was watching him over his shoulder. . ._

_Quickly dropping the letter onto the table and grabbing the torch, Vincent spun round to face this new threat._

_His wide eyes met nothing. . .just an empty doorway leading into the lounge._

_Yet, his instincts told him otherwise, urging to him investigate and find the source of this feeling. _ _In an instant, all his questions and feelings of confusion and dread had faded away to be replaced by pure adrenaline. _ _He was alert and ready for a fight, although he had only temporally suppressed his feeling of being caught in a deadly dilemma because of the evolving situation._

_Slowly, he reached back behind him and took hold of the letter again, but this time he stuffed it into his other trouser pocket. He then stepped forward, walking through the doorway and out into lounge, sweeping his torchlight across the room to find his eavesdropper. _ _Vincent could be patient if he wanted to, but he had been running around on his feet, trying to find some unseen intruder; that at times felt so near and yet was seemingly always out of reach._

_He was done playing games._

_"I know that you're here, somewhere," he said sternly, expressing his inner frustration, whilst simultaneously hiding his fear._

_"If you want my attention, then congratulations you have earned it."_

_His eyes were peeled for any indication of movement as he shone the torchlight everywhere at once. _

_"Although, how you got inside without alerting me to your presence still baffles me," he muttered softly, now sounding almost casual, but his annoyance with the lack of a response soon returned to the fore._

_"You seem to know a lot about me, you got my attention in a way that would be impossible for me to ignore and still you continue to hide," he remarked in confident tone, yet he felt irritated beyond belief._

_"The letter on the kitchen table, you want to discuss events relating to Freddy Fazbear's don't you?"_

_Then he let his annoyance fully express itself in his voice._

_"Why not come out and talk to me face to face, if you are so willing to come into my home and go to such lengths as to have me chase you about the place, just to get my attention."_

_"You got this far, why not try to go a little further, you offered to help me, although how you came to know such things in the way that you described them I would very much like to know."_

_He spun round on the spot, shining the torchlight everywhere in the fading hope of noticing something._

_"Fine, I'll hear you out on your offer, let's talk. . ."_

_If he got no response, then he didn't know what he might do._

_In his desperation for answers, he brought out the letter and picked up on where he left off, although it turned out that he had reached the letter's end._

_"You undoubtedly have many questions, concerning how we know and why we are even offering to help you, such questions will be answered rest assured, but we'll contact you again, if you accept our offer now."_

_"If you don't, then you'll have chosen a short path to the grave at the hands of those children whose lives you've ruined."_

_"Choose wisely. . ."_

_Vincent sighed, he couldn't deny what the letter said, he was almost out of options and he couldn't attempt to return to the pizzeria without being exposed. The Fazbears knew about him and what he was capable of; his usual tricks probably wouldn't work anymore, whilst the risks would have increased immensely. _ _He couldn't beat those odds, unless he did indeed wish for an early demise._

_Yet, help it seems was at hand, from the last place he would expect. . .the unknown._

_He put the letter back into his trouser pocket, he would look at it again later._

_Then he saw it. . ._

_He physically froze in mid motion, finding himself staring forward into the darkness that lay just beyond the doorway that lead from the lounge into the main hall._

_Someone or something had indeed been watching him. _ _Unless, this was a complete fabrication created by his sleep deprived mind, yet his instincts told him otherwise, even though a part of him questioned what he was seeing. _ _There was the faint outline of a figure in the darkness, staring back at him in utmost silence._

_He couldn't fully make them out, catching vague flickers of an appearance of sorts, but he couldn't tell who or what they were. _ _He struggled to speak, now that he had the opportunity to get some answers, he felt the familiar sensation of his voice box being crushed, silencing his ability to speak. _ _He felt lost as he stared at the figure with them gazing back at him. __It was far too dark to make them out, but Vincent was beyond no doubt that they were the one responsible for moving things about the house and sending him on a wild goose chase. _ _Their face was completely hidden, but their eyes. . .those cold eyes that glowed from the confines of the shadows seem to cut right through him._

_Vincent felt terrified, finding himself to be frozen on the spot._

_Those ominous eyes made him feel as though he had been put under an intense fiery gaze and yet equally it seemed to pierce his soul like an ice dagger through the heart if it were possible._

_Then Vincent noticed something new, a flickering._

_Out of the corner of his eyes he saw that the light from his torch was now flickering, dying, then reappearing in quick flashes._

_"This thing has near full battery in it, why is it acting up now?" he mentally asked, although he probably knew the answer._

_What was happening right now wasn't normal._

_Everything that had happened since he returned from his workshop basement wasn't normal and he got the foreboding feeling that the figure which stood in the doorway glaring back at him wasn't normal either._

_And yet his torch continued to flicker, only now it seemed to stay dead for longer each time it died before reviving itself._

_Finally, Vincent's frustration, his burning desire for answers and his fear of what was going on at last overcame his patience and he found the inner strength to speak his mind, loosening that unseen chain around his throat._

_"Who are you?" he demanded impatiently._

_The figure gave him no reply._

_"What you do you want?"_

_Again, only silence came._

_"Why are you doing this to me?"_

_Still nothing._

_"Your letter said that you offered to help me, well, I am genuinely curious and inclined to accept, despite my strong reservations."_

_He had his doubts, many in fact, but his desire for answers was so strong that it steamrolled any internal objections to accepting their offer._

_Yet, Vincent only received more silence amidst the darkness._

_"How will you contact me, I don't even know how you came to know me," he stated as his frustration morphed into anger. _ _He had every right to demand answers for being toyed with in such a manner. The more calmer and observant side of his personality did note that this was probably how Puppet and the other Fazbears felt, reacting to events dictated to them by a shadowy puppet master, as they felt their way in the dark, desperate to find answers of their own._

_Yet, in his anger, he ignored such observations and remained focused on the matter at hand._

_"We've been living in the shadows," the figure finally said, their tone was cold, stern and demonic, yet they spoke softly, almost in whisper._

_Although Vincent had deeply desired a response, the stranger's voice caught him off guard, nearly making him jump out of his skin._

_"We know you, mister Afton, our end goals are the same, but we'll speak again very soon on matters further."_

_Yet Vincent insisted on getting an answer of sorts._

_"What is your reason for wanting to go against the Fazbears, what have they done to you exactly?" he asked, sounding both annoyed and tired._

_"It is not what they've done, but rather what they can give us through their deaths," the figure replied, again their tone was both soft and stern, yet it came across as casual in a way._

_"What do you mean through their deaths, you know my motivation, what is yours, why do you want to help me, I am entitled to ask?" Vincent enquired, his patience was at breaking point, he just wanted a straight answer. _ _For a while the figure said nothing, seeming to be thinking Vincent's words over and an uneasy silence developed, amidst the flickering light from Vincent's torch._

_Then. . .finally it came._

_"Enough has been said for now, the rest shall be revealed later. . ."_

_The figure seemed to be moving backwards, further into the darkness and in doing so, Vincent felt his anger be known._

_"No, you don't just get to leave without giving me any answers, cut the bullshit and tell me what is going on!" he yelled, clearly enraged._

_Yet the vanishing figure only replied with._

_"Shhhhhhh. . ."_

_Vincent somehow regained control of his limbs and forced the torch to shine in the figure's direction, hoping to expose them. _ _Yet, when he did so, the torchlight revealed nothing, but an empty hallway, the figure had vanished seemingly into thin air. _ _Now it seemed that the torch was no longer having any issues with functioning properly, compared to its strange performance earlier. _

_At the same time, that feeling of coldness was steadily fading away as the surrounding air began to warm up. _ _Somehow that mysterious figure was responsible for the cold air existing, seeming to appear wherever they were. _ _Yet, Vincent marched forward, his feet stomping the carpet as he walked, shining the torchlight everywhere as he hunted for the haunting eyes of that figure, but to no avail._

_In the end, he found himself standing in the darkness, feeling a wide array of powerful emotions that conflicted with each other in his mind. _ _He was bereft of answers and left with more questions that he couldn't answer himself and trying to comprehend what had just happened within the last twenty minutes. _ _He could feel a tidal wave of exhaustion start to creep up on him as his adrenaline subsided, urging him to sleep._

_After what he had just witnessed, he needed to lay down and think things through clearly._

_Yet one thing stood out to him amidst the chaos._

_Tonight's events had proved to him as it had with his encounters with the Fazbears when they were in their 'demented' state that he was truly in the deep end; left swimming in an ocean filled with potentially bigger predators, despite his achievement in presenting himself as the all controlling puppet master._

_Now, in this singular moment, it really felt as though events were starting to slip out of his grasp and into the hands of someone else. _

_Particularly someone who could be as ruthless and as skilful as him and someone who probably doesn't like having any loose ends. . ._

* * *

Vincent sighed as he leaned back in his chair, allowing those past moments to gradually leave his mind as he recomposed himself.

_"And yet that encounter, for all of its suspension and my own fear was just the tip of the iceberg,"_ he mentally muttered to himself, remembering very well that feeling of dread when he first saw those haunting eyes.

It was in the same sensation as that of when Puppet reared her dark side at him, in her possessed state as the child's spirit within her revealed that they knew who he was and what he had done, as had the figure's letter. Vincent felt completely exposed and not in control, a feeling that he wished above all else to avoid. That was one of the main reasons for why he went underground after 1994, so he could keep control of events and remerge at a more opportunistic time, once the immediate horror of events had faded away in the eyes of the public.

He could afford to wait and bid his time, keeping a close eye on the Fazbears to ensure that he knew where they were, so that when the right moment came, he knew just where to strike.

From the shadows he watched them live out their wretched lives as they sank even deeper into despair, anguish, rage and hatred, both towards the world and themselves. It was interesting to watch them crumble, to fall apart and be unable to put themselves back together as their inner conflict ripped them in two.

Yet, it was to be him, who would deliver the death blow to every one of them in a glorious finale.

He wanted to kill them, and he could have done so quite easily on multiple occasions, but he didn't want to rush things. He wanted to make their demise perfect, it couldn't be easy, or carried out if there were still aspects of themselves that he could destroy first.

They had to have nothing, but their own lives left by the time this game was all but over.

_Like him. . ._

He hated them passionately and yet he couldn't leave them alone. He kept on coming back, back to a familiar place and hurting them with familiar tricks, leaving behind a wound that was left to bleed out and cause more harm as it couldn't be fixed.

Well. . .he knew of a way to heal it, but he wouldn't give his victims any relief until he deemed the time right.

This was all he had left of his life, this game that he relentless pursued.

He had even gone so far to build his own airship to pursue them across the earth, as he had learnt from his technical sources that they intended to leave the pizzeria in a similar manner. Those security cameras at the pizzeria were easy to hack into remotely, enabling him to spy and to listen in on the likes of Freddy, Puppet, Mangle, Goldie and the rest from a safe distance.

Once he found them again, he promised himself that he would never let them go, such was the strength of his devotion towards continuing this blood soaked game that he had started. He would keep them there, he would hold them there, no matter how many times he had to subject himself to emotional torture with the memories of why he was doing all of this in the first place.

At times it felt like the pain and enjoyment of his actions were the only things holding off his desire for eternal sleep.

However, somewhere in the far back reaches of his mind, there existed a tiny part of himself that knew he was largely responsible for making his pain worse and that he couldn't escape from what he had done.

He was aware of his own folly and the current state of his life.

It was like being encased in a spring lock suit, being nothing more than a shell of who he once was and deprived of no other purpose than to roam endless and try to find a way to end his tormented existence through wrecking the lives of those he deemed to hold responsibility for it, big or small.

Someday he would sleep, but not today. . .not until the wound had finally been healed for good. Yet, before that day, he would never let them rest, nor would he ever let them be free of him and he would keep on coming back until the nightmare he had created was finally put to rest.

_Because he always comes back and there is a place for him in this hell that together they had all created for themselves and it couldn't end until all of them were gone. . ._

* * *

(Begin song here if you wish).

_We find ourselves drifting slowly through the dark hallways and empty rooms of Vincent's house, floating in silence as the darkness envelopes us._

_The scene changes to a large room in his workshop basement, where we see electronic equipment, a few control panels and a metallic stage on which four stationary figures stand motionless._

_There is no sound, other than the humming of electronics and blaring static._

_Then we see Vincent himself sitting in a chair before an array of monitors, showing a variety of live feed images of the pizzeria inside at night._

_He stares longingly at them._

"**Forty years since we last faced, I. . .miss the times we spent together."**

_The desire to return and finish the job is very strong._

"**Feeling I need to get back to you."**

_We see the figures on stage begin to move, their eyes glowing in the dark._

"**Stuck in an institution. . ."**

_They begin to speak nonchalantly, almost distinct._

"**All the voices give me company."**

_Then all the possessed Fazbears appear on the monitor screens. _

"**They remind me soon we all will meet. . .again."**

_We see the crowded and enclosed space of Vincent's workshop basement._

"**Can't keep me locked up. . .forever."**

_We see the SpringBonnie suit slumped against the far wall._

"**Forever. . ."**

_We see Vincent's shadow fall across it._

_He grips the Springbonnie's helmet and slowly takes it off._

_Carefully, he lowers the helmet onto his own head._

_We see him in the Springbonnie suit standing outside the pizzeria at night._

"**When the night comes, I'll step closer."**

_He grips his knife tightly._

"**To the place where you reside. . ."**

_He will have the last laugh._

"**Don't choke before I get to you. . ."**

_He unlocks the main entrance and steps inside._

"**I can sense the fear and repulsion."**

_Stalking the dark hallways._

"**In the shadows, I stalk so patiently."**

_Sweet resolution beckons._

"**So close I can almost. . .taste it. . ."**

_He walks into the dining area, finding the Fazbears possessed and wandering about mindlessly._

"**Can't keep me locked up. . .forever."**

_They turn towards him and Vincent smiles, it is almost like a reunion._

"**Forever. . ."**

_He takes the fuel container that he has brought with him and throws it before them, spilling fuel everywhere._

"**Can't keep me locked up. . .forever."**

_They walk towards Vincent, as he takes outs a lighter._

_He tosses it onto the fuel stain, it instantly catches fire and spreads rapidly._

"**Forever. . ."**

_We see Vincent watching from the shadows throughout the years._

"**I live in the darkest places, spaces occupied by no other."**

_Slitting the throats of multiple children._

"**Taking lives over and over, just one right after another."**

_The possessed Fazbears look terrified at the sight of the ravenous flames._

"**The night has arrived. . .for your desolation."**

_The furry of the inferno is reflected sinisterly in Vincent's cold eyes._

"**I am the destroyer of human creation."**

_Vincent holds out his hands as the flames completely envelop everyone, consuming the entire building._

_The Fazbears scream as they burn to death, with Vincent being roasted alive inside the suit and yet he doesn't care._

_He simply smiles in relief as everything goes up in flames, cleansing the horror and purging the memory._

_Everything and everyone can now rest, and the nightmare can finally begin to fade away as every tragedy should._

_End communications. . ._

(Song ends).

* * *

Well, the nightmare wasn't over, because he was still here, thirty years after the nightmare had started.

He was still twisting the knife in and couldn't find a way to stop, although he wanted to keep himself in that moment of passionate bloodlust forever as it distracted him from his own pain.

Yet, even then it could only distract him temporarily, for the desolate state of his life and painful reminders of why he had done all of this.

Deep inside, he knew what he had done was unforgiveable, but he had crossed that line long ago and all he could was continue down this path. Shaping the path's endpoint was his way of giving himself meaning, as well as being why he wanted to maintain the initiative until the very end. Like the puppet master he would keep everyone on their toes until the show curtains finally came down and thoroughly healed this pulsating, infected and deep cut wound that was the state of everyone's reality.

Vincent knew that there was no happy ending for him, but every horrific act he had committed was done with good intentions, there was a just cause behind them.

He reached out and placed his hand on the wooden music box, lightly stroking its smooth surface.

"Evelyn, I know that you will hate me for what I have done, and I will not ask for your forgiveness," he muttered softly, although he felt sorrowful as he spoke.

"I do not deserve it but know that I carried out such acts with the very best of intentions, I hope that you are in a better place and that you are not alone either."

He suppressed his desire to give into his grief, feeling it rise in his throat, but he rejected it.

"If I see you again when this is all over, know that I would have never taken this emotional driven path if there was another way to make things right. . ."

"I'm sorry. . .but there will be more torment before this man-made hell comes to a definitive close."

Knock, knock!

There was a sudden sound at the door, instinctively Vincent withdrew his hand and slumped back into his chair.

"Yes, enter," he called, in his usual nonchalant tone, all traces of emotion had disappeared from his face.

The door was pushed open and two endoskeletons stood in the doorway.

_"Master Vincent, we have arrived at the destination,"_ one of them said in a dry tone.

_"Everything has been collected and we are ready to transport the Nightmares,"_ the other remarked plainly.

Vincent's eyes lit up with excitement, he sprang from his chair, finally it was time.

"How are the endoskeletons with the inbuilt discs acting?" he asked assertively as he marched towards the door.

_"They are ready, the discs have been successfully incorporated into their bodies, no faults have occurred since their last test,"_ one of the endoskeletons replied modestly, as Vincent walked pass them.

"Good," he muttered observantly, finding his eyes immediately fall upon the unconscious sleeping forms of the Nightmares who lay on their beds.

"They should be very useful for what happens next."

The Nightmares had been very impressed by what they saw when he activated the discs in the endoskeletons. How their eyes had gone wide and their mouths hung open when they saw his technical invention in action. Vincent smiled in amusement at the memory, and they had believed that they were among the creepiest monsters into existence.

Yet, his mind pulled him back to the present, he needed to focus.

He knew where the Nightmares had gone and in fairness it didn't matter how they went about their assigned task, only that they were able to carry it out. All that mattered was him being able to do his part and he would have to improvise significantly the moment chaos took hold, so he had only thought so far ahead. Over planning invited dangerous risks and Vincent was aware of the conquences involved from being too ridged.

Yet, he knew that if he successfully pulled this move off then the game would finally begin to move towards its final round. This round would be an exchange of sorts and both he and the Fazbears would get what they wanted from it. The only question worth asking was who would gain the most though?

However, as he turned around and headed back to his room to collect the makeshift helmet, he believed that Freddy and the others wouldn't be able to resist what he had up his sleeve. The endoskeletons immediately proceeded to go and take hold of the Nightmares' unconscious bodies with the help of their brethren.

As Vincent picked the makeshift helmet up off the desk, the words of the mysterious figure appeared in his mind.

_"We've been living in the shadows. . ."_

Vincent smiled thoughtfully for once.

_Maybe it was now time for them to leave the shadows and finally step out into the bright light of day. . ._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we can begin to dive into the past and undercover the hidden elements of this story, I waited so long to get to this particular point since 2017.  
Although I have constantly portrayed Vincent as the puppet master, striking out at will and always leaving the Fazbears on the backfoot, he is not all powerful when the situation isn't under his control.  
The scene with Puppet and the figure shows that when faced with formidable opposition he can only get so far on his own, it's just question of how he thinks things through and uses his skills. . .although you cannot control everything and reality often has a way of hitting back at you hard later on.  
Please review, your thoughts are greatly appreciated.


	49. Vengeful Spirits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here's chapter 49.  
This one had undergone multiple rewrites as I was struggling to balance out plot and character and I didnt wish to get bogged down in pointless repetition.  
Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I've missed and do enjoy. :-)
> 
> Also thank you to those who have left Kudos so far.

**Chapter** ** 49.**

**Vengeful Spirits.**

** _"Looks like something bad happened."_ **

**Circus Baby from Ultimate Custom Night.**

Springtrap lead the way forward through the pitch blackness, keeping himself close to the wall as he kept a tight grip on both Cassidy and Charlie's hands, who in turn had hold of Sammy's hand and so on and so on, keeping the group of children together.

It was the only way in which they could stay together and not get lost as neither of them had a light of any kind on them.

Springtrap had to rely heavily on his senses of hearing and touch to understand where he was. It was like he was blind and lost in a maze where everything had the same layout. So far, he and the children had encountered nothing, but that only made Springtrap even more worried, the children did say that this place was evil, cold and uninviting.

He did not know Limbo like they did, and the only reason he was in here was on the belief that he could find answers to questions which he didn't possess. That framed picture still haunted his mind, stirring up endless questions, why was he in that picture, why couldn't he remember anything regarding a Fredbear and Friends?

_"Springtrap…Springtrap?"_ a voice called; the sensation of his arm being tugged on brought him out of his thoughts.

_"Springtrap?"_ Cassidy asked for the third time, she sounded calm, if a little timid.

"Yes," he whispered, keeping his voice low, although he didn't look back at her.

_"Do you know who the child in the picture was?"_ she asked curiously.

Springtrap shock his head.

"No, I've never seen him before, best guess he once lived in this house, but why is it here of all places I don't know."

_"There are so many doors, but the house didn't look that big on the outside,"_ Gabriel remarked, running his hand along the faded wallpaper.

"You guys said it yourself, we are not in reality here, this house is bigger on the inside," Springtrap replied as he pushed onwards, keeping a good hold of both Cassidy's and Charlie's hand. It was to ensure their safety; it was also a way for him to keep himself calm. Yet like Gabriel said, there were numerous doors which lined the corridor, often one of the children would encounter a brass doorknob and wonder if they should open it and satisfy their curiosity.

However, Springtrap's words on them to stay close and their own experiences on wandering off had reminded them to remain cautious. Even though Springtrap himself was naturally inclined to investigate each room to find out if there was anything of interest inside.

"I would like look behind these doors, but none of us can see in the dark," he muttered under his breath.

If there was something nasty in here, then he wouldn't want to find it accidently.

Besides, it would be a waste of time if he couldn't see anything anyway and yet, he had to search for something that explained his reason for being at Fredbear and Friends, it was driving his curiosity.

The fact that Goldie of all people had not told him about that place left Springtrap feeling very confused. Granted he knew why Goldie or Fredbear to use his proper name kept elements of their past hidden from him out of shame. Yet, the establishment felt out of place with Springtrap's own personal history, for his last real memory was witnessing the chaos and panic that his breakdown in Fredbear's Family Diner had created before he was forcibly induced into a 'medical coma' and suffered an never ending series of nightmares reliving that infamous day in 1978.

When the first child. . .Charlie met their end at Vincent Afton's hands and Springtrap saw it take place.

Next thing he knew he was waking up on an airship thirty seven years later in the amidst of a titanic battle between the Fazbears and Vincent with his army of endoskeletons. He had no memory of anything to do with Fredbear and Friends. However, he was there somehow on stage alongside Fredbear and for some unknown Fredbear aka Goldie never told him anything about it since the moment he returned to the waking world.

_"Therefore, that can only leave one answer on why I was never told about it and like always it seems there is a dark secret to that particular place,"_ Springtrap mentally remarked to himself.

_"Something bad must have happened, or it simply fell apart and given what I know already about the past of Goldie and the others, it is always due to something tragic and horrific having taken place."_

He then found himself feeling a sense of irony by the reoccurring pattern of events.

_"I am starting to notice a theme in these locations, everything starts happy and bright, only to then be soured by shadowy deeds that causes them to be closed for good."_

In the end, Springtrap couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like to witness such events being played out before your eyes.

Then Susie's words suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts.

_"This place feels cold, lonely, isolated and warry, I am getting the feeling that we haven't gone unnoticed,"_ she stated nervously from somewhere behind Gabriel as she gazed about at the tattered wallpaper that stretched forth into infinity.

_"I'm getting the same vibe,"_ Charlie added, cautiously, promoting Springtrap to reply.

"Then we keep on searching for anything of interest, you said that the others would come rushing to our defence, so we aren't completely on our own," he retorted, ensuring to keep them calm.

"If that picture exists, then there must be something related to Fredbear and Friends in here somewhere."

He really did wish to explore those other rooms, but the lack of any light source and fear of the unknown strongly advised extreme caution. Still they kept on going, plunging deeper into the darkness which surrounded them like a cloak.

Occasionally they encountered the wall with their feet as it was hard to see. Or in Springtrap's case, seeing how he was at the front, crashing over a small table and nearly pulling Charlie down with him, Cassidy however was not so lucky.

"Aghh, bloody hell, that hurt!" Springtrap cursed, nursing his knee which had directly impacted the table that had sent him spiralling uncontrollably towards the floor. In the amidst of his pain, he didn't care to vent his frustration at being so careless, even if it attracted_ something_. Cassidy, slowly picked herself up having been sprawled on the floor, feeling that one of her arms felt twisted, probably having from pulled sharply in an awkward position.

_"You'll pay for that," _she remarked sounding irritated, probably casting him a cold look of vengeance.

"I didn't know that there was a table ahead of me, I can't see any better than you can," Springtrap replied, determined to make his point, but he could sense the annoyance in Cassidy's voice,

"And how exactly, will I pay for that?" he asked, narrowing his eyes as he gazed in her direction, but Cassidy didn't reply, yet she was most likely nursing dark thoughts. Suddenly, Springtrap felt two pair of hands grab his shoulders, but he knew it to be the other children as they tried with their combined strength to lift him up.

"Thanks, but I'll manage," he said reassuringly, pushing himself off the ground.

"If only we had a flashlight to hand, then things wouldn't be so difficult," he muttered, voicing his thoughts.

He then turned in what he assumed to be Charlie's location.

"Charlie, seeing how you're persistent with time management, how long had we been in here?"

There was a short silence before Charlie answered back in a stoic tone, clearly thinking his words over.

_"About fifteen minutes…at best."_

_"Therefore,_ _ we should have forty-five minutes left in here_ _."_

Then his tone became insisting, with an irritated edge.

_"I hope that you know what it is you are looking for." _

Springtrap shook his head, in truth he didn't know what he would find, but he wanted more than just answers for why he was in that picture with the boy. There was more going on here, he felt it in the air, like there was something waiting to be discovered here.

"No, I don't know what it is exactly, but it will be anything that can answer as to why I am present in that picture when I was never at Fredbear and Friends, so we just have to search carefully," Springtrap answered confidently, hoping to put Charlie's concerns at ease.

He continued to look at Charlie, even though he couldn't see him, but he felt that it was necessary to reassure him, given his tactile manner.

"I know that this is a long shot, but I was never told anything about this other location and it just feels odd that Goldie never mentioned it, despite being there himself."

"I have this feeling, that there is something left unearthed that might shed light on the past, or even provide a means to fix this mess."

Before Charlie could respond, Springtrap addressed everyone.

"I know that this is risky, beyond insane and I am asking you all to trust me on what is a hunch and if everything goes wrong, then it is all on me."

_"No,"_ came a reply, it being from Gabriel, who spoke in a quiet, but determined voice.

_"We will all be responsible for what happens here if the worst comes to pass, we choose to join you and do I believe that there is something worth discovering here."_

There were several mutterings of agreement from the other children. Springtrap smiled internally, he was glad to hear that they were still willing to keep exploring, even though they were basically wandering about in the dark. Although that didn't diminish the risks they were taking.

Then he remembered what Susie had said earlier about them being noticed.

"Susie, what do you mean by us being noticed, we haven't encounter anyone or anything since entering?" he asked curiously, although he was concerned about something watching them from the shadows.

Susie was probably looking around, replying in a confused tone that revealed her own uneasiness with the situation.

_"Like I said this house isn't what is seems, I just get the creeping sensation that we are being watched somehow, that it can somehow feel our presence."_

_"This is Limbo remember SpringBonnie, normal rules don't apply here, hence why we cautioned against entering in the first place,"_ Sammy added, before saying in a stern tone to underline his words.

_"There are worse beings out here than vengeful murdered children."_

Springtrap cast his gaze towards his front, seeing nothing but endless darkness ahead of him.

"Still, we should press on, maybe the house is just watching us and seeing whether we'll leave or not, but we find nothing then we'll just go," he said, balancing out the risk of encountering something horrible and the opportunity of finding something that could answer his questions about Fredbear and Friends. He still felt very inclined to keep on exploring, but he knew that he was putting everyone on the line for it.

"Remember stay close to me and eachother," he said out loud, walking forward and he could feel the sensation of their physical presence close to him, so he knew that they were following him.

He also realised that by being at the very front, if anything were to attack them, he would be the one to get jumped first, as this time none of the children dared to walk beside him.

It was a cold calculation but given their collective experience of death and the afterlife, he wasn't too surprised that they were willing to use him as a protective buffer. They continued to walk on in utter silence, with Springtrap's concern for danger growing with every step that he took, as it brought them further and further from the other children and their point of entry.

If the house was indeed alive, then its lack of action against them was puzzling, occupying Springtrap's thoughts.

_"Either it is hoping that we give up and leave and that it can keep whatever secrets it has well hidden. . .or it wants us to explore, luring us in,"_ he mentally remarked, feeling nervous as the surrounding darkness seemed to cover everything like a thick fog.

In addition, the very air felt strange, it was heavy for some reason and there was an underlying chill as well that did little to sooth Springtrap's inner fears and that of the children. This place was not natural, seeming to exist on its own rules and yet it didn't respond to the would-be intruders, but seemed to keep a hidden watch on them.

The steady growing feeling of tension in the air crept into Springtrap's mind, with him mentally whispering to himself.

_"There better be a light at the end of this tunnel in some sense, otherwise I might as well call the whole search off if nothing interesting tur-"_

_"Wait, what's that up ahead, can't you see it?"_ Susie announced eagerly, pointing towards the item of interest, even though nobody could see her hand, but they could see what had gained her attention. There was indeed something up ahead, a light of sorts, a dim one but it was there, whitish in colour, flickering in and out of the gloom.

It acted as a beacon for them to follow and they were drawn to it, satisfied to finally be able to see their surroundings.

Plus, the light provoked a feeling of security, as it seemed to hold off the surrounding darkness.

"At last, some comfort at least," Springtrap said in a relived tone. He reached the lamp first, eager to see if he could detach it somehow and use it as a makeshift flashlight.

However, he discovered that due to its design it was impossible for him to take it with them.

_"Finally, we can see probably for once," _Sammy whispered, pausing to look around, not that much was revealed anyway.

The only thing worthy of notice was a plain door along the corridor, with the light of the lamp illuminating its outline and casting its shadow on the opposite wall.

Cassidy seemed to cast a curious gaze at it.

_"Should we try to explore it?"_ she asked inquisitively.

_"Or at least look inside?"_

The idea was tempting, with the addition of having enough to light to see inside, the desire to find out gnawed at their collective resistance to the idea.

Springtrap decided to go first, less the children discover something horrific on the other side that they wouldn't be able to escape from.

He stepped forward slowly, seeing his own shadow crawl up the door's frame. His instincts strongly advised caution as he reached out for the door handle. Gripping it tightly, he waited a few seconds, allowing himself to calm his inner fears. Turning briefly towards the children, he could see that they looked uncertain. Charlie looked nervous even though he tried to put on a brave face, his eyes never leaving the door. Yet Springtrap could tell that he strongly advised against what he was about to do, believing that if anything went seriously wrong then his reservations about coming here in the first place would be completely justified.

Gabriel stood the furthest away from the group, looking quite tense and was probably deciding whether to flee or not at the first sight of danger. Susie, equally looked concerned as she stood by the table with its lamp, seeming to want to witness the event from a safe distance. Sammy however, looked unsure, as he didn't stand too far from Springtrap himself. Cassidy was simply blank faced, expressing little to no emotion, save for her eyes which indicated an inner feeling of discomfort. Yet, unlike the others who shown fear, she hadn't moved away from Springtrap, instead choosing to stand right behind him.

Springtrap narrowed his eyes in determination and he turned the door's handle, slowly pulling the door open.

As light from the lamp pushed away at the shadows, it revealed to Springtrap and the children something that neither of them ever expected to find, making their eyes go wide.

Webs. . .thick, black and gooey webs that stretched across the entire room like vines. The mere sight of it made them feel confused, as well dreading what the implication meant. Initially Springtrap suspected massive spiders as the cause, but such when did spiders make webs as large as these?

The light from the lamp had only revealed so much, leaving most of the room in the dark, although judging by the appearance of those webs, Springtrap quickly concluded that this wasn't a room worth entering. Some of the children had scooted closer, seeing that there was no immediate danger, with Cassidy leaning out from behind Springtrap to get a better look at the various webs that were strung out before them like a transparent curtain.

Hesitantly, Springtrap took a small step forward, he didn't intend to touch the black webs, seeking instead to look beyond them and see if anything of interest lay at the room's far end. The children wisely remained either behind him, or stuck to the safety of the lamp, trying to spy out anything of note from where they stood.

_"There has to be something in here, it can't just be a room full of unnaturally large webs,"_ Springtrap mentally commented, feeling alert as the room itself gave him a strong feeling of uneasiness.

Wait, there was something. . .towards the back up against the far wall, flickering in and out of the darkness.

Springtrap couldn't quite make it out, but it appeared to be a series of bulky objects stacked up against the far wall placed alongside each other in a line. At best he could perceived them to be distinctly humanoid in shape, but any further detail was kept well beyond his sight. Nor, did he wish to venture any further to find out, should he risk altering _something_ and finding that the room not as empty as it first appeared.

"We should move on, there isn't much for us here," Springtrap muttered, stepping backwards and in doing so, the other children followed his movements.

He then closed the door shut, allowing darkness to fully reassert its dominance over the room, keeping its secrets hidden from prying eyes.

_"What do you think made those webs?"_ Sammy asked, turning to look at Springtrap and although he had a good idea in mind, Charlie in a blunt tone beat him to it.

_"Spiders, massive ones by the looks of it."_

"Or_ something_ akin to it," Springtrap remarked in a dark tone, casting his eyes in Charlie's direction.

"Hence, we are truly not alone in here, although whether anything is aware of our presence at the moment is anyone's guess."

_"Given the creeping sensations that this house is giving me, we have all the more reason to be afraid,"_ Susie muttered, turning to gaze into the darkness that lay further along the corridor.

_"If we explore further than we increase the risk of getting ourselves trapped somehow."_

Springtrap followed her gaze, equally staring into the void that glared back at him longingly, as if it was awaiting his next move like a player at a chess board, playing poker face with their opponent. In the back of his mind, Springtrap did truly wonder if this sensation of being watched was in fact being created by his fear of it, instead of being something tangible. The children themselves despite the hellish, confused and fear driven existence that they had come to know were still at the end of the day children. . ._despite what they had become over the years._

What is understood by an adult can easily be misunderstood in the mind of a child, and perhaps in this case that meaning still rang true.

Yet, there was truly something odd about this place, even when regarding the irregularities of Limbo itself and Springtrap couldn't shake off the feeling that the children's' concerns were well grounded.

He needed to think for a moment, he wondered if it were possible to die in Limbo, despite being dead already?

Probably not, given that this was the afterlife, other than there being heaven and hell, there was nothing else after Limbo. Although as the children had demonstrated, you could certainly feel pain here and thus you might end up in the worst circumstances possible, where you would suffer constant agony, both mentally and psychically, but never be able to die from it.

That fate alone made Springtrap physically shudder with dread.

"We should keep on moving," he said, loud enough so that the children could hear, immediately taking charge.

_"We only have half an hour left in here,"_ Charlie remarked plainly, walking forward as Susie kept on examining the table lamp, although Gabriel motioned to her to move along.

"Then we better not waste any more time then we have to," Springtrap replied warmly, to which Charlie nodded in silent agreement, making Springtrap feel relieved that the boy wasn't fighting him anymore about heading deeper into the house.

"Remember we aren't alone in here after all, we have the other children as back up," he said in a matter of fact tone, turning in the direction of the darken hallway that laid beyond them like a gaping maw.

_"I know that,"_ Charlie retorted in an irritated tone, to which Springtrap rolled his eyes in a minor form of amusement, maybe he had been too optimistic about Charlie not fighting him.

"I was just trying to be reassuring," he muttered lightly, not taking his eyes off the darkness, although he felt that Charlie was being far too provocative for his own good, the child had a rough edge to him that wasn't a good trait, although in his circumstances that cold edge had served him well.

_"I already know that we have the others for back up, otherwise I would never have agreed to joining you in here,"_ Charlie remarked stoically.

"Fearful of the horrors that might exist in here?" Springtrap asked curiously, although he sensed that there was more to Charlie's mood than he let on.

Charlie shook his head.

_"No,"_ he began.

_"We cannot die in here, but like we've told you, there are worst things in Limbo than us, despite everything we've done. . ."_

He began to trail off.

_"Even though we did it with the best of intentions. . .to remove a monster."_

_"However, we turned ourselves into monsters, me especially. . ."_

Charlie's voice faded away and Springtrap took notice, turning in his direction to see the boy staring off into the distance.

Charlie's face was blank, but his eyes expressed his inner thoughts and Springtrap sensed that he was feeling unsettled and he had a good idea as to why. Referring to what the children had done in their friezed and fear driven attempts to gain some form of closure had clearly forced the memories to resurface in Charlie's mind.

It clearly didn't take much to make them reappear though.

In that one singular moment, Springtrap could see the mental pain in Charlie's eyes and he could imagine the vivid images that the child's memories had created for him, as it dragged him back down memory lane. Even though they had told Springtrap about how they felt about their past actions, the pain and horror of what they had done was overwhelming.

"Charlie," Springtrap called out, trying to shake the boy out of his mental mire.

"Charlie, Charlie."

Yet he got no response from the boy, as Charlie's memories pulled him back into the past, once the door to it was open it couldn't be slammed shut for some time. He didn't want to revisit this moment, when he first stained his hands with innocent blood, but he felt obliged to make himself hurt. To remind himself of how his ceaseless desire for revenge had blinded him, and how in his rage he had taken the life of someone who was as innocent as he had been, and whom he turned into a monster like himself. . .

* * *

_Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Greenfield Indiana, March 1990._

_Vengeance, rage, hatred. . .pain._

_It was all Charlie could feel as he glared at the light glow that came down the hallways leading towards the pizzeria's security office._

_From where he stood in Puppet's body, he could see Gabriel, Susie, Fitz, Emma and Thomas wandering around in a mindless demeanour as they possessed the bodies of Freddy, Chica, Foxy, Bonnie and Goldie. Their lumbering form banged into the rows of tables and chairs as they walked about without much thought to their immediate surroundings._

_"The others are like animals, but I am very aware," Charlie mentally muttered to himself, he at least was able to maintain some degree of coherent thought. _ _Then there came the heavy steps of the Toys, moving out of the hidden room that kept them safe during the daytime as they weren't supposed to be here._

_Soon they emerged through the door that was built into the wall that ran along the pizzeria's left side, their white dots for eyes glowed in the dark as they made their entrance._

_Finally, everyone was here._

_They all had to be here, so that they all join in making that monstrous bastard suffer. _

_It was only right. . ._

_Charlie was still afraid of him, but he wanted to make that monster hurt and his desire for blood was overpowering his fear._

_Slowly he stepped forward, gaining the attention of the nearby possessed Toys as he moved, with their array of white dots for eyes turning in his direction like a series of searchlights. Out of the corner of his eyes Charlie could make out the stumbling forms of Sammy, Cassidy, Charlotte, Jeremy and Rachel as they possessed the bodies of Toy Freddy, Toy Chica, Toy Bonnie, Mangle and Balloon Boy, forcing them to move forward across the pizzeria's main dining area. _

_He could sense their rage, pain and misery, it was like a screaming well of inner voices, constantly shrieking in agony and only further reinforcing their own negative feelings as all the children's' voices echoed about in one another's heads._

_"What happened?" Rachel asked pleadingly._

_"Where is home?"_

_"I want to go home!" _

_"This place, I don't like it here, I want to leave!" Gabriel screamed, gripping his head._

_"I WANT TO LEAVE!"_

_"Where is daddy?" Susie asked, looking around, with the glow from her eyes sweeping across the surrounding walls, revealing nothing but the colourful chess pattern that lined them._

_"WHERE'S DADDY!" she wailed._

_"DADDY WHERE ARE YOU?"_

_"WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!" Cassidy yelled, as in her possessed form she turned about in all directions._

_"WHY. . .WHY, I DON'T UNDERSTAND!"_

_"MUM, MUM, WHERE ARE YOU, I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM!" Thomas shouted, looking around everywhere at once._

_They didn't know who they were or where they are, that much was clear to Charlie and he pitted them greatly._

_They did absolutely nothing to deserve this pain and him likewise, it was completely unjustified, and he hated it even more because of it._

_Yet, tonight, things would finally change for the better._

_Because 'he' was here, in the office, Charlie knew it because he heard the man's voice earlier._

_He was back because he always comes back, but he wouldn't come back from Charlie had in mind for him._

_This turmoil had to end, and tonight it would end in blood._

_Charlie did his best to ignore their cries, choosing to focus on the signature camera that was situated on the far wall. It constantly kept on sweeping back and forth and Charlie knew who would be watching on the other end. _ _His eyes briefly flickered over to the other children who were still mindlessly walking about in a state of extreme mental torture. However, Charlie had given them life, a fresh start and a chance to gain vengeance by finding the one responsible. _

_Now was that time and Charlie seized control of the moment with authority._

_"He's here," he muttered openly, his words instantly caught everyone's attention, their heads turned in his direction and for a moment all the mental screams stopped._

_There was a brief silence, before one of them responded._

_"He is here?" Emma asked curiously, her head twitched about uncontrollably. _

_"Yes, he is here, in the office, can't you hear him. . .laughing?" Charlie replied, his voice was cold._

_It was there, the sound of someone laughing in a male voice, at what no one knew, but it was clear there was a man present in the building._

_And it was recognisable to all of them, that sinister maniacal laugh which had heralded their demise as SpringBonnie loomed over them, holding a sharp knife and a cold uncompromising stare. Although for others he had been grinning like a madman, fully embroiled in his bloodlust._

_"Why he has come back?" Susie asked, her voice trembled, expressing her inner fear._

_"Does he wish to cause us further harm?" Thomas enquired cautiously._

_"I do not know, but it does not matter either way," Charlie answered coldly, staring down at his new hands, he fully understood the opportunity that lay before him._

_"Yet we are all together and there is only one of him."_

_His words seemed to cause a stir among the other children, clearly engaging their thoughts on what he was implying._

_"He deserves to suffer, as we did and we can make it happen," Cassidy remarked smoothly, having understood where Charlie was heading. _

_"He is all alone in here," Fitz muttered observantly, also coming to the same conclusion, as did several other children._

_"He is here!"_

_"I am still scared of him!"_

_Rachel strove to calm her brethren's fears_

_"We don't have to be if we are all together and in these new forms, we can end him permanently."  
"And gain our freedom," Charlotte remarked excitedly, finishing Rachel's words for her._

_"We can still be afraid of him, but now he should be afraid of us," she sternly, her conviction in her words were evident enough, stirring dark thoughts amongst the children. _ _They wanted vengeance for the cruel and undeserved fate that had befallen them by an evil that seemed remorseless, devoid of any regret. . .because evil is never guilty._

_Whilst they were still very much afraid of their murderer, they now had the chance to make him fearful of them. . .before they ended his life._

_Charlie took a step forward, by now the other children had noticed the various cameras positioned around the room, but it shouldn't prevent them from proceeding anyway._

_One by one, the children moved forward, heading towards one of the two hallways that lead down to the security office, as they were now united in a common purpose and a shared trauma that burrowed itself deep into their souls and would always remain in the centre of their thoughts. Emotionally, they felt a wide variety of feelings that all conflicted with eachother, uncertainty, dread, concern, excitement, determination and bloodlust. _

_The steps of their host bodies sent foreboding echoes down both hallways as they marched, willing themselves forward to confront the one who was responsible for their suffering. Their feelings increased in strength as they neared the office doors from which light could be seen, along with the buzzing of static, but one sound rang out above all others. A psychotic laugh of pure enjoyment that felt off, even for a rundown place such as this pizzeria. _

_Finally, Charlie and Gabriel, being at the heads of either group walked into full view of the office doors, with the others following up at a distance, perhaps being warry of seeing the one who had caused them so much terror before dragging them into the embrace of death._

_And they weren't disappointed. . ._

_Sitting in office chair and laughing his head off at the various monitors that showed several areas of the pizzeria was SpringBonnie himself. He looked exactly how they all remembered him, with his golden hair, golden bunny ears, whilst wearing a golden suit with a purple bowtie. His green eyes were bright and alive with emotion as he continually laughed at the array of monitors, although for what purpose exactly was unknowable to those that watched him._

_Yet, whilst most of the children saw SpringBonnie, in his place Charlie saw the man who taken his life outside Fredbear's Family Diner all those years ago, Purple Guy. His purple hair swayed as he rocked back and forth in the office chair, seeming to be laughing at nothing, but he was clearly entertained. The man's green eyes were clear with emotion. He still wore the same clothes that Charlie had last seen him in, dull purple shirt and black trousers with black matching shoes. In fact, despite the passage of time, Purple Guy didn't seem to have aged in a single day, as Charlie stared longingly at him. _

_He was here, very much in the flesh and seemed to be oblivious to the company that he had acquired. However, as he rocked back once more into his chair, he happened to turn his head and immediately caught sight of Charlie, or rather Puppet, as that was Charlie's physical vessel. _

_"Well, well, it's about time you all got here, I have been waiting to meet you all again, after being separated for so many painful years," Purple Guy said, his tone was full of excitement and he looked physically overjoyed to see them, so much so that it seemed off putting. Yet, Charlie and the other children continued to stare at him in complete silence and no one dared to take a step forward into the security office, despite its small space._

_Purple Guy seemed to recognise that none of them were doing anything, other than just staring at him, like he had told a bad joke and they were silently judging him for it. His excitement appeared to wane as he glanced around at them._

_He then held his hands up, venting his inner confusion at the awkwardness of the situation._

_"Well," he began, sounding irritated._

_"Don't any of you have anything to say?" he asked, glancing around yet again in search for some form of recognition from them._

_Charlie could sense the whirling storm of emotions that raged within both himself and the other children. Fear, anxiety, distress, confusion and rage all intermixing together and keeping them rooted to the spot. They wanted to act, but they felt unsure on how to handle the situation and were too scared to make a move against their murderer, as he sat there in the chair, his visible appearance bringing back many traumatic and terror filled memories. _

_Even Charlie found himself unable to speak and although he had often dreamed of getting revenge on the one who had caused him so much unimaginable pain, to actually see the man himself had strengthen his fears, making Charlie freeze on the spot. _

_Purple Guy then sighed bitterly and leaned back into his chair._

_"And I thought that you would take full advantage of the opportunity to get your revenge, after all, it is probably what you've all been thinking about ever since I watched the light fade away from your eyes," he remarked sarcastically, although he sounded like a fed up child with the way that he was sitting in the chair._

_"Guess that I really did put the fear of God into you didn't I, maybe I tried too hard to be scary, let alone intimidating."_

_"Well, I can always improve my conduct next time," he muttered softly, pushing him out of the chair as he proceeded to stand up straight._

_"A next time!" Charlie mentally screamed, he felt the same feeling of rage ripple across from the other children._

_There wasn't going to be a next time, not as far they were all concerned and right now, they had the perfect opportunity to end this monster, but instead they remained stationary. They still felt strong feelings of terror intermixed with anger, as Purple Guy made his way over to Charlie, looming over him like a dark shadow._

_For a moment there was silence as both Purple Guy and Charlie stared back at eachother, with Charlie expressing his feelings through Puppet's eyes. It was a swirling maelstrom of furry, dread and even fear at being so close to Purple Guy._

_"You tried so hard to stop me," he commented coldly._

"What is going on?"

_What was that sound, was it a voice?_

_It sounded very distinct, too faint to be made out properly for Charlie or anyone else near him. Its meaning was lost to all of them, as Purple Guy kept on talking in a cold and disappointed tone._

_"Yet at the final hurdle you falter."_

"Are you ok?"

_Where was that sound coming from, it was merely a whisper and barely audible to Charlie, yet he maintained his full focus on Purple Guy._

_"I am disappointed, I thought that your rage would have enabled you to break through your fears of me."_

"Puppet, what is wrong?"

_Again, where was that sound coming from? _

_It was too low for Charlie to understand what it was trying to say, but not low enough that it was undetectable. _ _Could only he hear this unknown voice, whose words remained far beyond his ability to grasp?_

_Purple Guy then placed his hand on Puppet's shoulder, the sensation sent Charlie's emotions alight with unrivalled anger that burned within his soul like a firestorm.  
"In the end, you will always be weak."_

"Do you need help?"

_"How disappointing. . ."_

"Let me help you."

_"NO!" Charlie screamed in open rage, as he suddenly grabbed hold of Purple Guy by the shoulders and with an unknown strength that he didn't realise he possessed; he threw Purple Guy to the side with full force, right against the line of lockers that stood against the back wall of the security office._

_Purple Guy cried out in pain as his left side slammed into the metal lockers. The force of his impact made a sizeable dent in several lockers as he pulled himself up, but the damage was done and Charlie no longer felt intimidated, but enraged, feeling a creeping sensation of delight at seeing his murderer wince in pain._

_The pain Purple Guy felt couldn't compete with what Charlie had been put through, but it was a decent start in his eyes. Equally, in the eyes of the other children they saw weakness, like sharks smelling blood in the water and it broke the hold of their fear, fully releasing their rage as they all started to swarm him._

_Purple Guy chuckled as he fully regained his footing, despite the fact that certain death was staring him in the face, he somehow found the capability to see humour where none existed._

_"Together again," he commented, sounding relieved and delighted as several pair of hands reached out for him, eager to tear him limb from limb, if it made him feel an ounce of the pain that they had felt, when he mercilessly dragged them into the clutches of death._

"WHAT THE HELL!"

_"Just like old times."_

"Why did you do that?"

_That distinct voice, it sounded so panicked, but its source was untraceable, being a whisper that was still barely audible, however right now it was the last thing on everyone's minds._

_Cassidy reached him first and she gripped him hard by the neck, pulling him away from the lockers only to then slammed him back into them with as much strength as her physical vessel could summon. _ _Gabriel went next, delivering a solid punch against Purple Guy's ribcage, it created a considerable thud and made Purple Guy groan in pain._

_However, Purple Guy suddenly responded in kind, bringing his fist against the middle of Gabriel's ribcage, hitting him in the soft spot between his ribs. The blow made Gabriel stumble backwards, making Purple Guy grin in delight._

_"So, you fully take the plunge, but I'm not going down that easily," he said determinedly._

"STOP, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

_Fitz then lunged forward and delivered a swift sweep with Foxy's hook hand against Purple Guy's chest, the full force of his attack gave the man a nasty tear, going through his shirt and ripping the skin open beneath._

_Purple Guy's face became distorted in open pain as blood began to drip from the wound, but Fitz wouldn't let up and he punched Purple Guy square on the face, the rage that he expressed through Foxy's eyes was enough to make him register a small glimpse of fear in Purple Guy's face, but it quickly faded away to be replaced by pain._

_Purple Guy groaned, but he struck back at Fitz. . .well, he tried to as Charlotte stopped him in mid action, catching his arm and twisting it, fully intending to break it. He was vulnerable and she wanted to sink her teeth in and cause as much pain as possible before the others got involved._

_"Murder!" she hissed through the mouth of Toy Bonnie._

_"Guilty as charmed," Purple Guy replied stoically, he looked irritated, an underreaction given the dire situation he found himself in.  
_

"What?"

_"You know what you did!" Thomas yelled, seething with open hatred as his eyes burned bright, yet Purple Guy brushed him off._

_"And I regret nothing and the pleasure that it brought me."_

"I haven't murdered anyone!"

_Although Charlotte could only see SpringBonnie whereas Charlie saw Purple Guy, they could both see the damage that they were causing, and they loved it. Yet that mysterious voice now sounded a little bit clearer now, it carried a distinctively female tone to it, but again it was untraceable, and it was becoming annoying, further fuelling their rage._

_Then Jeremy gripped hold of Purple Guy by the shoulders and used Mangle's endoskeleton arms to grab of hold of his legs before throwing him with significant force against the chair and desk, with Purple Guy slamming straight into it with an immense thud before dropping down to the floor. Various monitors, and even the telephone fell off the desk having been shook loose. _

_"YOU DESERVE TO SUFFER FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU DID TO US!" Jeremy screamed._

_An instant later, Susie reached forward and grabbed hold of Purple Guy by the throat. With help from Jeremy who used Mangle's endoskeletons to hold him upright._

_"Let's see how times we can break you," Susie hissed, before delivering a square on punch to his face. _ _She enjoyed the act, but it didn't satisfy her desire to see him as broken as she had been. _ _Purple Guy cried in harsh pain, as his nose was broken by the full force of Susie's punch._

_Yet there was another sharp cry of pain as well, sounding at the same time as Purple Guy's cry, but it was too distinct to be heard probably._

_Then Jeremy dropped Purple Guy down to the floor, only for Sammy to bring his foot down on Purple Guy's left leg and this time there was a deafening crack of bone, making the man scream out, much to Sammy's delight. _ _However, it was not enough for as he repeatedly stomped down hard on Purple Guy's left leg, only then to receive a swift kick from the man himself via his right leg, knocking Sammy backwards. _

_Purple Guy gripped the office desk and with great effort managed to pull himself upright. He expressed a slasher grin of delight, despite the immense agony that he was clearly feeling._

_"Is all you've got, breaking a few bones and having me scream out in pain?" he asked amusingly, seeming to be baiting them to come at him again._

"PLEASE STOP, I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO YOU GUYS!"

_"You really are pathetic, even for enraged children you are a broken bunch."_

"PLEASE, DON'T HURT ME, JUST WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU LOT?"

_They all stepped towards him, despite the tight space of the office they were all able to cast shadows over him, further highlighting who held the upper hand._

_"You may kill me, but you'll never be freed of the horror that I dragged you into."_

"I NEED AN AMBULANCE, PLEASE, I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING TO YOU!"

_Purple Guy laughed once more as they loomed over him, the dark look in their eyes expressed a deep-seated fury that was barely being kept in check by their curiosity at what he was going to say next._

_"Regardless of what you do to me now, I have already won, and I can die happy-"_

"PLEASE, DON'T KILL ME, IT'S ME JESSICA REMEMBER!"

_They lost it before Purple Guy could even finish and the annoying sound of that faint female voice only further aggravated them, pushing them over the edge. Once more the bloodlust descended over their minds, and they became lost in its embrace._

_They swarmed him and delivered onto him a hell of physical punishment, with no one holding back. Rachel took the opportunity through her use of Balloon Boy's body to twist Purple Guy's right arm back and Thomas using the strength of Goldie's body pulled so hard that he ripped it out of its socket with a sicking dislocating crack. Purple Guy screamed as agony coursed through him like fire, whilst trying to fight off his opponents, but it was a hopeless endeavour as they enveloped him on all sides. They would break him completely and even if they could not make him terrified for his life, then they could make him feel as much agony as they felt, or at least through their combined efforts they could get close to it._

_However, as they continually laid down a relentless and endless barrage of agony, even throwing Purple Guy back against the wall of lockers, which resulted in him bleeding; that faint voice kept on reappearing. It was screaming in pain, whilst speaking a few words in a tone of utter desperation, but it only seemed to be heard whenever Purple Guy spoke or cried in pain. None of the children could understand why they were hearing another voice that seemed to be impossible to locate and it enraged them further._

_They wouldn't stop, nor could they as mauled him, they didn't want to kill him immediately, seeking to drag out his agony for as long as possible. They had to see him suffer like a cornered animal, even to see him finally beg for his life would be a crowning achievement in their eyes. Their fear still existed though, deep in the depths of their minds, the traumatic feelings of terror and loss were still felt strongly, intermixing with their anger and fuelling their drive to be free of him forever. _

_However, their physical vessels felt exhausted as their limbs hung wearily by their sides. Together they all stared at the badly bruised form of Purple Guy. He was bleeding in various places from minor cuts, although Fitz's attacks with Foxy's hook hand had delivered considerable damage. Purple Guy's body was marked with black and purple bruises decorating his skin. His nose was broken, just like his left leg as was his right arm, or at least it looked badly twisted. No doubt several of his ribs were broken and he suffered from some internal bleeding as he coughed up blood. It seemed to be painful to breathe as he wheezed and gasped for air, his level of vulnerability was very evident and it invented the children to continue their savage beatings, but they held off for now, wanting to see him realise his error and then to beg them for forgiveness, only for them to drag him into the waiting jaws of death._

_"I understand that you are mad and rightfully hate me, but nothing you do will erase the trauma that you suffered at my hands," he said in victorious tone, despite looking utterly exhausted._

"Please, I haven't done anything wrong to any of you guys!"

_He paused to cough up blood before resuming. _

_"Those special moments that we've shared. . .are forever-"_

"I don't want to die!"

_Suddenly, a hand grabbed his head, sharply pulling it forward only to then quickly slam it back against the locker, creating a dreadful clack. The impact seemed to have distorted him, but the hand took hold of his hair and pulled his face up._

_"And you won't recover from the hell that we will put you through!" Emma whispered sternly, her tone was one of barely contained rage and wrath. _

_Purple Guy or rather SpringBonnie as she saw him looked up at her, despite his bruised and blood covered face, his green eyes still held a lot of fire in them. He wasn't one to be cowed, even in the face of death. _

_"But I still won, and you'll be dead forever, the damage is done, killing me may free you, but you'll never undone what I did."_

"What do you want from me?"

_He was cruel and triumphant to the end, maybe boasting about his 'victory' as he called it was his way of supressing his fear, but it mattered not as he wasn't going to live for much longer._

_He wouldn't be able to harm another child, yet that didn't stop him from further boasting._

_"Even when I die, I will have left my mark on the wor-"_

"Why are you all doing thi-"

_Suddenly, a pair of strings wrapped themselves around his throat, instantly tightening as he was strangled from afar. _

_"And removing you, will be our mark on the world," Charlie whispered sternly, gripping Puppet's strings with an iron hold as he choked the life out of Purple Guy. _ _He wanted to shut him up and get to the main entertainment of the night, his idea of execution was more than ideal for this monster._

_"We have a place for you in here," Charlie muttered in a dark tone._

_"The suits in the back, let's see if we can find one that is right for you, shall we?" _

_He knew that the other children wouldn't resist the opportunity to cause further pain and after all, no one deserved a long and agonising death than Purple Guy, especially if it ripped his sense of victory away from him as he finally realised that his end had truly come._

_Soon an array of cold smiles appeared on the face of every possessed Fazbear as they suddenly realised the joy, they could gain from seeing his life being brutally ripped away from him. . .like theirs were._

_It felt as poetic as it was desirable._

_"Yes," Emma muttered in agreement; her eyes were alit with a hatred driven urge to see him in even more pain._

_"It's perfect for him."_

_She took hold of Purple Guy's shoulders, as the other children stepped forward to help. Charlie then retracted Puppet's strings, allowing Purple Guy to breathe once more, but given how things would end, it would only be a temporally respite. Collectively, the children using the strength of their physical vessels dragged Purple Guy across the office floor and out of the left doorway. The act of moving him resulted in there being some traces of his blood on the floor. Purple Guy did fight back, but they constrained him and tighten their hold on his limbs, it made him cry out, but he received no pity from them._

_Together, they pulled him past the storage cupboard and Pirates Cove, across the main dining area and finally into the Parts and Services room._

_It was dark, but there was no need to turn on the lights as the children could see very well in the dark through the glow that their eyes created. The room itself was considerable in size, hosting a few boxes of repair tools, some basic first aid packs, but what they sought above all else was available in huge abundance. _

_The suits were here, all standing in several rows from front to back. _

_What they were originally used for was of little concern to the children. Only what they could be turned into it mattered._

_"In here, he'll soon know how it feels to be trapped. . .like us," Charlie ordered, seeming to take direct command of the situation and other children merely complied. They acted quickly in their desire to become enterally freed from their prison._

_Salvation shouldn't too far off now._

_Cassidy and Thomas hastily pulled the suit's chest plates wide open, the act making the metal creak, whilst the other children continued to hold Purple Guy down. Now seeming to be more aware of his impending fate, his desire to escape it was more evident as he fought back against them, resulting in them having to use more force to restrain him._

_He wasn't going to get away this time._

_"Now," Charlie ordered, as he pulled the suit's face plates back, opening them up as far as the mechanisms would allow. _

_The other children dragged Purple Guy over, he resisted of course, but together they were able to overpower him with relative ease as his injuries had taken a toll on him. _

_"Killing me won't bring back all of the time that you have lost," he remarked bitterly, but with an undertone of satisfaction, still espousing that he somehow had gained a final victory over them._

"PLEASE DON'T DO THIS, I BEG YOU PLEASE!"

_Again, that female voice made a return and it didn't cease to annoy the children, as they forcibly turned Purple Guy around so they could see his face when they shoved him in._

_"Murderer!" Cassidy screamed, smacking him in the face, with enough force to knock him against the open suit. _

_"Murderer!" Fitz yelled, lashing him once more in the chest, leaving another a nasty gash._

_"MURDERER!" Emma shouted, sharply kicking him directly in his broken left leg, making Purple Guy grit his teeth to withhold his desire to scream._

_"MURDERER!" Gabriel shrieked, pulling hard on his dislocated right arm, which only further added to Purple Guy's distress._

_"YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR WHAT YOU DID TO US!" Thomas cried; his anger was as visible as the others were._

_"LET'S SEE HOW MANY PIECES WE CAN CUT YOU INTO!" Rachel screeched, her desire for blood was all consuming._

_"YOU TORE US APART; NOW IT IS OUR TURN!" Sammy roared viciously, eager to see his murderer's brutal fate be played out before his very eyes._

_"WHY DID YOU DO IT?" Jeremy screamed, demanding answers in an emotional storm of uncontainable rage. Not that Purple Guy would bother to satisfy his desire for answers anyway._

_"NOW YOU'LL KNOW HOW IT FEELS TO BE RIPPED APART!" Susie shouted, as vivid memories of that dark day played out in her mind._

_"WE ARE A BURNING REMINDER OF YOUR MISDEEDS!" Charlotte yelled, hoping to be freed of the enteral pain that had existed from the moment SpringBonnie had plunged the knife into her chest all those years ago._

_Purple Guy merely smiled despite looking tortured from his injures. _

_"I'll exist forever in your memories, the trauma will always feel real wherever you are," he muttered in an exhausted yet victorious tone. He still believed that he had somehow won, regardless of the terrible fate that awaited him._

"Please, don't do this, I don't want to die!"

_"No."_

_Charlie moved to stand before Purple Guy, his eyes burned with a hatred that pierced his opponent's soul as he stared into its depths._

_What Charlie saw from Purple Guy was a man who would never feel remorse for what he did, gaining a sick sense of pleasure from what he saw as a 'special moment'._

_Evil is never guilty. . ._

_"We will move on from you, our pain will fade and you will disappear from our minds, but you will be in a world of agony, which is what a monster like you deserves," Charlie said, in a cold, but straight tone._

_He leaned into him, looking deep into his eyes, they were a stark contrast to Charlie's own, a soulless, dark and sadistic expression glaring back at a cold, vengeful and moody one._

_"My death will not erase my art," Purple Guy muttered softly, his eyes expressing his inner monster as he spoke._

_Slowly, Charlie placed his hands on Purple Guy's shoulders, shaking his head, almost as if in dismay._

_"You are wrong and seeing you powerless will be like music to me."_

_Then that faint female voice reappeared, only this time Charlie could just trace its source to Purple Guy himself, as it seemed to come from his direction._

"Please. . .I beg you Puppet, I haven't done anything to deserve this."

_It sounded sorrowful, downtrodden, exhausted, hurt and desperate, a plea to live. Yet Charlie was too entrenched in the moment to stop his emotional need for revenge, and freedom to pause; and consider why he was hearing this female voice whenever Purple Guy spoke._

_Instead his eyes burned with a desire to see this long awaited moment come about and he smiled coldly, feeling the power that the situation had granted him._

_"It's time to die," he whispered sinisterly._

_Suddenly, using all his physical vessel's strength, he shoved Purple Guy back into the open chest cavity of the prop suit. Immediately the other children joined in and with their combined strength they forced him into the suit's narrow confines._

_It wasn't a perfect fit, as they had to push his arms and legs into the suit's arm and leg holes, often forcibly pushing the existing endoskeleton aside in order to make him fit. Purple Guy didn't take the move lying down and fought back desperately, but their grip was unbreakable. He groaned and cursed aloud as his body was pressed up against the sharp, cold and uncomfortable metal endoskeleton, as various parts of his body were pushed into places that were either too narrow, or that left him in bizarre positions. His head alone had to push aside the existing endo head, as it separated into two halves on either side of the head casting in order to make enough space for his head to fully fit._

_Then Cassidy, Gabriel, Fitz and Emma, all pushed the suit's outer metal casting closed_ _, fully encasing him inside, like a cage._

_Purple Guy's eyes stared out of the eye holes as he glared back at them from within his new prison. He could see a host of angry faces that sported cold smiles of sinister delight. He didn't move though, remaining perfectly still._

_"You'll be surprised, but I am actually proud of you kids."_

_His words immediately left them all feeling confused, although their anger didn't fade._

_Even still, that distant, but annoying female voice had returned, now speaking in complete despair and terror._

"PLEASE, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, LET ME OUT!"

_Yet, that did not distract them at all from listening to Purple Guy, even though they wanted to be done with him._

_"I've made you all love pain, to hold the power of life and death in your own hands, to decide who lives and who dies, you crave it, vengeance is all that you've been thinking about from the moment your little bodies dropped dead to the floor."_

_"You might take my life, but I corrupted you into little killers, my little monsters."_

_His eyes were alive with a psychopathic smile, so bright was his enthusiasm for his 'craft'._

_"Your daddy's little monsters and you've earned it; nothing will ever remove that mark from your souls."_

_Charlie was enraged, why wasn't this suit working like it was supposed to?_

_Was it a dud and he had never bothered to check properly?_

_Wait, maybe there was a simple solution to this. . ._

_"It's a pity that we couldn't kill together, just imagine all of that rage of yours, going into making something beautiful," Purple Guy espoused, his excitement was uncontainable as he spoke and it only further fuelled Charlie's anger at the suit's inability to work. That annoying female voice wouldn't stop either and now it sounded as though it was speaking at the exact time that Purple Guy was, despite it being just a whisper._

"PLEASE STOP, I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

_Charlie's eyes narrowed as he slowly lifted his leg up, all the whilst Purple Guy and the unknown woman were still talking, and she was still screaming._

_"Even though we are together again, at the end, it is quite fitting, for the hunter to become the hunted."_

"PLEASE, I AM NOT A MURDERR, YOU ALL KNOW ME, FREDDY, MANGLE, CHICA, BB, IT'S ME JESSCIA!"

_Purple Guy's eyes now looked at Charlie, seeing him raise Puppet's leg, with an obvious intent in mind. _

_"However, we could have become so much more."_

"I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG!"

_Then Purple Guy's voice rose to a tone of unrivalled joy driven madness._

_"ONE BIGGGGG HAPPY FAMILY!"_

"PLEASEEEE!"

_Charlie screamed in open rage as he sharply kicked at the prop suit's chest with a loud clang._

_There was a series of soft sounding metallic clicks, before the suit's endoskeleton suddenly snapped back into its original position. . ._

_It couldn't have worked out any better than Charlie had imagined._

_Purple Guy screamed in pure agony, as his whole body was punched, stabbed and impaled from almost every angle. His hands and arms were torn into and compressed by those of the endoskeleton's, ripping into his flesh and breaking every one of his bones. His legs and feet suffered no better, being crushed and pinned into place by the sharp metal. Yet his chest, abdomen and face had the worst treatment, as the endoskeleton forced itself into him like knifes plunging into flesh and piercing multiple organs from a wide variety of directions. His screams of pain were cut short as his vocal cords were brutally severed and his lungs were fatally impaired, making him breathe irregularly in constrained gasps. _

_The pain of having all that metal forcibly shoved into him made him move about in every direction in a mindless yet desperate bid to escape from the agony, but he couldn't get away from it._

_Blood poured out of the gaps and holes like streams amidst his death curling cries, as there came the sounds of more metal snapping back into place. Even his eyes holes bled blood, mimicking tear strains as he writhed in agony. Yet it wouldn't end for him, not for a long time, as Charlie had intended. All the while Purple Guy had been screaming, so had the unknown woman, her screams of pain erupting at the same time as his and it sounded just as intense, if not more painful. _

_Soon the screaming died down to be replaced by desperate strained gasps for air that sounded irregular and very constrained._

_The children gathered around him on all sides, chanting in a low voice._

_"Murderer, murder, m_ _urderer."_

_Gabriel then moved to look at Purple Guy through his own eye holes, whispering closely._

_"Your nightmare is just beginning, and death will not save you from hell's wrath."_

_Then Cassidy positioned herself to also glare at him back through the suit's blood covered eyeholes, seeing him in an absolute state of agony that refused to cease as he bled out._

_"This is how it feels," she whispered coldly, but sporting a sinister grin._

_"And you get to experience it over, and over, and over again, the same pain that you cruelly inflicted onto us, will now never leave you."_

_Then Charlie moved to be in between the two of them, staring at Purple Guy with her intense judgemental gaze looking deep into his wretched soul once again. Despite being headed for the grave, Purple Guy's eyes remained bright with emotion as he gazed back at them, a mixture of pain, extreme discomfort, fear and lastly pride. He still thought that he had won this game and claimed their souls, but when he finally died, the children's spiritual chains would break, and finally they would be able to leave._

_"Shhh," Charlie began, putting his hand to the blood covered face of the suit, as he stared at a dying Purple Guy._

_He whispered softly, almost in a reassuring tone._

_"It will all be over soon. . .for all of us."_

* * *

Expect it wasn't over soon, for no sooner had Purple Guy died, they still remained imprisoned on earth. There was no sense of fulfilment which left them all feeling confused and angry at the lack of an answer to their plight.

They had killed him, so why weren't they moving on?

Because as it turned out they hadn't killed Purple Guy at all, but rather the female night guard, Jessica Woods. It was her voice that they heard, desperately pleading with them to spare her and insisting that she hadn't done anything wrong and didn't understand why they were hurting her. Not that they understood their folly at the time, as with each passing night they found that Purple Guy or SpringBonnie was still alive and back in the security office.

He kept on coming back and they in return kept on killing him, trying in vain to find the right solution through either shorting or extending his pain. Each failed attempt to find salvation fuelled their rage and desperation to escape, making them ignore those irritating male or female voices that seemed to appear whenever Purple Guy talked. They had no time for it, as they became fully servient to their emotions, turning into feral monsters that stalked the pizzeria's hallways, their souls grew dark as their ability to think left them.

Their perception of Purple Guy/SpringBonnie was right, they had become his little monsters and they didn't stop, pushed further and further by their rage and twisted sense of justice as they descended into the abyss.

Charlie could feel the emotional trauma to continue to build up inside his mind, his self-loathing and hatred screaming at him the long list of his crimes. It threatened to overwhelm him like a tsunami and drag him down into an emotional mire, as each passing image of those 'dark nights' became more and more realistic in his mind's eye and he couldn't escape its pull.

It kept on rising and rising, building and building until-

Suddenly, a pair of arms enveloped Charlie, pulling him right out of his trance and back to reality like a fish on a hook. It took Charlie a moment to realise that Springtrap was hugging him, keeping him in a tight embrace. All the pain and vividness of his memoires that been displayed in his mind, collapsed like rubble and faded into nothing, as his inner black hole of despair weakened its hold over him.

"I'll put you back together," Springtrap said reassuringly in a gentle tone.

"Those dark days will never be repeated, because you know where you went wrong, you took a step back from the abyss Charlie."

"Your self-loathing, your perception that you are a monster is preventing you from seeing that."

Upon hearing those words, Charlie instinctively hugged Springtrap back, burying his head into his chest and finally allowing his inner emotions which had been raging like a ferocious ocean storm to settle peacefully.

_"I'm sorry,"_ Charlie whispered, although his voice was more of a sob.

_"I'm sorry for having created so much pain."_

Springtrap knew what Charlie was referring to, the bloody murderers of the nightguards, yet he said little else as he allowed the boy to cry into his chest, releasing his inner worries and fears out into the open.

"Let me try to fix you and those whom you've carried in your arms," he whispered softly.

Springtrap then casted his mind back to that dreadful day at Fredbear's Family Diner, seeing Charlie getting murdered outside the main entrance, back when everything went to hell.

"I couldn't save you back then. . .so let me save you now." Although now Springtrap's words were more of a reassurance to himself, that he could save Charlie from his inner demons.

Soon there came the sound of footsteps as Susie, Sammy and Gabriel, slowly approached the pair. Springtrap turned in their direction, their facial expressions were ones of regret, shame and sadness, for they could also recall the same hellish nights as vividly as Charlie could. No doubt seeing Charlie in a state of mental lock had also drawn them back into the past, back to a familiar point in their lives that they would otherwise wish to forget forever.

Their sense of self-disgust was evident as they all joined in hugging both Springtrap and Charlie, allowing their own emotional torment to subside. Springtrap smiled to himself, it was a very touching moment and it did remind him that despite everything they had seen and done, they were still just children caught up in a world of unmanageable misfortune.

Yet there was one child who hadn't joined in the group hug. . .Cassidy.

She was standing alone, looking at them with an expression of uneasiness, as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, appearing to be very unsure.

"Cassidy, you don't have to be afraid of your past anymore," Springtrap said reassuringly, extending a hand in her direction.

"I know what you did back then, but it is not too late for you."

"You are not a monster; I will do whatever it takes to help set you free."

Cassidy looked torn, with her gaze switching from the floor and then to Springtrap, seeming to toss her conflicted thoughts around in her head, but was unable to break free of her fear that she might be beyond saving, given her dark deeds.

"I'm scared," she whispered, barely audible. Her eyes were now brimming with tears, as she remained where she was. Charlie turned his gaze in her direction, seeing Cassidy standing there out in the open, more scared than he had ever seen her before. The vengeful demeanour that had dominated her personality during those dark years had now been replaced by tears and fear. Charlie knew what she had done, as they had both killed those night guards together, not giving their reality a second thought when they forcibly shoved them into those death traps for suits.

However, he could see that she did not want to be given false hope and have the opportunity fade away before her like it had done previously. Yet, at the same time, she undoubtedly did want to believe that it was possible for her to escape this hellish existence.

_"Cassidy,"_ Charlie began, speaking softly, but also directly as he held out his hand to her, the move gained her attention.

_"I'm sorry for dragging you down with me."_

He then spoke with his usual sense of conviction, hearted by Springtrap's offer of enteral support and words.

_"We can beat this together, all of us, the nightmare has to end eventually doesn't it?"_ Charlie asked warmly. His words reached out to grasp Cassidy's soul and wretch it free from the clutches of her inner darkness.

"You show regret Cassidy, you display remorse and that makes you more human than you realise," Springtrap said confidently, also holding his hand out to her.

Charlie's words of unity, of him and the other children being the only other family that she had and Springtrap's own words on her feeling remorse slowly broke through the emotional darkness that gripped Cassidy's mind.

"You're not in darkness Cassidy, if you were, then you wouldn't feel anything bad about what you did," Springtrap remarked reassuringly

_"I gave you a second chance Cassidy,"_ Charlie stated, looking at her with a deep expression of a genuine desire to help.

_"Please, don't leave us all to ascend without you."_

Like a chain, Cassidy's inner darkness broke its hold as she willed herself to move, slowly pushing her feet forward, taking small steps. She wanted to ascend, to be free, in the end there was nothing to be gained through endless loathing in the dark. Even though the scarred parts of her mind screamed at her to not give in and risk getting hurt again by false chances, she endured. Her steps became longer as she began to near Springtrap and the others.

Susie, Sammy and Gabriel joined Charlie in all holding their hands out to her, willing her onwards.

_"It's ok to believe again Cassidy,"_ Gabriel called excitedly, as he reached out the farthest to grasp her hand.

_"The darkest days are behind us,"_ Sammy cried joyfully, leaning forward to offer his hand.

_"If we have survived for this long, then we can endure a little more to make it to the end, together,"_ Susie said reassuringly.

_"Like we always have."_

Cassidy reached out with her own hand towards the group, her eyes were a mixture of uneasiness and relief, mentally preparing herself to step over the line and accept that she was truly an innocent who had merely lost her way due to foul circumstances over which she had no control. She still had her doubts, but she wanted to rest her soul and stop feeling condemned by actions that she had never dreamed of doing when she was alive.

She gently took hold of Gabriel's hand, who immediately gripped it and pulled her forward in a hug. Immediately, multiple pairs of arms took hold of her and she knew that she was safe. Her inner darkness faded away into insignificance, strangled by her renewed sense of self confidence. There had been dark days, but those were long gone, and they were victims of poor fortune. Springtrap thought as much when he spoke, happy that he able to give these poor tormented souls a sense of inner peace.

"You didn't become murderers willingly, you were forced into the hell that Vincent Afton chained you in, he above all else is the one worthy of complete damnation. . .not you," he muttered quietly, but loud enough for them to hear.

"You didn't deserve to suffer as you did, you didn't know what was happening, you were scared and lost and when you all needed help, no one was there to lift you up into their arms."

"If there was an alternative, you wouldn't have gone down the road that you all took?"

Immediately, the children nodded their heads in full agreement and Springtrap took that as an extremely good sign. Their moral compass wasn't completely beyond repair, although some parts may never be restored, given how far they had gone into their inner darkness.

Yet, Springtrap wouldn't rest until he had succeeded in allowing their battered souls to finally rest. Yet, he let himself enjoy the moment, it was rather touching and there was a strong feeling of warmth in the air. Looking around at the dusty and age worn walls, it felt as though for a moment this old house had also been warmed by the children's sincerity, however it was only brief.

Still, Springtrap could feel proud knowing that even in death, he had been able to save another life, like he did with Goldie.

He internally sighed, feeling sorrowful for a moment. He hated having to leave Goldie and the others behind, but he hoped that they were ok whenever they were currently.

CREAKKKKKK!

Suddenly, there was a loud drawn out creak, signifying a door opening somewhere, everyone froze on the spot, eyes darting about at all angles.

From somewhere far up ahead, a light appeared along with the silhouette of an opened door, gleaming in and out of the darkness. Once the sense of immediate danger had passed, the children stepped away from Springtrap, breaking up the hug and all looked towards the open door.

Springtrap instinctively moved to the front, signalling to the children to get behind him.

All sense of warmth subsided, replaced by the need to focus.

_"Do we investigate it?"_ Susie asked cautiously.

_"What if something wants us to go in there?"_ Sammy inquired.

_"There might a light source that we can use in there, plus any light in here is a welcome sight,"_ Gabriel suggested.

"I agree," Springtrap muttered supportively, keeping his gaze forward.

_"The way that door opened, it seemed deliberate,"_ Cassidy muttered.

"I agree Cassidy, it seem odd, however, we do have back up and there might be something worth investigating in there. I say that we should investigate, and we'll deal with whatever monster comes our way," Charlie remarked determinately, earning several mummers of agreement from the others. There was a strong sense of confidence and focus from Charlie's tone to which Springtrap couldn't help but smile at, however he quickly returned himself to the moment at hand.

Slowly, he strolled forward with the children following close behind, as they all stuck close to the wall.

No sound came as they approached the door and there was no sign of anything dangerous, but what if the unseen threat was hiding beyond their sight.

The children were of course, tiptoeing in behind Springtrap, cautiously glancing over their shoulders and peering around him to see what lay ahead. Soon enough they reached the open door through which light itself flowed out, brightening up the immediate area to the point, which things could be seen normally.

Springtrap firmly planted himself against the wall, with the children copying his approach. He turned to face them, in their new brighten surroundings, they could see his face clearly, he looked serious.

Springtrap put his finger to his lips, signalling them all to be quiet, before he made his move. Slowly, he inched his way towards the doorway and peered round, braced for anything.

His eyes saw. . .a child's bedroom.

Doing a double and triple take to make sure that his eyes weren't playing a trick on him, it was indeed a child's bedroom. Springtrap's sense of tension slowly receded as he found nothing dangerous as he glanced around. There was a blue coloured chest of drawers in the far-left corner with a greenish looking shirt sticking out of one of the drawers.

On top was by appearance a deactivated lava lamp, plus an idle inactive digital alarm clock, and finally perched on the edge was a small bright purple fan, a toy perhaps?

Standing next to it was a wardrobe, big by child bedroom standards, all bulky and imposing.

By judging its design, it appeared to act like a massive shutter.

Sited on the other side, closest to him was another chest of drawers with an inactive lamp resting on top. Littered around the floor before the wardrobe were numerous toys, ranging from a robot, a phone on wheels and a stuffed caterpillar like creature, all sitting on a blue, purplish carpet.

Then lastly scattered across both walls were various framed pictures, family ones probably, snapshots of the child's life.

So far all good, but appearances can be deceitful, so Springtrap slowly slid his way inside, looking around, he could hear the quiet footsteps of the children following him inside.

By all accounts there was no threats to be seen or heard, but why was there an ordinary child's bedroom in a dark and locked house which was stranded all the way out in Limbo?

And more importantly whose bedroom was it exactly?

Springtrap slipped around the doorway, sticking to the wall as he attempted to sneak about, with the ghost children following his lead to the best of their abilities.

Springtrap turned his gaze towards the rest of the room, noting a sizable wooden bookcase in the far corner. Closer to him laid a bed, with a quilt and some pillows which looked dated. They matched nothing that he had encountered in Jeremy's house, which held all the landmarks of the twenty first century.

_"Speaking of Jeremy, how is he and Mike getting along?"_ Springtrap thought, allowing his thoughts to distract him for a moment.

_"Hopefully well."_

Then he saw that this bedroom wasn't as empty as it appeared to be. The discovery alone was enough to make him stop dead in his tracks. For there, sitting on the bed, holding a worn out plushie of what appeared to be Goldie in his Fredbear persona, was a boy of about ten, looking right back at him.

His baby blue eyes showed a mix of confusion and wariness. By the looks it, he had been watching Springtrap for a while, without Springtrap himself even noticing. The other children leaned out from behind him, their actions caught the boy's attention, as his eyes immediately shifted onto them.

Everyone froze, with Springtrap being up against the wall, his attempts at sneaking about having obviously failed.

Slowly, the boy turned his gaze directly onto Springtrap, sensing him to be the leader of the group, seeing how he was obviously an adult.

_"Who are you guys?"_ he asked in a demanding tone, sounding both worried and curious, if it were possible.

_"And what are you all doing here?" _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the fun begin!  
To me, the ghost children are morally split, as you obviously pity them for their misfortune, whilst also feeling edgy, knowing where their emotions can take them.  
Thank you for reading and please review. :-)


	50. Vengeful Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here is chapter 50, it feels like an achievement to have made it this far! :-)  
Thank you for sticking around for so long, I deeply appreciate you taking the time to read this story and a huge thank you to those who have left Kudos so far.
> 
> As of this chapter upload, we have finally caught up with the current number of chapters that are in my Fanfiction version of this story. Therefore chapter uploads will now be one per month, two at best. 
> 
> Chapter 51 should be ready some later this month though, so you shouldn't have to wait too long for new content. 
> 
> It took me a long while to choose which FNAF song to use, I was seriously having a lot of internal debates over which song was better suited for this particular chapter.  
In the end I choose 'After Show' by Tryhardninja, featuring Chi-Chi.  
I've read 1:35am, the third Fazbear Fright book and it was amazing. . .if not a little weird in some areas. If anyone has read the ending of the first story then you'll know what I mean, as it ends quite abruptly. The second story was great and truly tragic, it had me on the edge of my seat. The third one was very interesting, if not a little slow, but the ending raises a lot of interesting questions about the lore of this particular universe.  
Also, we now know how the 'Stitch-wraith' came to be, what this means for the series going forward. . .who knows.  
Also, we've just got a new teaser image of our potential protagonist, a female nightguard, I suspect that we'll be trying to protect the mail from the machinations of Glitchtrap and his helper Vanny as they are the cause of the breach. It's a pity that we have to wait until roughly the end of the year to get the game, but it should be worth the wait! :-) 
> 
> As usual apologies for any grammar mistakes and do enjoy. :-)  
There are also two lines from Fazbear Frights' 'Count The Ways' in here if any of you can spot them. ;-)

**Chapter 50.**

**Vengeful Shadows.**

_"**I am a burning reminder of your misdeeds!"**_

**Jack-O-Chica from Ultimate Custom Night.**

The groaning sound of metal from the Parts and Services door grew ever louder, as did the banging noise that rained down upon it from the other side.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

The noise carried a great deal of anger behind it, a never ending barrage of force that grew all the more restless as the door continued to the buckle, with its hinges creaking loudly as they were strained to their limit.

BANG!  
BANG!

BANG!

It was clear the door would eventually give away to whatever or whoever was trying to batter their way in from the other side.

Yet, it was clear to everyone who was responsible for all the noise, and for Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, they recognised the gravity of the situation. Their faces were a collective expression of uneasiness and shame, as they were more than aware of who was responsible for creating the dreadful sounds that continually rang out.

All of the animatronics were still looking at the Parts and Services door, their eyes hadn't left it since the banging had first started. It was the same for the animatronics that the Nightmares were directly possessing. Although Lefty had by now turned his gaze back in the direction of the four Fazbears watching their reaction to the noise with both amusement and curiosity.

BANG!

BANG!  
BANG!

The lock continued to buckle, until finally like a dam holding back an almighty tide, it finally broke.

The door was forced wide open so fast that it slammed into the connecting wall with an almighty clang that echoed throughout the entire room. The lock itself was sent flying across the room and landing a fair distance from the door. Freddy felt a shiver go up his spine, not at the noise though, but in anticipation of what was to come.

Once the door had been forced open, it was followed by a long and painful silence. Yet the tension was so thick that you couldn't breach it with a chainsaw, at least that's how the Fazbears felt. Freddy felt nervous, although he tried to look stoic, if not blank faced, keeping his emotions in check, the last thing he needed was more teasing from Lefty. Foxy looked sterner faced than Freddy, bearing his hook and narrowing his eyes in anticipation of a physical challenge, even though he knew that everything around himself wasn't strictly real. Chica felt afraid, knowing what lay in the darkness, but she took comfort in that she wasn't facing this threat alone. Although that didn't fully diminish her fear and her facial expression was one of dread. Bonnie looked uncertain, concerned and a little fearful, as her eyes keep on darting between the open door and the horde of animatronics that seemed to be waiting patiently for the newcomers to emerge from the darkness.

_"I only hope that Goldie is able to sense what is going on and bail us out when the time comes,"_ Bonnie mentally whispered, trying to reassure herself as she could feel her heartbeat increase as the tension continued to drag itself out to no end.

There were no lights in the Parts and Services room, nor did any of the surrounding lights luminate what was inside, but everyone knew that it wasn't empty; and the painful silence continued as the Fazbears braced to meet a dark secret from their past.

Crunch!

Stomp!

Squeak!

Groan!

Moan!

Then a series of strained and horrible noises finally broke the silence, the grinding of metal, the thud of feet, the creaking of old joints and the pained, and strained rasps of someone struggling to breathe, as if they were in a constrained space. Then a pair of rusty metallic hands gripped the open doorway and pulled itself through, becoming exposed to the light.

A hulking, metallic, rusted and clearly deteriorated body staggered into the room, followed by several others, who were in turn succeeded by more of their kind. . .the possessed prop suits. Their heavy footsteps sent out echoing thuds as they gazed all about them, seeming to be completely unsure of their new surroundings. It was a surprise that they were even capable of walking, let alone being able to hold themselves together.

Yet here they stood, defining the poor physical condition of their bodies as they looked everywhere at once. Although it was known that they had been able to run and chase Balloon Boy throughout the Nightmares' version of the Toys Pizzeria, so maybe appearances can be deceptive, particularly when desire can overcome one's physical limitations.

The possessed prop suits' physical metallic shells were covered in multiple holes that were marked by dry blood stains, evidence of a painful demise and one that strongly reminded the Fazbears of their misdeeds, even though technically speaking the children who possessed them were the ones responsible. The faceplates of the possessed prop suits constantly twitched open slightly, before closing only to then open again. Although their facial movements were so small and fast that it was next to impossible to see what lay behind the mask, but given BB's vivid description of what lay behind them, neither Freddy, Bonnie, Chica or Foxy were in any rush to see it for themselves.

More and more of their kind continued to walk in through the Parts and Services room doorway and it didn't take Freddy or any of the others long to figure out that the Nightmares had brought in roughly all thirty nightguards that they had collectively murdered over the years. Some of them they personally knew like Jessica, David, Lauren, Richard, Amy and Henry; having established a friendship of sorts in the past. They were the first to be murdered whilst on the job, the rest were mostly strangers who found out to their complete horror, that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, but by then it was tragically too late.

Some twirled on their toes like ballerinas, with their hands raised above their heads as they moved with grace and elegance, despite the rotten state of their physical vessels. Others rolled in on decrepit skates and surprisingly seemed to have a near perfect control of their movements. Most of them however, just simply walked like the average human, although it did seem to be a struggle to make their bodies comply fully their demand for movement, with their gears shifting and creaking as they walked.

Having gazed at the horde of animatronics which stared back at them with a mixture of soulless smiles and detached expressions, the possessed prop suits continued to look around. Their invisible eyes falling onto everyone and everything, taking in their surroundings slowly, as if they were trying to gain some form of meaning from it. However, at long last, their gaze finally fell upon the four Fazbears. . .and their recognition was near instant.

They stopped as each one followed the awe-struck gaze of the other, going completely motionless as their invisible eyes found the Fazbears. For a good while, nothing happened, with the horde of animatronics behind the prop possessed suits now turning on mass to look at the Fazbears. Their empty and lifeless eyes stared vacantly at Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy with an unbreakable gaze that seemed to penetrate their eyes and reach deep into their souls like long grasping fingers. It felt to the Fazbears as though they were under an intense spotlight that refused to relent no matter how unnerved it made them feel.

Still the silence continued as the everyone just looked forward at the Fazbears, even the Nightmares didn't say anything, although the facial expressions of their physical vessels revealed their inner thoughts. Lefty looked amused as always, seeming to be greatly enjoying the moment. Dee Dee seemed to be eager, as if she was anticipating something huge to happen. Funtime Chica appeared to be more withdrawn, although it was evident enough that she looked pleased. Finally, Rockstar Bonnie looked stoic, yet there was the slight glint of delight in his eyes as the situation continued to drag itself out.

Freddy felt nervous, Chica felt terrified, Bonnie felt off balance and Foxy felt on edge. This couldn't be happening, but it was. . .

They had often talked about how Vincent would one day get what was coming for him, as they literally carried the remnants of his crimes, the souls of the murdered children, but they never expected that one day they might up facing retribution for the crimes that they had unintentionally committed. Although it had all occurred back at a time when their foremost thoughts were based around getting from one day to the next, simply covering their tracks. All the while they tried to figure out where Vincent lived to kill him, but such attempts often lead to numerous dead ends. They didn't think much about the ever growing pile of corpses that lay buried outback. Whenever they did think about it, their thoughts were marred with guilt, shame, and regret.

Now, their guilt, shame and regret stood before them in the flesh, staring back at them with an unreadable expression. Even though this was a dream and therefore not strictly real, it didn't diminish the gravity of the situation, and the knowledge that one can die in a dream only further underlined the risk they were taking by being here.

_"F. . .r. . .e. . .d. . .d. . .y F. . .a. . .z. . .b. . .e. . .a. . .r,"_ (Freddy Fazbear,) one of the suits said, breaking the tense silence with its strained and robotic voice, speaking with a tone of recognition and an undertone of sinister delight.

_"I r. . .e. . .c. . .o. . .g. . .n. . .i. . .s. . .e y. . .o. . .u, b. . .u. . .t I a. . .m n. . .o. . .t a. . .f. . .r. . .a. . .i. . .d o. . .f y. . .o. . .u. . .n. . .o. . .t a. . .n. . .y. . .m. . .o. . .r. . .e."_ (I recognise you, but I am not afraid of you. . .not anymore.) The more it spoke, the more visible the human element of the spirit that was attached to the suit became. Like it was trying to reach out from its constricted confines and grab Freddy with an invisible hand as it now held his undivided attention.

_"H. . .o. . .w I h. . .a. . .v. . .e l. . .o. . .n. . .g. . .e. . .d f. . .o. . .r t. . .h. . .i. . .s m. . .o. . .m. . .e. . .n. . .t, b. . .e. . .i. . .n. . .g l. . .o. . .c. . .k. . .e. . .d a. . .w. . .a. . .y i. . .n t. . .h. . .e d. . .a. . .r. . .k f. . .o. . .r e. . .t. . .e. . .r. . .n. . .i. . .t. . .y, b. . .u. . .t s. . .t. . .i. . .l. . .l f. . .e. . .e. . .l. . .i. . .n. . .g c. . .o. . .n. . .s. . .t. . .a. . .n. . .t p. . .a. . .i. . .n, a. . .l. . .l b. . .e. . .c. . .a. . .u. . .s. . .e o. . .f y. . .o. . .u!" _(How I have longed for this moment, being locked away in the dark for eternity, but still feeling constant pain, all because of you!) it hissed in a bittersweet tone that carried a female voice and whose identity it was taking Freddy sometime to remember properly, as he tried to recognise the voice's owner. However, the tormented spirit within the suit could sense an opportunity and how the balance of power had changed, compared to the one that immediately preceded their terrifying and gory demise.

_"F. . .i. . .n. . .a. . .l. . .l. . .y, w. . .e c. . .a. . .n s. . .e. . .t. . .t. . .l. . .e o. . .l. . .d s. . .c. . .o. . .r. . .e. . .s."_ (Finally, we can settle old scores).

The possessed prop suit then gestured to itself, its old and ravaged body groaned as it shifted about on its feet, with its various faceplates shifting back and forth in small movements.

_"N. . .o. . .t, t. . .h. . .a. . .t w. . .e e. . .v. . .e. . .r d. . .r. . .e. . .a. . .m. . .e. . .d o. . .f b. . .e. . .i. . .n. . .g i. . .n s. . .u. . .c. . .h a w. . .r. . .e. . .t. . .c. . .h. . .e. . .d s. . .t. . .a. . .t. . .e a. . .n. . .d l. . .e. . .t a. . .l. . .o. . .n. . .e t. . .h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u w. . .e. . .r. . .e t. . .h. . .e o. . .n. . .e. . .s r. . .e. . .s. . .p. . .o. . .n. . .s. . .i. . .b. . .l. . .e s. . .o o. . .u. . .r h. . .a. . .t. . .r. . .e. . .d t. . .o. . .w. . .a. . .r. . .d. . .s y. . .o. . .u i. . .s w. . .e. . .l. . .l j. . .u. . .s. . .t. . .i. . .f. . .i. . .e. . .d,"_ (Not, that we ever dreamed of being in such a wretched state and let alone that you were the ones responsible, so our hatred towards you is well justified,) it remarked observantly, although there was a clear feeling of resentment in its tone for their tragic misfortune.

_"H. . .o. . .w. . .e. . .v. . .e. . .r, n. . .o. . .w w. . .e c. . .a. . .n b. . .e f. . .r. . .e. . .e o. . .f o. . .u. . .r p. . .a. . .i. . .n, a. . .l. . .t. . .h. . .o. . .u. . .g. . .h I w. . .o. . .n. . d. . .e. . .r w. . .h. . .y y. . .o. . .u o. . .f a. . .l. . .l p. . .e. . .o. . .p. . .l. . .e F. . .r. . .e. . .d. . .d. . .y, w. . .o. . .u. . .l. . .d d. . .a. . .r. . .e t. . . o c. . .o. . .m. . .e h. . .e. . .r. . .e, k. . .n. . .o. . .w. . .i. . .n. . .g w. . .h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u m. . .i. . .g. . .h. . .t f. . .a. . .c. . .e?"_ (However, now we can be free of our pain forever, although I wonder why you of all people Freddy, would dare to come here, knowing what you might face?) It asked, now sounding inquisitive, although it was undeniably that behind their curiosity lay a boiling cauldron of rage.

Freddy exhaled deeply before answering in a serious tone.

"We came here for answers, to uncover the past and to hopefully find a way out of this chaos that is our lives."

He then glared at the possessed animatronics, Lefty in particular.

"However, it seems that our hosts want to do nothing more than to mock us. . .again, for the one hundred time."

Yet within his mind Freddy smiled in amusement, he could tell that the Nightmares felt as though they were in complete control, which would make the sudden reveal of their newfound lucid dream powers all the more impactful.

_"Enjoy your moment, for it shall hopefully be your last,"_ he mentally chuckled, looking forward to ripping Lefty asunder, or preferably compressed him and the Nightmare within him into nothing.

Once Goldie and the Toys arrived, the Nightmares would have nowhere to hide and no means to escape as control of the dreamworld was ripped away from them.

Freddy then pointed accusingly at the possessed prop suits, sounding more annoyed than serious as he spoke as his eyes were now ablaze with irritation.

"If you Nightmares think that dragging these guys up from the grave is going to somehow terrify us into submission, then you are seriously mistaken!"

"Your tricks are getting old and you can only scare us so many times until it gets boring."

If the Nightmares felt any insult from Freddy's words about their ability to fright him, they choose not to show it.

Yet, Freddy's words had stirred a reaction from the possessed prop suits. Laughter, a mechanical strained laugh that carried a maniacal tone to it, intermixing with the creaking sounds of their various gears shifting about within their metallic bodies.

_"S. . .o, y. . .o. . .u a. . .r. . .e. . .n't s. . .c. . .a. . .r. . .e. . .d b. . .y t. . .h. . .e s. . .t. . .r. . .o. . .n. . .g p. . .o. . .s. . .s. . .i. . .b. . .i. . .l. . .i. . .t. . .y o. . .f u. . .s b. . .r. . .e. . .a. . .k. . .i. . .n. . .g o. . .u. . .t o. . .f t. . .h. . .a. . .t e. . .a. . .r. . .t. . .h p. . .i. . .t t. . .h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u b. . .u. . .r. . .i. . .e. . .d u. . .s i. . .n, a. . .n. . .d t. . .e. . .l. . .l. . .i. . .n. . .g p. . .e. . .o. . .p. . .l. . .e w. . .h. . .a. . .t r. . .e. . .a. . .l. . .l. . .y h. . .a. . .p. . .p. . .e. . .n. . .e. . .d a. . .l. . .l t. . .h. . .o. . .s. . .e y. . .e. . .a. . .r. . .s a. . .g. . .o?"_ (So, you aren't scared by the strong possibility of us breaking out of that earth pit that you buried us in, and telling people what really happened all those years ago?) One of them asked assertively, stepping forward, its invisible eyes fixed solely on Freddy.

Freddy turned to face them, he looked stern, but he couldn't deny his fear, it was one that he shared with everyone else. What had once been a distant thought in the back of his mind for years on end had now ballooned into a really fledged possibility.

The possessed prop suit that had asked him the question stepped closer, perhaps it sensed an opportunity. Its aged body struggled to comply with its demands for movement as it staggered forward.

_"I. . .m. . .a. . .g. . .i. . .n. . .e i. . .f w. . .o. . .r. . .d g. . .o. . .t o. . .u. . .t, t. . .h. . .e e. . .v. . .i. . .d. . .e. . .n. . .c. . .e w. . .i. . .t. . .h b. . .e o. . .v. . .e. . .r. . .w. . .h. . .e. . .l. . .m. . .i. . .n. . .g, n. . .o. . .t m. . .a. . .t. . .t. . .e. . .r h. . .o. . .w h. . .a. . .r. . .d y. . .o. . .u t. . .r. . .i. . .e. . d t. . .o h. . .i. . .d. . .e i. . .t!"_ (Imagine if word got out, the evidence with be overwhelming, not matter how hard you tried to hide it!) they hissed in a vindictive and yet joyful tone at the thought of getting their long overdue vengeance.

_"A. . .l. . .t. . .h. . .o. . .u. . .g. . .h. . ."_ (Although. . .) its head shifted from one side to the other, making its neck joint creak as it debated over its next words.

Yet when it spoke again, the human element in its tone became more profound, revealing a sadistic edge that sounded female the more they talked.

_"A. . .s t. . .e. . .m. . .p. . .t. . .i. . .n. . .g a. . .s i. . .t m. . .i. . .g. . .h. . .t b. . .e t. . .o e. . .x. . .p. . .o. . .s. . .e y. . .o. . .u, t. . .a. . .k. . .i. . .n. . .g j. . .u. . .s. . .t. . .i. . .c. . .e i. . .n. . .t. . .o o. . .u. . .r o. . .w. . .n h. . .a. . .n. . .d. . .s i. . .s s. . .i. . .m. . .p. . .l. . .y m. . .u. . .c. . .h m. . .o. . .r. . .e f. . .u. . .n, a. . .f. . .t. . .e. . .r a. . .l. . .l, t. . .h. . .e c. . .h. . .i. . .l. . .d. . .r. . .e. . .n d. . .i. . .d i. . .t a. . .n. . .d t. . .h . . .e. . .y c. . .e. . .r. . .t. . .a. . .i . . .n . . .l. . .y e. . .n. . .j. . .o. . .y. . .e. . .d t. . .h. . .e a. . .c. . .t."_ (As tempting as it might be to expose you, taking justice into our own hands is simply much more fun, after all, the children did it and they certainly enjoyed the act.)

Then, from within the depths of Foxy's mind, the identity of the spirit that was talking hit him like a blot of lighting, with his eyes widening in recognition.

"Jessica Woods," he said quickly, almost blurting the words out as his mind clicked into gear. The moment he said it, the prop suit immediately turned in his direction and Foxy felt a heavy gaze fall upon him.

_"I w. . .a. . .s t. . .h. . .e f. . .i. . .r. . .s. . .t, I h. . .a. . .v. . .e s. . .e. . .e. . .n e. . .v. . .e. . .r. . .y. . .t. . .h. . .i. . n. . .g a. . .n. . .d I r. . .e. . .m. . .e. . .m. . .b. . .e. . .r w. . .h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u d. . .i. . .d t. . .o m. . .e F. . .o. . .x. . .y, I b. . .e. . .g. . .g. . .e. . .d y. . .o. . .u t. . .h. . .a. . .t I h. . .a. . .dn't d. . .o. . .n. . .e a. . .n. . .y. . .t. . .h. . .i. . .n. . .g w. . .r. . .o. . .n. . .g a. . .n. . .d y. . .e. . .t y. . .o. . .u c. . .a. . .l. . .l. . .e. . .d m. . .e a m. . .u. . .r. . .d. . .e. . .r. . .e. . .r,"_ (I was the first, I have seen everything, and I remember what you did to me Foxy, I begged you that I hadn't done anything wrong and yet you called me a murderer,) she remarked coldly, although there was an undertone of pain in her words.

Then her eyes brows narrowed, giving up off an angered expression. Foxy hated to admit it, but his hook arm was trembling, and he could feel his fear building up inside him threatening to burst out. This is what he had feared ever since BB had revealed that their dark past would catch up with them and wouldn't leave them be, until nothing remained. It was the same fear that Chica had expressed to him back at Jeremy's, when they were all playing _'Five Nights at __Freddy's'_ and now here it was, particularly in the flesh, demanding answers. Out of the corner of his eye, Foxy could see Chica trembling slightly in fear.

_"W. . .h. . .y d. . .i. . .d y. . .o. . .u d. . .o i. . .t F. . .o. . . x. . .y?"_ (Why did you do it Foxy?) Jessica asked, now she was insisting as her tone turned ice cold, she took another step forward, clearly not intimated by them. Even with the immediate presence of Freddy, Bonnie and Chica to back him up, Foxy felt alone, staring at Jessica with a look of uncertainty and dread. He knew the answer to her question, but she wouldn't buy it, regardless of it being true.

She wanted payback and for it to be carried out in a brutal style that fitted her own demise.

"I didn't do it, the children did, they thought that you were Vincent, it was. . ."

Foxy looked down at the floor and sighed heartily, feeling his inner shame.

"A tragic case of mistaken identity and you deserved it the least Jessica, you and everyone else here."

_"A. . .n. . .d y. . .e. . t I a. . .m s. . .t. . .i. . .l. . .l h. . .e. . .r. . .e, s. . .u. . .f. . .f. . .e. . .r. . .i. . .n. . .g i. . .n t. . .h. . .i. . .s r. . .i. . .g. . .i. . .d c. . .o. . .f. . .f. . .i. . .n o. . .f a b. . .o. . .d. . .y t. . .h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u s. . .t. . .u. . .f. . .f. . .e. . .d m. . .e i. . .n. . .t. . .o!"_ (And yet I am still here, suffering in this rigid coffin of a body that you stuffed me into!) Jessica hissed, stretching her voice box to its limits. Meanwhile the other possessed prop suits also made their move, steadily approaching the four Fazbears as their desire for both freedom and revenge pushed them onward, despite the various limitations of their degraded physical bodies. Their heavy footsteps sent out foreboding echoes across the polished floor.

"We are truly sorry for what happened to you Jessica," Bonnie remarked sorrowfully, her bunny ears lowered as she looked immensely sad.

"If we had any control over what was going on, we would have stopped immediately and saved you."

Jessica now turned to face Bonnie, and judging by the former's stance she seemed interested as Bonnie continued.

"We are victims just as much as you are, the children possessed us, we didn't even know what was happening."

Jessica didn't move and she stopped twitching, every part of her stood still. She stared at Bonnie, who looked genuinely regretful for what had happened to her and everyone else.

"I'm sorry Jessica, you didn't deserve this cruel fate. . ."

Jessica continued to look at Bonnie with an unreadable expression, all the while the other possessed prop suits continued to move towards them, sensing there to be no opposition to their movement. The Nightmares certainly gave no indication of such, in fact some of the other animatronics took a few steps forward, their weight of their feet impacting the smooth floor creating more ominous echoes.

Yet in that moment, Chica's sense of panic finally compelled her to talk.

"We promised each other that when this is all over, we would return your bodies to your families and we'll make sure that they received full payment for your services, something that Fazbear Entertainment liked to cut back on whenever it could," she remarked in a downtrodden tone, although Jessica didn't turn to look at her, choosing instead to remain staring at Bonnie.

Meanwhile Freddy briefly casted his eyes back towards the host of animatronics that mostly stood by the main stage. They were all looking at him and the others like a crowd of spectators, with a collective expression of either amusement or curiosity.

"What is going on exactly?" he whispered to himself, he felt confused with the Nightmares' motives. After all they did offer to answer various questions and yet they had brought the night guards in. Was it done purely for the intention of forcing him and the others to literally face their past? Surely things couldn't be this simplistic, there had to be more to what was going currently on?

Although given how the end goal of both groups were naturally aligned, it was easy to see why they would work together.

Freddy's eyes drifted over from one of the possessed animatronics to the next; Rockstar Bonnie, Funtime Chica, Lefty and then lastly Dee Dee.

"What are you four planning?" he mumbled, feeling frustrated at the uncertainty of it all, he didn't understand what the Nightmares were trying to prove right now. He doubted that they intended to kill him and the others at this particular moment, as they would have tired already. Plus, the way that they were acting strongly suggested that they want to drag this event out for all that was worth. Yet, Freddy suspected that they were deliberately building towards something, his eyes narrowed at the thought as he pondered it.

_"Why put in all this effort for us, if not to kill us then what exactly?"_

_"Are they waiting for something to happen first?"_

Then his attention was swiftly caught by Jessica, rerailing his train of thought.

A chuckle, a dry and robotic laugh erupted out of her mouth that was intermixed with both mechanical and decayed human teeth.

Her whole body now started to shake wildly as her laughter grew in strength, and the more human element of her voice began to assert itself, crackling through her robotic overtone which strained her battered voice box.

_"Y. . .o. . .u a. . .r. . .e n. . .o. . .t v. . .i. . .c. . .t. . .i. . .m. . .s; y. . .o. . .u. . .r a. . .c. . .t. . .i. . .o. . .n. . .s s. . .a. . .y o. . .t. . .h. . .e. . .r. . .w. . .i. . .s. . .e!"_ (You are not victims; your actions say otherwise!) she hissed, although she kept on laughing, finding both Bonnie's and Chica's words to be humorous.

_"Y. . .o. . .u. . .r w. . .o. . .r. . .d. . .s a. . .r. . .e w. . .o. . .r. . .t. . .h. . .l. . .e. . .s. . .s; I r. . .e. . .m. . .e. . .m. . .b. . .e. . .r e. . .v. . .e. . .r. . .y w. . . a. . .k. . .i. . .n. . .g m. . .o. . .m. . .e. . .n. . .t o. . .f w. . .h. . .a. . .t h. . .a. . .p. . .p. . .e. . .n. . .e. . .d t. . .h. . .a. . .t n. . .i. . .g. . .h. . .t!"_ (Your words are worthless; I remember every waking moment of what happened that night!)

Her voice now sounded vengeful, the anger in her tone was beyond evident, it was so strong that one could easily imagine the expression that she would be making if she had a proper human face, narrowed eyes, a withdrawn smile, and a burning expression of both rage and delight.

_"Y. . .o. . .u b. . .u. . .r. . .i. . .e. . .d m. . .e i. . .n a p. . .i. . .t, c. . .l. . .e. . .a. . .r. . .e. . .d u. . .p t. . .h. . .e e. . .v. . .i. . .d. . .e. . .n. . .c. . .e, l. . .e. . .f. . .t m. . .e i. . .n t. . .h. . .e. . .r. . .e f. . .o. . .r y. . .e. . .a. . .r. . .s o. . .n e. . .n. . .d, a. . .n. . .d s. . .o. . .m. . .e. . .h. . .o. . .w, y. . o. . .u're t. . .r. . .u. . .l. . .y i. . .n. . .n. . .o. . .c. . .e. . .n. . .t i. . .n c. . .r. . .e. . .a. . .t. . .i. . .n. . .g t. . .h. . .i. . .s n. . .i. . .g. . .h. . .t. . .m. . .a. . .r. . .e." _(You buried me in a pit, cleared up the evidence, left me in there for years on end, and somehow, you're truly innocent in creating this nightmare!)

She pointed accusingly at Bonnie; her wittered mechanical arm shook as she held it up.

_"Y. . .o. . .u e. . .v. . .e. . .n b. . .u. . .r. . .i. . .e. . .d m. . .y c. . .a. . .r, w. . .h. . .a. . .t k. . .i. . .n. . .d o. . .f 'i. . .n. . .n. . .o. . .c. . .e. . .n. . .t' p. . .e. . .r. . .s. . .o. . .n d. . .o. . .e. . .s t. . .h. . .a. . .t!"_ (You even buried my car, what kind of 'innocent' person does that!)

Then suddenly, she turned to face Chica, who instinctively gave off an expression of fear, although she quickly hid it behind a composed cold look, but Jessica very much like a shark could already sense blood in the water.

_"Y. . .o. . .u'll n. . .e. . .v. . .e. . .r b. . .e h. . .o. . .n. . .e. . .s. . .t; y. . .o. . .u'll s. . .k. . .i. . .r. . .t a. . .r. . .o. . .u. . .n. . .d t. . .h. . .e t. . .r. . .u. . .t. . .h o. . .f w. . .h. . .a. . .t h. . .a. . p. . .p. . .e. . .n. . .e. . .d t. . .o u. . .s!"_ (You'll never be honest; you'll skirt around the truth of what happened to us!)

_"Y. . .o. . .u w. . .e. . .n. . .t a. . .l. . .o. . .n. . .g w. . .i. . .t. . .h t. . .h. . .e a. . .c. . .t, y. . .o. . .u. . .r g. . .u. . .i . . .l. . .t i. . .s o. . .b. . .v. . .i. . .o. . .u. . .s!"_ (You went along with the act, your guilt is obvious!)

She then shook her head dismissively, now sounding sorrowful as her neck joints creaked.

_"R. . .e. . .g. . .a. . .r. . .d. . .l. . .e. . .s. . .s o. . .f w. . .h. . . e. . .t. . .h. . .e. . .r w. . .e w. . .e. . .r. . .e f. . .r. . .i. . .e. . .n. . .d. . .s, n. . .o. . .n. . .e o. . .f i. . .t c. . .l. . .e. . .a. . .r. . .l. . .y m. . .a. . .t. . .t. . .e. . .r. . .e. . .d i. . .n y. . .o. . .u. . .r e. . .y. . .e. . .s."_ (Regardless of whether we were friends, none of it clearly mattered in your eyes.)

_"B. . .e. . .c. . .a. . .u. . .s. . .e i. . .f y. . .o. . .u a. . .l. . .l t. . .r. . .u. . .l. . .y d. . .i. . .d c. . .a. . .r. . . e, y. . .o. . .u w. . .o. . .u. . .l. . .d h. . .a. . .v. . .e c. . .o. . .n. . .f. . .e. . .s. . .s. . .e. . .d a. . .n. . .d d. . .o. . .n. . .e w. . h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u c. . .l. . .a. . .i. . .m y. . .o. . .u w. . . o. . .u. . .l. . .d d. . .o y. . .e. . .a. . .r. . .s a. . .g. . .o, b. . .u. . .t n. . .o. . .n. . .e o. . .f y. . .o. . .u h. . .a. . .v. . .e a. . .n. . .y b. . .a. . .c. . .k. . .b. . .o. . .n. . .e."_ (Because if you all truly did care, you would have confessed and done what you claim you would do years ago, but none of you have any backbone).

Her words rang true, and Chica could feel those words stab her heart, as she internally bowed over in emotional pain. They had forgotten about them for the most part, a dark memory that they didn't wish to revisit and despite the promises that she made along with everyone else that they would return the night guards to their families and recompensate them for their services, the reality was unclear. None of them knew how to do any of that without risk having the families react badly and bringing them to the attention of the police. Because of such a reality being a likely outcome, their words on mending the past proved to be hollow.

All the while, they left their dark secrets buried out back for years on end and when they decided to leave the pizzeria, to physically escape their past; the issue surrounding what to do with the night guards bodies was left deliberately unanswered, as they were unsure if they could ever find a proper remedy to it.

"We were scared back then, and we still are now," Chica muttered remorsefully, her eyes expressed a deep sense of regret, mirrored by similar expressions from Freddy, Foxy and Bonnie. Although Foxy reached out and grasped her shoulder to provide comfort, sensing her inner distress as she continued to speak.

"We were afraid of what would happen if the public became aware of such incidents, we had to keep things quiet for our own protection."

Then Chica recomposed herself, putting on a strong face as she stared back at Jessica, even though she could feel her inner turmoil rage within her soul, yet she was prepared to be honest with herself.

"We were only concerned with ourselves, but the circumstances that those children put us in, were so terrible, our hands were tied, we had no control over what they did, otherwise. . ."

She then gestured to Jessica's battered and degraded metallic body.

"This tragedy wouldn't have ever occurred, and for that I am truly sorry."

Jessica growled in dismissal, before emitting an aggressive hiss at Chica.

_"Y. __. .o. . .u m. . .i. . .g.__ . .h. . __.t b. . .e h. . .o. . .n. . .e. . __.s__. . .t h. . .e. . .r. . .e C. . .h. . .__i. __. .c. . .a, b. . .u. . .t a. . .n o. . .p. . .e. . .n c. . .o. . .n. . .__f. __. .e. . .s. . .s. __. .i. . __.o. . .n c. . .a. . .n. . .n. . .o. .__ .t__ u. . .n. . .d. . .o m. . .y s. . .u. . .f. . .f. . .e. . .r.__ . .i. . .n. . __.g!"_ (You might be honest here Chica, but an open confession cannot undo my suffering!)

The sound of the other possessed prop suits approaching with their shadows creeping across the floor, like snakes on the hunt promoted others to weigh in on the conversation.

_"N. . .o. . .t. . .h.__ . .i. . __.n. . .g y. . .o. . .u d. . .o c. . .a. . .n s. . .a. . .v. . .e y. . .o. . .u. . .r. . .s. . .e. . .l. . .v. . .e. . .s f. . .r. . .o. . .m w. . .h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u t. . .r. . .u. . .l. . .y d. . .e. . .s. . .e. . .r. . .v. . .e,"_ (Nothing you do can save yourselves from what you truly deserve), one spoke in a rusty male voice, although their identity was hard to pin down.

_"W. . .e w. . .e. . .r. . .e l. . .o. . .s. . .t i. . .n t. . .h. . .e d. . .a. . .r. . .k, b. . .u. . .t t. . .h. . .a. . .n. . .k. . .s t. . .o o. . .u. . .r n. . .e. . .w f. . .r. . .i. . .e. . .n. . .ds, w. . .e c. . .a. . .n n. . .o. . .w f. . .i. . .n. . .a. . .l. . .l. . .y a. . .s. . .c. . .e. . .n. . .d,"_ (We were lost in the dark, but thanks to our new friends, we can now finally ascend), another remarked in an eager tone, sounding roughly female.

From where he was standing Foxy could see that he and the others were in danger of being surrounded, as the horde of soulless animatronics moved in around the flanks of the possessed prop suits. The likes of Music Man, moving with his six legs and sporting a sinister grin, followed by Le Chip, Happy Frog, Rockstar Chica, Blank and Dee Dee skirted around the left side of the Fazbears. Whilst on their right, Foxy noted the presence of Rockstar Freddy, Ned Bear, Orville Elephant, Candy and Funtime Chica, all moving around them.

His eyes narrowed as he watched them briefly, before looking to Bonnie, seeing that she had noticed the same thing and she look unnerved to say the least.

_"Come on Goldie, we could do with an intervention right about now!"_ Foxy mentally yelled, hoping that his words and inner mood of suspension would be received by the elder Fazbear.

Chica felt scarred, although she tired her best to within hold her fear, making herself look cautious at best in terms of appearance, hiding her inner mood. Even though she knew that they had lucid dreaming powers and had faced down their worst mental fears, it was predictable how those fears would act, whilst in here, everything was the complete opposite.

_"I just hope that we are able to catch them off guard long enough to deliver significant damage when the others intervene,"_ she mentally whispered, watching with suspense as Rockstar Foxy, Pigpatch, Chester, Mister Hippo, Cindy, Candy Cadet, Rockstar Bonnie and Lefty all closed in on them from the front, now moving alongside the long line of possessed prop suits like an army.

The possessed prop suits themselves were moving on mass, soon to be within touching distance of the Fazbears and their desire for blood could be felt as they emitted a strong sense of longing. Despite their eye holes being vacant, one could easily sense their inner mood, as the spirits within urged their battered and deteriorated metal coffins for bodies ever forward.

"Then what can we do to earn your forgiveness, to make things right?" Bonnie asked, although it sounded like a plea and her eyes expressed a desire for an exit from this emotional hell as she gazed longingly at Jessica.

She didn't give her an answer and with the others rapidly approaching, Bonnie allowed her inner feelings of desperation to show.

"We want to end this nightmare as much as you do!" Bonnie cried, gesturing to her chest as a sign of sincerity.

Then Jessica did finally respond, but her reply was hardly inviting.

_"S. . .i. . .l. . .l. . .y l. . .i. . .t. . .t. . .l. . .e B. . .o. . .n. . .n. . .i. . .e,"_ (Silly little Bonnie), she cooed in a sweet tone that dripped with venom. At this point, the other prop suits had now joined her, all standing as one group before the Fazbears, and the tension in the air was building rapidly as Jessica gestured to herself and those around her.

_"W. . .e d. . .e. . .m. . .a. . .n. . .d n. . .o. . .t. . .h. . .i. . .n. . .g m. . .o. . .r. . .e t. . .h. . .a. . .n y. . .o. . .u. . .r l. . .i. . .f. . .e, f. . .o. . .r i. . .t i. . .s o. . .u. . .r o. . .n. . .l. . .y w. . .a. . .y t. . .o e. . .s. . .c. . .a. . .p. . .e t. . .h. . .i. . .s p. . .r. . .i. . .s. . .o. . .n."_ (We demand nothing more than your life, for it is our only way to escape this prison),

"How do you even know that?" Freddy demanded, stepping forward and getting dangerously close to Jessica, making her turn to face him. Her hands immediately clasped into fists, evident of her annoyance at being challenged.

Freddy looked confused, but his eye rang with a sense of conviction as he spoke. He had enough of being shamed and hounded for actions that weren't his fault, and the conversation risked going around in circles.

"How you do know that killing us would get you into heaven?" he enquired sternly, aiming to exact the answers no matter the cost. He was done with dragging things out, throwing in another question before anyone else could respond.

"Also, by default aren't the children to blame as we had no awareness of what was happening?"

Although in truth, he had absolutely no desire to let the children come to harm, but he wanted to see how Jessica would react.

Yet, he got an answer from someone else.

"We could ask you the same question about you and the murdered children wanting to kill Vincent Afton, are you sure that doing so will end your torment?" Funtime Chica called amusedly, walking towards him from her side of the room with several other nearby animatronics. Her purple eyes glowed like a hypnotist as she locked her gaze with Freddy.

"And we could ask you about your idea on becoming free by killing us lassie?" Foxy remarked angrily, as he gave the possessed animatronic a cold serious look.

"Your idea that our deaths would free that poor boy and yourselves makes the least amount of sense to me."

Foxy was very much aware of the connection between Goldie and the boy that he accidently bit, but there had to be more to it than that. Surely wouldn't the boy's bully of an older brother also be someone whom the boy had to either forgive or _'remove'_ in order to fully move on? Although how the Nightmare themselves expected to break free of the boy through killing Goldie and everyone else associated with him made even less sense. . .it was shrouded in uncertainty.

However, there would be an answer hiding somewhere in the dark, waiting to be found. Funtime Chica sighed cheerfully in response to Foxy's question, smiling with an expression of mischief before replying with.

"In truth, we don't fully know if it will work in the end, but we made the logical connection that Fredbear, alongside a few other people of interest are the source of the boy's trauma and conflicted nature."

"In the end we cannot be too careful in case something goes terribly wrong, so everything and everyone associated with Fredbear must be removed to ensure success," Dee Dee said playfully, cocking her head in Foxy's direction.

"Hopefully, the boy can finally heal and rest his battered soul. . .as there would be nothing else left for him to hold onto, and we will have gained full freedom as separate entities," Lefty remarked, sounding utterly convinced of his own words.

Then Rockstar Bonnie spoke in a serious tone, with his eyes having narrowed, further giving off a tough expression.

"He'll be free as will we, there is a cost to gaining freedom, but we're prepared to pay any price."

"So in truth, you are just guessing, this is all based on a hunch that killing us will get you what you want," Bonnie remarked coldly, her eyes purplish red eyes narrowed in annoyance. She suppressed her fears for a moment, switching her attention to the Nightmares' words.

"You're smart, I'll give you four that, but surely you can't be that naïve to believe that getting the boy to move on won't result in your chains breaking and instead you'll all be dragged into nothingness."

"Haven't you ever taken a leap of faith before Bonnie?" Dee Dee asked curiously, although with a sinister undertone that was thinly veiled behind her childish features.

Bonnie resisted the desire to look away in acceptance of Dee Dee's words, but she and everyone else had come to believe that killing Vincent would free them from their torment. Although she liked to think that her line of thought made far more sense than the Nightmare's presumption did.

"I have many times, but in truth, just about everyone's pain is the fault of Vincent Afton, so if anyone is to blame then it is clearly him," Bonnie muttered, loud enough to be heard, sounding rather reflective.

Her words earned a response from another of the possessed prop suits, and judging by the enthusiastic male voice that strained through its aged voice box it was David; given how Balloon Boy had described his character when he was hunting him.

_"H. . .e w. . .a. . .s. . .n't r. . .e. . .s. . .p. . .o. . .n. . .s. . .i. . .b. . .l. . .e f. . .o. . .r o. . .u. . . r p. . .a. . .i. . .n, t. . .h. . .a. . .t l. . .i. . .e. . .s p. . .r. . .i. . .m. . .a. . .r. . .i. . .l. . .y w. . .i. . .t. . .h y. . .o. . .u a. . .n. . .d t. . .h. . .e c. . .h. . .i. . .l. . .d. . .r. . .e. . .n, w. . .e d. . .o. . .n't n. . .e. . .e. . .d t. . .o k. . .i. . .l. . .l h. . .i. . .m t. . .o b. . .e. . .c. . .o. . .m. . .e f. . .r. . .e. . .e, a. . .l. . .t. . .h. . .o. . .u. . .g. . .h I a. . .n. . .d e. . .v. . .e. . .r. . .y. . .o. . .n. . .e h. . .o. . .l. . .d n. . .o. . .t. . .h. . .i. . .n. . .g b. . .u. . .t d. . .i. . .s. . .g. . .u. . .s. . .t f. . .o. . .r w. . .h. . .a. . .t h. . .e h. . .a. . .s d. . .o. . .n. . .e."_ (He wasn't responsible for our pain, that lies primarily with you and the children, we don't need to kill him to become free, although I and everyone here hold nothing but disgust for what he has done).

David's words struck accord with Freddy, that he and the others viewed Vincent's actions as monstrous and vile but didn't feel a strong desire to stop the evil at its source. As long they were able to fulfil their desire and escape their imprisonment, nothing else particularly mattered. Although it was the same feeling that Freddy had felt back in those dark days of the 1990s, when all that mattered was becoming free of the pain that Vincent, and by extension the murdered children had forced onto him.

_"Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind,"_ he thought to himself, the same circumstances seemed to breed the same mentalities in people.

"But you can't just ignore what he did, he is responsible for everything!" Chica yelled out, her voice being a mixture of frustration and surprise.

She held her head in her hands, looking astounded from one possessed prop suit to the next.

"He will continue to hurt people, what if he had murdered one of your children back in the day, how would you react?"

David's face plates seemed to twitch as he cocked his head to one side, appearing to be thinking Chica's words over carefully, before he spoke in a serious tone.

_"I w. . .o. . .u. . .l. . .d h. . .u. . .n. . .t h. . .i. . .m d. . .o. . .w. . .n a. . .n. . .d e. . .n. . .d h. . .i. . .s l. . .i. . .f. . .e i. . .n a f. . .i. . .t. . .t. . .i. . .n. . .g m. . .a. . .n. . .n. . .e. . .r, a. . .s I w. . .a. . .n. . .t t. . .o d. . .o t. . .o y. . .o. . .u C. . .h. . .i. . .c. . .a."_ (I would hunt him down and end his life in a fitting manner, as I want to do to you Chica).

Saying her name out loud and in a strained hybrid human/robotic voice made Chica's skin crawl, it felt so unnatural.

_"M. . .y c. . .h. . .i. . .l. . .d. . .r. . .e. . .n, m. . .y f. . .a. . .m. . .i. . .l. . .y w. . .e. . .r. . .e m. . .y w. . .o. . .r. . .l. . .d,"_ (My children, my family were my world,) David muttered solemnly.

_"T. . .o t. . .a. . .k. . .e t. . .h. . .e. . .m a. . .w. . .a. . .y f. . .r. . .o. . .m m. . .e, w. . .o. . .u. . .l. . .d b. . .e t. . .o i. . .n. . .v. . . i. . .t. . .e d. . .e. . .a. . .t. . .h."_ (To take them away from me, would be to invite death).

Out of the corner of his eyes, Freddy could see all four of the possessed animatronics briefly exchange a knowing smile with one another as David spoke. It spurred his thoughts yet again.

Had Vincent killed a child belonging to a staff member during those two missing children's' incidents?

If so, then such a tragedy hadn't befallen any of the murdered night guards as they had made no mention of it, but Freddy quickly concluded that it was a thought worth holding onto.

He then turned back to face both Jessica and David, speaking with sincerity.

"I am truly sorry for happened to you, and I know that your families would never forget you, mark my words, we'll set everything right if we can, after all wouldn't you do the same if our roles were reversed?"

His question caught them off guard, as the expressions of both suits quickly changed to one of confusion.

However, they were both quick to respond.

_"I. . .t d. . .o. . .e. . .s. . .n't m. . .a. . .t. . .t. . .e. . .r F. . .r. . .e. . .d. . .d. . .y, b. . .e. . .c. . .a. . .u. . .s. . .e i. . .t n. . .e. . .v. . .e. . .r h. . .a. . .p. . .p. . .e. . .n. . .e. . .d, a. . .n. . .d I k. . .n. . .o. . .w t. . .h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u a. . .r. . .e t. . .r. . .y. . .i. . .n. . .g t. . .o m. . .i. . .s. . .l. . .e. . .a. . .d u. . .s,"_ (It doesn't matter Freddy, because it never happened, and I know that you are trying to mislead us,) David remarked coldly, gesturing to Freddy in an accusing manner.

_"Y. . .o. . .u t. . .o. . .o. . .k m. . .e a. . .w. . . a. . .y f. . .r. . .o. . .m m. . .y f. . .a. . .m. . .i. . .l. . .y, a. . .n. . .d I c. . .a. . .n. . .n. . .o. . .t f. . .o. . .r. . .g. . .e. . .t t. . .h. . .e p. . .a. . .i. . .n t. . .h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u a. . .n. . .d t. . .h. . .e m. . .u. . .r. . .d. . .e. . .r. . .e. . .d c. . .h. . .i. . .l. . .d. . .r. . .e. . .n h. . .a. . .v. . .e p. . .u. . .t m. . .e t. . .h. . .r. . .o. . .u. . .g. . .h,"_ (You took me away from my family, and I cannot forget the pain that you and the murdered children have put me through), Jessica muttered softly, sounding both serious and crestfallen.

Then another prop suit, probably most likely Amy given her ballerina pose, spoke up.

_"S. . . t. . .i. . .l. . .l, a. . .f. . .t. . .e. . .r e. . .v. . . e. . .r. . .y. . .t. . .h. . .i. . .n. . .g w. . .e h. . .a. . .v. . .e b. . .e. . .e. . .n t. . .h. . .r. . .o. . .u. . .g. . .h t. . .h. . .i. . .s i. . .s a r. . .a. . .t. . .h. . .e. . .r f. . .i. . .t. . .t. . .i. . .n. . .g r. . .e. . .u. . .n. . .i. . .o. . .n,"_ (Still, after everything we have been through this is a rather fitting reunion,) she said in a tone of pure enjoyment, seeing to shift her gaze from one Fazbear to the other, monitoring their expressions through her unseen eyes.

_"I. . .t. . .i. . .s j. . .u. . .s. . .t y. . .o. . .u f. . .o. . .u. . .r, b. . .u. . .t t. . .h. . .a. . .t d. . .o. . .e. . .s. . .n. . .o. . .t m. . .a. . .t. . .t. . .e. . .r,"_ (It is just you four, but that does not matter,) she remarked eagerly.

_"I. . .t i. . .s a __d. . .e. . .c. . .e. . .n. . .t __s. . .t. . .a. . .r. . .t."_ (It is a decent start).

Then another of the possessed prop suits stepped forward, joining alongside Jessica and David, their aged metallic feet with their rusted and worn metallic/plastic covering scrapped the polished floor as they moved.

Out of its old battered voice box came a few signature words that neither Freddy, Bonnie, Chica or Foxy ever believed that they would hear again.

_"H. . .e. . .l. . .l. . .o. . .h. . .e. . .l. . .l. . .o, h. . .e. . .l. . .l. . .o__?"_ (Hello. . .hello, hello?)

Although the voice was scrambled and putting a strain on its voice box, those tell-tale words were more than enough to identity the voice's owner as Phone Guy. Well, that wasn't his real name, that instead being Stanley Wilson, but when he started to make training videos and keeping employees updated through phone messages, he had earned the nickname 'Phone Guy' and it forever stuck.

He had been the Fazbears' last kill and seeing him in person in this wretched state brought a feeling of great shame to all of four Fazbears, and to Chica especially.

_"I. . .t i. . .s s. . .o g. . .o. . .o. . .d t. . .o f. . .i. . .n. . .a. . .l. . .l. . .y s. . .e. . .e y. . .o. . .u a. . .g. . .a. . .i. . .n, a. . .f. . .t. . .e. . .r t. . .w. . .e. . .n. . .t. . .y y. . .e. . .a. . .r. . .s,"_ (It is so good to finally see you again, after twenty years), he said in a cheerful voice that almost sounded maddening as he spoke.

_"Y. . .e. . .t t. . .h. . .e. . .s. . .e a. . .r. . .e s. . .t. . .r. . .a. . .n. . .g. . .e c. . .i. . .r. . .c. . .u. . .m. . .s. . .t. . .a. . .n. . .c. . .e. . .s t. . .h. . .a. . .t h. . .a. . .v. . .e b. . .r. . .o. . .u. . .g. . .h. . .t u. . .s t. . .o. . .g. . .e. . .t. . .h. . .e. . .r."_ (Yet these are strange circumstances that have brought us together).

He took several more steps, forcing the rusted gears and joints of his legs to comply in his demands for movement, until he finally stood before all four Fazbears. Chica gazed into those vacant black holes for eyes, there wasn't anything physical to look at, but she could tell that there was probably a storm of various emotions swirling within them.

Alongside her feeling of shame, Chica did remind herself that it wasn't completely her fault that things had turned out this way, as she wasn't really in control of her actions at the time, but the nightguards were beyond caring. Such truths didn't stop them when they were hunting down Balloon Boy earlier.

Although it did stop one of them. . .Richard, when Rachel was able to convince him of hers, the other children and the Fazbears' innocence in this whole twisted mess.

Looking beyond Phone Guy, towards the various prop suits that stood to attention behind him, Chica could count at least twenty five prop suits being present, not thirty. For a moment she allowed her curiosity to dominate her thoughts.

Had the remaining five struggled to get through, or had Richard been able to convince them of Rachel's words and they had abandoned the group?

Had they even moved on?

She was tempted to ask, but Phone Guy had now directed his gaze solely onto her, as he knew that she was the one largely responsible for his demise, and her attention immediately shifted as his tone became dark.

_"I t. . .h. . .o. . .u. . .g. . .h. . .t t. . h. . .a. . .t w. . .e w. . .e. . .r. . .e f. . .r. . .i. . .e. . .n. . .d. . .s, b. . .e. . .f. . .o. . .r. . .e y. . .o. . .u s. . .t. . .u. . .f. . .f. . .e. . .d m. . .e i. . .n. . .s. . .i. . .d. . .e a d. . .e. . .g. . .r. . .a. . .d. . .e. . .d d. . .e. . .a. . .t. . .h t. . .r. . .a. . .p f. . .o. . .r l. . .a. . .u. . .g. . .h. . .s C. . .h. . .i. . .c. . .a."_ (I thought that we were friends, before you stuffed me inside a degraded death trap for laughs Chica.)

_"C. . .a. . .n y. . .o. . .u. . .r a. . .p. . .o. . .l. . .o. . .g. . .y g. . .i. . .v. . .e u. . .s b. . .a. . .c. . .k o. . .u. . .r l. . .i. . .v. . .e. . .s?"_ (Can your apology give us back our lives?)

Chica didn't answer and neither did anyone else, but they all knew the answer, which was a flat-out no. There were in life some acts that cannot be reversed no matter how you might wish for it. Its impact might fade with time, but its shadow would remain forever.

Staring back at Phone Guy, Chica could sense his inner mood, a growing maelstrom of dark emotions constantly nurtured by a ceaseless sensation of pain despite him being dead already.

It was easy for Chica and everyone else to imagine how these tortured souls envisioned ending their enteral torment. Most likely their thoughts heavily featured them brutally murdering their killers or stuffing them all into the same suits, as a gory form of karma.

_It could be so easily imagined in vivid detail. . ._

* * *

(Begin song here if you wish).

_We see the Fazbears dragging a blood-stained prop suit through the pizzeria's back door._

_They pull it towards a recently reopened pit that is dug deep into the earth._

_They hold the suit over the opening from all sides, before letting go and watching it fall._

_We see the prop suit land hard on top of other prop suits, as the pit's opening is resealed, locking it away in the dark._

"**Your foot, our necks. . ."**

_Vengeance will soon be at hand._

**"You held us down way too long, and it's time for reset."**

_In their minds, dark memories replay vividly._

**"And your cruel acts we can't forget."**

_They reach for the sky._

**"Tearing us down then building us up."**

_Nothing can erase what happened to them._

**"Keeping your hands clean from all that rust."**

_Vengeance is calling._

**"How long till you finally run out of luck?"**

**"Till we've had enough, till we've had enough."**

_We see Amy rising and twirling like a ballerina._

**"Of the roles, you make us play. . ."  
**

_They rise up, with a clear goal in mind._

**"Welcome to the after show!"**

_They grip the pit's walls and begin to climb upwards._

**"The time slot where we have control!"**

_Their mangled bodies tell their story._

**"Exclusive look behind the scenes. . ."**

_Their face plates open up._

**"Of how it feels. . ."**

_Showing naked rage._

**"TO ROT INSIDE THE MASK!"**

_Vengeance pushes them onwards._

**"Welcome to the after show!"**

_They keep on climbing._

**"Sit back, relax, we're in control. . ."**

_We see the possessed Fazbears torturing them._

**"You keep us displayed."**

_They laugh coldly._

**"For entertainment like it's a game."**

_Only to remove all evidence of their crime._

**"You cover up the bloodstains."**

_Yet, things are changing!_

**"Well, buckle up, 'cause it's time for a change!"**

_The prop suits keep on climbing._

**"Built for destruction, do what we must."**

_Forever lost to their families._

**"All thanks to you, forever unloved!"**

_Yet retribution is near._

**"How long till you finally run out of luck?"**

**"Till we've had enough, till we've had enough."**

_The roles will soon be reversed._

**"Of the roles, you make us play. . ."**

_The prop suits scream in their desire to break free._

**"Welcome to the after show!"**

_The tables will turn._

**"The time slot where we have control!"**

_They will let their feelings be known._

**"Exclusive look behind the scenes!"**

_The smell of decomposing flesh is overpowering._

**"Of how it feels. . ."**

_It fuels their rage._

**"TO ROT INSIDE THE MASK!"**

_They reach the pit's roof._

**"Welcome to the after show!"**

_They start to claw away at the dirt._

**"Sit back, relax, we're in control. . ."**

_We see decrepit metallic arms burst through the ground._

**"Creator, creator, what will you do?"**

_They pull themselves through the emerging holes._

**"When your creations come looking for you?"**

_More followed on from behind._

**"Creator, creator, what will you do?"**

_They stumble towards the pizzeria's backdoor._

**"When your creations come looking for you?"**

_They kick it wide open._

**"Creator, creator, what will you do?"**

_They wander through, searching for their killers._

**"When your creations come looking for you?"**

_They find the Fazbears in the dining area, altered by their presence._

**"Creator, creator, what will you do?"**

_The prop suits give into their bloodlust._

**"When your creations come. . .FOR YOU!"**

_They charge at the Fazbears, their rage allowing them to overcome their physical limitations as they outrun their murderers._

_Mellitic screams fill the air as they lay their hands on them. _

"**FOR YOU, FOR YOU!"**

_The Fazbears cry out in agony as they are viciously beaten to within an inch of their lives, fuelling the prop suits' newfound sadism._

"**WHEN YOUR CREATIONS COME. . ."**

_It is overpowering._

"**FOR YOU!"**

_There is no escape from their wrath as tables and chairs are overturned._

_Balloon Boy tires to escape from the chaos, but he is grabbed and viciously ripped apart by several prop suits, despite his screams._

"**FOR YOU, FOR YOU!"**

_Shrieks of pain and fury ring out as the walls are heavily splattered with blood stains and gore. _

_Blood drips from the prop suits' hands as they stand triumphant._

**"Welcome to the after show!"**

**(The after show).**

_Phone Guy grabs hold of a critically wounded Chica by the throat._

**"The time slot where we have control!"**

**(Control).**

_He lifts her up into the air._

**"Exclusive look behind the scenes!"**

_He opens up his faceplates._

**"Of how it feels. . ."**

_Showing Chica her crime._

**"TO ROT INSIDE THE MASK!"**

_Phone Guy smiles as he begins to choke her. . .slowly._

"**Welcome to the after show."**

_Seeing you powerless. . ._

_Is like music to me._

**"Sit back, relax, we're in control. . ." **

(The song ends).

* * *

Chica physically shuddered at the thought, it would be music for the night guards of course and in some sense she couldn't blame them for deeply desiring such a bloody outcome, as she had often harboured thoughts of doing the same to Vincent. Watching him bleed out as she stared into his eyes, seeing his inner light fade and finally after years of torment feel relaxed, knowing that the nightmare was finally over.

Yet such a prospect always seemed to be so elusive sadly and it only seemed to rope in more innocent people, creating a deadly cycle of vengeance upon vengeance that seemed to drive most people to the edge of their sanity and in the case of others like the night guards, it sent them straight in the jaws of madness.

However, there had to be a way to break free, to smash the cycle and liberate as many tortured souls as possible. Eventually in the amidst of her thoughts, Chica found her voice and gave a timid response. As the brutal memory of Phone Guy's death as shown by the security footage vividly replayed in her mind.

"You don't have to do this," she pleaded softly, her tone was sorrowful at best, but she was being honest with herself.

"The children have stained their hands in blood, we were just unwilling pawns, you don't need revenge to ascend, you can forgive and move on peacefully."

"There is another way, don't repeat the children's' mistakes, you can be better than them. . .better than us."

Everyone could see that Chica was being sincere and that she desperately wanted to avoid repeating the past. Yet in her heart she knew any plea for forgiveness was properly bound to fall on deaf ears.

_"I. . .f y. . .o. . .u h. . .o. . .p. . .e t. . .o p. . .e. . .r. . .s. . .u. . .a. . .d. . .e u. . .s t. . .h. . .a. . .t y. . .o. . .u a. . .r. . .e a. . .l. . .l i. . .n. . .n. . .o. . .c. . .e. . .n. . .t, t. . .h. . .e. . .n I w. . .o. . .u. . .l. . .d. . .n't w. . .a. . .s. . .t. . .e y. . .o. . .u. . .r b. . .r. . .e. . .a. . .t. . .h, w. . .e a. . .l. . .l c. . .a. . .m. . .e h. . .e. . .r. . .e f. . .o. . .r o. . .n. . e t. . .h. . .i. . .n. . .g a. . .n. . .d w. . .e a. . .r. . .e. . .n't l. . .e. . .a. . .v. . .i. . .n. . .g u. . .n. . .t. . .i. . .l w. . .e've h. . .a. . .d o. . .u. . .r v. . .e. . .n. . .g. . .e. . .a. . .n. . .c. . .e,"_ (If you hope to persuade us that you are all innocent, then I wouldn't waste your breath, we all came here for one thing and we aren't leaving until we've had our vengeance,) Phone Guy remarked coldly.

_"W. . .e a. . .r. . .e. . .n't l. . .i. . .k. . .e R. . .i. . .c. . .h. . .a. . .r. . .d, a. . .n. . .d h. . .i. . .s l. . .i. . .t. . .t. . .l. . .e g. . .r. . .o. . .u. . .p, w. . .h. . .o d. . .e. . .c. . .i. . .d. . .e. . .d a. . .l. . .l o. . .f a s. . .u. . .d. . .d. . .e. . .n t. . .o i. . .g. . .n. . .o. . .r. . .e t. . .h. . .e i. . .n. . .j. . .u. . .s. . .t. . .i. . .c. . .e t. . .h. . .a. . .t w. . .a. . .s d. . .e. . .a. . .l. . .t t. . .o u. . .s. H. . .e a. . .n. . .d h. . .i. . .s f. . .o. . .l. . .l. . .o. . .w. . .e. . .r. . .s a. . .r. . .e. . .n't h. . .e. . .r. . .e b. . .e. . .c. . .a. . .u. . .s. . .e w. . .e r. . .e. . .f. . .u. . .s. . .e. . .d t. . .o l. . .e. . .t h. . .i. . m c. . o. . .m. . .e a. . .l. . .o. . .n. . .g a. . .n. . .d r. . .u. . .i. . .n t. . .h. . .i. . .n. . .g. . .s."_ (We aren't like Richard, and his little group, who decided all of a sudden to ignore the injustice that was dealt to us. He and his followers aren't here because we refused to let him come along and ruin things).

Phone Guy then gestured to his chest, with his hand forming a tight fist.

_"T. . .h. . .e p. . .a. . .i. . .n, I c. . .a. . .n s. . .t. . .i. . .l. . .l f. . .e. . .e. . .l a. . .l. . .l o. . .f t. . .h. . .a. . .t p. . .l. . .a. . .s. . .t. . .i. . .c a. . .n. . .d m. . .e. . .t. . .a. . .l s. . .t. . .a. . .b. . .b. . .i. . .n. . .g m. . .e a. . .l. . .l o. . .v. . .e. . .r, I j. . .u. . .s. . .t w. . .a. . .n. . .t i. . .t t. . .o s. . .t. . .o. . .p a. . .n. . .d n. . .o. . .w f. . .i. . .n. . .a. . .l. . .l. . .y, w. . .e c. . .a. . .n b. . .e f. . .r. . .e. . .e!"_ (The pain, I can still feel all of that plastic and metal stabbing me all over, I just want it to stop and now finally, we can be free!)

Phone Guy's voice was sharp and vengeful, a stark contrast to his former demeanour before he dragged into this whole mess. He had been polite, humourful, friendly, a bit of a cynic and dedicated to his job. Thirty years of being undead had stripped all of that away from him, now he was entirely controlled by his darker emotions that were further amplified by the constant pain that afflicted his battered spirit.

Suddenly, Phone Guy's gaze harden and Chica felt immediately intimated by it, as Phone Guy spoke harshly.

_"Y. . .o. . .u r. . .e. . .m. . .e. . .m. . .b. . .e. . .r w. . .h. . .a. . .t h. . .a. . .p. . .p. . .e. . .n. . .e. . .d t. . .h. . .a. . .t n. . .i. . .g. . .h. . .t C. . .h. . .i. . .c. . .a?"_ (You remember what happened that night Chica?) he asked curiously, but his tone was venomous.

_"I h. . .e. . .a. . .r. . .d t. . .h. . .e r. . .u. . .m. . .o. . .u. . .r. . .s, b. . .u. . .t I n. . .e. . .v. . .e. . .r b. . .e. . .l. . .i. . .e. . .v. . .e. . .d f. . .o. . .r a m. . .o. . .m. . .e. . .n. . .t t. . .h. . .a. . .t a. . .n. . .y o. . .f i. . .t w. . .e. . .r. . .e t. . .r. . .u. . .e, u. . .n. . .t. . .i. . .l y. ..o. . .u t. . .h. . .r. . .e. . .w m. . .e i. . .n t. ..h. . .e d. . .e. . .e. ..p e. . .n. . d."_ (I heard the rumours, but I never believed for a moment that any of it were true, until you threw me in the deep end).

He then turned to face Foxy, then Bonnie and lastly Freddy.

_"I n. . .e. . .v. . .e. . .r k. . .n. . .e. . .w t. . .h. . .a. . .t a. . .n. . .y o. . .f y. . .o. . .u c. . .o. . .u. . .l. . .d b. . .e s. . .o c. . .r. . .u. . .e. . .l a. . .n. . .d I h. . .a. . .v. . .e b. . .e. . .e. . .n 'd. . .y. . .i. . .n. . .g' t. . .o r. . .e. . .t. . .u. . .r. . .n t. . .h. . .e f. . .a. . .v. . .o. . .u. . .r!"_ (I never knew that any of you could be so cruel and I have been 'dying' to return the favour!)

Internally, Foxy, Bonnie and Freddy could vividly remember the gruesome images that the security cameras had shown them and the twisted, broken state that they found Phone Guy in when they checked the Parts and Service the next morning. By then the sight of a mutilated corpse wasn't new to them anymore, but it didn't lessen their collective sense of shame and guilt in not being able to stop it. When the ghost children began to speak to them and described the dark depths of their hideous deeds, it only underlined how far they had all fallen. Yet of all of them, Chica felt the most shamed, for having been the one who had murdered Phone Guy.

Seeing the footage of her jump scaring Phone Guy right out of the office chair, proceeding to beat him raw and dislocating his right shoulder; before dragging him off to his meet his demise in a metallic death-trap. He begged and pleaded that he wasn't SpringBonnie, as Chica and the others accused him of the worst crimes imaginable. He had screamed when the springlocks had activated, slicing him open and impaling him from every angle, leaving him to painfully choke on his own blood for hours on end.

Yet Chica had stayed, peering into the confines of the suit, and whispering to dying innocent man about how liberating it felt to see a monster suffer a fate so agonising. The others had stayed as well, but Susie, the ghost child possessing Chica felt a particular urge to make things personal, hoping that somehow this time, the curse would be broken, that Purple Guy would truly die and she would finally be able to leave.

"I'm sorry," Chica mumbled tearfully, wanting to display her innocence and sincere regret with how so many innocents had become tangled in this never ending hell.

"We didn't know."

Yet Phone Guy merely dismissed her concerns and his vengeful tone made it clear that he was not here to forgive.

_"I d. . .i. . .d. . .n't k. . .n. . .o. . .w e. . .i. . .t. . . h. . .e. . .r C. . .h. . .i. . .c. . .a, b. . .u. . .t t. . .h. . .a. . .t d. . .i. . .d. . .n't m. . .a. . .t. . .t. . .e. . .r t. . .o y. . .o. . .u o. . .r t. . .h. . .e c. . .h. . .i. . .l. . .d. . .r. . .e. . .n a. . .n. . .d n. . .o. . .w t. . .h. . .e t. . .a. . .b. . .l. . .e. . .s h. . .a. . .v. . .e b. . .e. . .e. . .n t. . .u. . .r. . .n. . .e. . .d."_ (I didn't know either Chica, but that didn't matter to you or the children and now the tables have been turned.)

Just then Jessica reached forward and grasped Bonnie's face, the latter physically shivered, feeling the cold metal touch of Jessica's fingers as she stroked her cheeks.

_"I c. . .a. . .n f. . .e. . .e. . .l y. . .o. . .u. . .r p. . .u. . .l. . .s. . .e B. . .o. . .n. . .n. . .i. . .e, y. . .o. . .u're w. . .a. . .r. . .m, a. . .l. . .i. . .v. . .e, w. . .h. . .e. . .r. . .e. . .a. . .s I a. . .m n. . .o. . .t," _(I can feel your pulse Bonnie, you're warm, still alive, whereas I am not,) she muttered scornfully, with her faceplates shifting back and forth as Bonnie stared back with wide eyes, feeling nothing but terror.

Jessica's mechanical mouth twisted into something akin to a smile, whispering coldly.

_"S. . .o m. . .u. . .c. . .h f. . .e. . .a. . .r, a s. . .t. . .r. . .o. . .n. . .g d. . .e. . .s. . .i. . .r. . .e t. . .o l. . .i. . .v. . .e, I w. . .a. . .s l. . .i. . .k. . .e y. . .o. . .u o. . .n. . .c. . .e."_ (So much fear, a strong desire to live, I was like you once.)

She leaned in closer, examining Bonnie in great detail, as the latter looked beyond horrified.

_"L. . .e. . .t m. . .e s. . .h. . .o. . .w y. . .o. . .u h. . .o. . .w t. . .o b. . .r. . .e. . .a. . .k y. . .o. . .u. . .r f. . .a. . .c. . .e a. . .n. . .d l. . .o. . .o. . .k l. . .i. . .k. . .e m. . .e!"_ (Let me show you how to break your face and look like me!) Jessica hissed murderously. In that moment Freddy reached over, aiming to pull Bonnie away from Jessica, but the latter had other ideas.

Suddenly, Jessica's faceplates flew wide open, revealing the ghastly sight of a human skull impaled by endoskeleton parts. Thick metal wires had been stabbed into the side of her head, wrapping its shape, bloody and torn pieces of plastic had been forcefully shoved into her own eyes. Bonnie could see Jessica's voice box, with it having painfully crushed her real one, when the springlocks had gone off and severed her vocal cords. Jessica's entire face was a mixture of metal coated in dry blood stains and ripped plastic, making the suit a true iron maiden as the suit's endoskeleton had quite literally been forced into her body.

Bonnie was beyond terrified by the mere sight of it, she instinctively leapt backwards towards Chica, who looked equally horrified and covered her nose to hold back the overpowering smell of rotting flesh and decaying limbs. She could feel the instinctive urge to vomit as her stomach twisted in reaction to the horrific smell. Freddy felt the desire to gag, but he was able to restrain himself, also stepping back in quick succession. He looked horrified at the sight of what thirty years had done to Jessica, he knew what happened, but to see it up close and personal was the literal stuff of nightmares.

BB hadn't spared them any details in his retelling of his experience, but this was beyond the realm of fear. Foxy looked afraid as he immediately backed away in alarm. This is in part was what he had dreaded since BB's recollection of events, and the mere sight of a decomposing skeleton in a degraded metallic suit made his heartbeat turn into a marathon.

As Foxy gazed around, seeing the other possessed prop suits also open up their faceplates, he could see the cold smiles of delight on the faces of the possessed animatronics. This is exactly what they wanted, to push the knife back into an old wound and watch it bleed.

Foxy only then just noticed that Lefty had in fact moved closer, now standing alongside Phone Guy as he eyed them all with a look of sinister mischief.

"Why are you doing this?!" Foxy yelled, in a tone that sounded more desperate than he would have liked, but he got Lefty's attention, as well as everyone else's.

"What do you want out of this?!"

Lefty gave Foxy a knowing smile, before responding with.

"Entertainment Foxy, and to drive home a point that the tables have fully been turned, it's time for you to face the past."

Then his expression immediately hardened becoming cold and serious.

"There will be answers very soon, but nothing is ever so simple when everything finally falls into place, trust me."

Foxy was about to answer, hell he was prepared to rush up to Lefty and by some means interrogate him harshly for answers, preferably by ripping the animatronic apart and brutally torturing the Nightmare within.

However, Lefty cut him off before he could speak.

"Shhhh," he whispered sternly, putting a finger to his lips as his sole yellow pupil seemed to glow.

"The show will begin momentarily, for not all of the guests have arrived. . .yet."

Then Dee Dee spoke up, singing in a cheerful tune.

"How unfortunate, uh oh, how unfortunate uh oh!"

She then gestured to the whole room, looking very mischievous as she sang.

"I'm gonna do a sneaky thing and throw a new contender in the ring."

Suddenly, no sooner had those words left Dee Dee's mouth there was a big flash of white light that blinded everyone.

BANG!

Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy groaned in pain as they covered their eyes, the light was so bright that it physically stung them, threatening to overload their Possessed Prop Suits also looked away, shrieking in irritation at the intense brightness as they shielded their eyes. Even the host of soulless animatronics looked away, so not to be rendered blind. Only the possessed animatronics refused to look away, in fact they looked unfazed by the whole ordeal.

Finally, though the white light died down and then vanished into nothing.

_Although something had changed. . ._

When Freddy lowered his hands from his eyes, he was met with a startling sight.

Immediately, he felt a cauldron of emotions, surprise, shock, recognition, dread, even fear and then anger.

His eyes narrowed in contempt as did Bonnie, Chica and Foxy's.

_"How can this be possible?"_ Freddy thought, feeling completely bewildered.

_"How!"_

* * *

For the past twenty or so minutes, Goldie had been keeping a close eye on the Originals, stretching himself into their dreams through a physical connection as he pressed his hand against Freddy's forehead.

He had wisely kept a safe distance, being able to feel the emotions of the Originals, but not stray too far to alert his presence to the Nightmares. So far, it had worked, and he had only ventured out a bit to detect the presence of the night guards before quickly retreating to relative safety.

He believed that they lacked proper awareness of how the dreamworld functioned to notice his presence. In truth, Goldie wasn't all too surpised that they had been brought in, but it did invoke feelings of shame and regret in him, feeling their anger rippling outwards like a forest fire that refused to stop burning.

Now he was venturing forth again, having sensed a wave of negative emotions from all four Fazbears, but it was their sense of recognition that had made him curious.

Slowly, Goldie casted himself forward, feeling as he went.

He carefully avoided the nearby presence of the Nightmares and casually bypassed the night guards, sensing that the source of the Originals' aghast lay beyond either group. Goldie stretched out further, seeming to encounter nothing so far. He was worried for if he continued any further it would increase the risk of the Nightmares detecting him, and then everything would be thrown into chaos.

Then. . .Goldie reached it, or rather he felt it.

And he immediately recognised it, his eyes went wide, alive with dread, as he felt shock rise up his spine. Instantly he retreated and fled back towards the presence of the Originals before fully returning himself to the physical world.

"BB!" he yelled, turning back towards the bedroom door, the panic in his voice was very evident.

Soon there came the fast footsteps of Balloon Boy as he raced into the room, practically throwing the door wide open as it hit the wall with a solid thud.

"Yes Goldie, is it time?" he asked, his face expressing nothing but dreaded anticipation.

Goldie quickly nodded.

"Yes, something unexpected has happened, quickly get everyone in here now!"

Immediately, Balloon Boy turned round and legged it down the hallway, calling everyone to attention with great urgency. Goldie turned back to look at the Originals as they lay asleep on the bed. They all seemed to be at peace if you didn't know where their dreams had taken them.

Goldie exhaled deeply, dispelling his inner tension.

_"How is that even possible?"_ he mentally asked himself, feeling a chill creep up his spine.

_"And more to the point, why?"_

Although he knew that there was only one way to gain answers and the opportunity to do so lay right out before him, it was like an invitation.

Behind him, Goldie could hear the swift footsteps of the others converging in on the bedroom, he narrowed his eyes in determination.

_"The show will finally begin,"_ he declared to himself, mentally preparing for the ordeal that lay ahead.

_"And it shall truly be the show of a lifetime. . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But like with any 'show' the unexpected can occur from any angle. ;-)  
Everyone's anger towards the terrible situation that they find themselves in, and those whom they deem responsible is justified to varying degrees as shown. It is really just a question of how far one would go in order to break free from it all, and in FNAF any price is worth paying.  
Thank you for reading and please review, I appreciate your thoughts. :-)


	51. A Troubled Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, here is Chapter 51 at last!
> 
> Hopefully, this wasn't too long a wait for new content, a massive thank you to those who have read so far and for those who have also left Kudos, it's deeply appreciated. :-)
> 
> There is no song for this chapter as there is enough content to enjoy without overhyping things. Plus I want to keep the chapter below a certain word limit.
> 
> I'm looking forward to getting the 'Step Closer' Fazbear Fright book when it releases next month, it should be a blast!
> 
> I heard about Scott changing things with Funko when they leaked the action figures for Security Breach. Dammit Funko, you could not keep a secret until the launch date, that's all we ask!
> 
> Apologies for any grammar mistakes and do please enjoy.

**Chapter 51**

**A Troubled Mind.**

_**"** **There is something bad inside of me."**_

_ **"** **I am broken."** _

_ **"I can't be fixed."** _

**Circus Baby from FNAF Sister Location Night 5.**

_"Who are you exactly?"_ the boy asked in a demanding tone, sounding both worried and curious, if it were possible.

_"And what are you all doing here?" _

Springtrap didn't know how to react to the boy's demands for answers, other than to stare back at him with a confused if not shocked expression.

Slowly, he pushed himself off the bedroom wall and straighten out his posture. The children merely stood to attention, also staring at Tommy with a collective blank expression.

_"Why are you all here?"_ the boy asked again, not dropping his demand and now he sounded more assertive, seeing that none of them seemed to pose a direct threat to him.

_"What do you want?"_

He refused to relent in his questioning, sounding more confident as he spoke each time.

Seeing there to be no danger in answering, Springtrap stepped forward, looking sincere as he spoke so not to frighten the boy.

"I am Springtrap, otherwise called SpringBonnie and-"

_"SpringBonnie!"_ the boy immediately replied, cutting Springtrap off with a tone of instant recognition, yet he still eyed Springtrap cautiously. However, Springtrap continued although he made sure to remember the moment, having gained his interest.

"We mean you no harm, we didn't know that this place was your home, we only came in here looking for something from my past."

He felt that an honest explanation was the best one and the boy didn't seem to be an evil spirit in disguise hoping to lure him into a false sense of security only to then lash and consume his soul.

After all this was Limbo and appearances could be deceitful.

The boy continued to stare at him suspiciously, even as the other children came forward to support Springtrap's case.

_"It's true, we only came here to find answers to a problem that constantly plagues us, we mean you no harm,"_ Gabriel said warmly, gesturing to everyone else around him.

_"We won't harm you, trust us we aren't monsters,"_ Susie stated calmly.

_"We're just like you, we cannot move on,"_ Charlie remarked plainly.

_"For now. . ."_

They didn't need to go into detail, but it should be enough to win the boy over.

The boy seemed to relax his posture a little, dropping his suspicions, but he still looked unsure.

_"You need to leave,"_ he said firmly, clutching his Fredbear plushie tightly to his chest as a form of reassurance.

_"Right now,"_ his voice quickly became stern, but he didn't narrow his eyes as one would expect.

_"You cannot stay here, regardless of what you seek."_

_"Why do we need to leave so urgently?"_ Springtrap asked, although he knew that this house held a dark nature, but so far, they hadn't encountered anything that had forced them into a hasty retreat.

_"What it is about this place that requires us to leave immediately?"_ he asked again, slowly stepping forward, although he didn't intend to intimidate the boy and put him under pressure to answer.

The boy in question further gripped his Frebear plushie, a sign of nervousness. Yet he continued to speak in a stern tone, but it seemed unnatural with his tense body language.

_"This place isn't friendly to newcomers who come in uninvited, the longer you stay the more aggressive it will become."_

_"It would be best if you all leave now and be spared the dreadful conquences of staying."_

The boy's blue eyes darted from the doorway to the closet before swiftly returning to Springtrap and the other children.

_"This house isn't as empty as it first appears. . ."_

_"We know that this place isn't safe, that there is a cold vibe to it, we've felt it since we first entered the house,"_ Charlie remarked observantly.

_"Trust me, we're well aware of the risk we're taking by being here, although it is because one of us here."_ He immediately looked towards Springtrap with an expression that can be described as annoyed, even if it was meant in a playful manner.

_"Has a hunch that there's something in here which can unravel the mysteries of our tormented past, and he usually isn't wrong on these things."_

_"Thanks Charlie, I'll take your words as a compliment,"_ Springtrap thought sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He started to look around as there was no immediate sign of any danger, although he did take the boy's warning seriously.

However, if the house didn't want them to be here, then why hadn't it stopped them yet?

It had opened the boy's bedroom door when it was within their sight, like it wanted them to enter. Cassidy had pointed out such a likelihood when it had happened.

Putting things together Springtrap did suspect a trap was being laid for them and the boy's warnings couldn't be anything less than genuine. Although the boy's existence in of itself did raise additional questions that immediately took centre stage in Springtrap's mind. Yet Cassidy beat him to it when she approached him, with a look of curiosity.

The boy in return looked warry with Cassidy being so close to him as she stared back. Her brown eyes gazing deep into his blue. It was clear that she was trying to figure something out as she tilted her head for a better look, only then for her eyes to suddenly go wide.

_"It's him, he's the boy from the picture, the one about Fredbear and Friends remember!"_ she exclaimed, pointing at the boy, whilst turning back to face the others.

_"Hey, you're right, it is, the resemble is a clear match!"_ Sammy yelled in his astonishment.

_"It is him, the boy from the photo!"_ Gabriel remarked, sounding excited at the prospect from having actually found something in this mausoleum maze of a house.

Immediately, a dozen questions came forth from the excited children like a constant artillery bombardment as they started to crowd around the boy, unnerving him further.

_"Who are you?"_

_"What is your name?"_

_"Why do you look so sad in the picture?"_

_"What is Fredbear and Friends?"_

_"How did you die?"_

_"Why can't you move on?"_

_"Why is this house unfriendly to visitors?"_

Yet Springtrap stepped forward, gently pushing each child aside, the act made them ceased their questions.

"You're not letting answer anything and you're all crowding him at once, give him space," he said calmly, although there was an undertone of sternness in his voice to help make his point clear.

Springtrap approached the boy, before getting down onto his knees so he was eye level with him.

"Ok, small steps first, what is your name?" he asked calmly, trying to look as non-hostile as possible so not to unnerve the boy any further.

Th boy seemed unsure on whether to answer, contorting his face as he internally debated the matter.

"There's no harm in telling us your name," Springtrap muttered softly, it was at this point that the other children joined in, announcing their names.

_"I'm Sammy."_

_"I'm Susie."_

_"I'm Cassidy."_

_"I'm Gabriel."_

_"And I'm Charlie."_

Their display of openness, seemed to finally compel the boy to give an answer, but he was clearly reluctant in his tone.

_"Tommy, that's my name,"_ he mumbled, unwilling to go any further.

"Tommy, that's a nice name," Springtrap said warmly, he reached out to pat Tommy on the shoulder, but the boy gave him a look that amounted to, "please. . .don't."

Springtrap retracted his hand, before sighing deeply, feeling his bunny ears drop, he knew that the boy was indeed the one from the picture, but his withdrawn nature meant that he was unlikely to give any detailed answers.

Looking upwards at Tommy, Springtrap's attention was drawn to the plushie of Fredbear that the boy held protectively in his hands.

"You know Fredbear?" he asked, striking a causal tone.

Tommy looked a little unsure, but he slowly nodded.

_"Yes, he's my favoutive out of all the Fazbear gang."_

Out of the corner of his vision, Springtrap could spy out four docile plushies of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy, all situated against the bed's pillow, sitting attentively.

It was then that he noticed that there was also a plushie of himself present, positioned just between the Freddy and Chica plushies. It sported bright green eyes whilst in a purple waistcoat with golden coloured trousers and sleeves. His old showtime costume, back when it had seen better days, compared to the worn-out version that he currently wore with its faded colours only signifying old age.

Time had not been kind to his clothes, when he got back to the real world, he would make sure to wash them thoroughly so to reclaim some of their lost glory.

Yet Springtrap quickly returned to the matter at hand, putting his thoughts to one side as he brought up an earlier observation.

"You immediately recognised me as SpringBonnie, was that because I was at Fredbear and Friends?" he asked cautiously.

Tommy slowly nodded before answering with.

_"I remember seeing you on stage preforming, you were always my second favoutive."_

Springtrap internally smiled at Tommy's words, but he remained focused.

"What do you know about Fredbear and Friends?" he enquired, expressing interest as he spoke.

Tommy looked hesitant, although surely there wasn't anything threatening in Springtrap's question for him to withhold answers. . .was there?

_"Why would it matter what I know?"_ he said ambivalently.

"_You can't stay here long and how would what I know possibly help you?"_

Tommy's voice wasn't dismissive, even though it might contain that edge, but it was clear that he didn't want either Springtrap or the children to remain.

So Springtrap decided to fully come clean, hoping that he might be able to buy Tommy over.

"You were at Fredbears and Friends and even though that's me on stage in that picture, I was in fact never there."

All look of scepticism vanished from Tommy's face to be replaced by confusion.

_"What?"_ he asked, unsure of whether to believe Springtrap's words.

"Trust me it's true, I have absolutely no recollection of Fredbear and Friends, because I was put into a medically induced coma back in 1979. The SpringBonnie in that picture isn't really me and I don't know why another version of me exists," Springtrap said sound genuine in his surprise.

"I want to know why, seeing that picture of you at Fredbear and Friends is what brought me here and you are that boy Tommy, I just hope that you might be able to fill the gaps."

Tommy's gaze drifted from Springtrap to that of the floor, exhaling as he did.

_"We all want to know what Fredbear and Friends was?"_ Susie remarked warmly, although it sounded like a plea.

_"We won't be staying long, we just want some answers as your life seems to be tied to ours somehow,"_ Sammy said plainly.

_"It. . .was a restaurant,"_ Tommy finally answered, although he still sounded reluctant, yet he continued.

_"You were there SpringBonnie as was Fredbear, you often preformed on stage, it was a place of fun. . .well, it was supposed to be. . ."_

Tommy then trailed off, evidently his words held more meaning than he was willing to say, something which tugged at Springtrap's curiosity.

"What happened to it, because in my time, all other locations have been shut down?" he asked.

Tommy looked up to look at Springtrap, now he looked surprised.

_"They're all shut down?"_ he questioned, sounding very unsure and confused.

"All of them are, there is nothing left of Freddy Fazbear's, other than the actual Fazbears, whom I know actually on a personal level," Springtrap replied plainly, although he felt a sense of loss with the closure of everything to do with his former life as an entertainer.

Tommy's blue eyes lit up with sudden interest.

_"You know the Fazbears, is Fredbear still alive?"_ he asked eagerly.

"Yes, he is, they all are in fact," Springtrap answered smiling, nodding his head as he did.

_"Then how did you die?"_ Tommy enquired, sounding sorrowful.

Springtrap lowered his head, his smile fading as Tommy then turned to face the other children, eyeing them curiously.

_"How did you all die, was it at once, hence why you are all together?"_ he asked curiously, but with a tone of sadness.

Charlie wrapped his arms around himself, choosing to speak for the other children.

_"We all died at separate moments, but we all met our demise at the hands of the same man,"_ he said nonchalantly, but his eyes reflected a serious expression that was haunted by countless years of trauma and regret.

_"He pretended to be our friend, luring us away from our families on the promise of fun and games, only to then kill us in cold blood, smiling whilst he held the knife."_

_"Do you know what it is like to feel the hurt of betrayal, the sudden realisation that you are in grave danger and that your immediate death is staring back at you, whilst you are helpless to prevent it?"_ he asked slowly, his choice of words had clearly unnerved Tommy, as the latter further hugged his plushie of Fredbear for comfort.

_"A little, in a way,"_ he replied cautiously, gazing back at Charlie with a warry expression. His eyes flickered across to the other children, seeing the same gloomy and sorrowful look in their faces.

Tommy then returned his gaze to Springtrap, asking once again in great curiosity.

_"How did you die SpringBonnie, what happened to you?"_

Springtrap sighed, remembering the past moment well when he fought against Nightmare Fredbear in a desperate attempt to free Goldie.

"I died, saving Fredbear from a monster version of himself."

He could remember his encounter with Nightmare Fredbear vividly, the chase, the tension. The nightmare's voice and laughter, as he hounded Springtrap to no end other than for pure sport.

"_A monster?"_ Tommy asked curiously, but he quickly withdrew as his eyes seemed to shift away from Springtrap. . .towards the open right doorway.

"_A monster version of Fredbear,"_ he muttered, more to himself than anyone else, but he did seem to understand Springtrap's words. He also looked tense as if he knew something, or at the very least suspected something ominous.

Springtrap followed his gaze, looking at the open doorway, did he suspect something?

Were they being watched?

Was there something here in this house that was causing Tommy to be reluctant in what he would say?

If so, then he seemed to be aware of its presence and that it was equally aware of what was causing place. It was like an invisible hand that had clapped itself around Tommy's throat, forbidding him to speak any further.

Instinctively, without needing to be told, Susie and Gabriel both headed towards the right doorway. Susie grabbed hold of the handle, whilst Gabriel kept watch, staring out into the pitch darkness.

Gabriel could feel himself shiver, the cold feeling in this house seemed to have intensified as though it strongly disapproved of their presence, which would be in line with what Tommy had just told them.

Equally, Susie gazed around, looking out into the dark hallway in which the light from Tommy's bedroom only penetrated so far. Even the nature in which the light fell felt unnatural, the way the darkness seemed to be bending itself around the light's rays, keeping it at bay and allowing the shadows to linger.

There was a tense uneasiness as Susie felt her stomach form knots, not feeling such a sensation since. . .darker times. She felt on edge as if she knew that something dangerous may leap out of the shadows at her.

Were they indeed being watched by unseen eyes?

Quickly, Susie closed the door shut, not wanting to wait and see if her fears were indeed true and Gabriel released a sigh of relief.

Yet when Gabriel looked back at the other children, he could read a deep sense of uncertainty in their faces.

Springtrap felt as though they were on a timer. He needed to quickly to gain answers from Tommy, turning back to face the boy as he spoke.

"What happened at Fredbear and Friends? If it's horrific, you can tell me, I am no stranger to it," he said calmly, trying to make Tommy feel at ease.

Tommy looked nervous, but he answered, even though his voice was low and despite his obvious reluctance.

_"There was an accident at the restaurant, something bad happened."_

He tightly cradled his Fredbear plushie in a comforting motion.

"You can trust me Tommy, I just want to know and what you tell me may help us uncover the mysteries of our past and fix everything," Springtrap said reassuringly, trying to make Tommy more willing to talk.

As Springtrap spoke, the other children had taken the opportunity to walk about the room, heading for either the closet or the left side door, both of which lay wide open.

Cassidy examined the closet, she didn't like how imposing it was, the way it towered over the bed with its large shutters.

There was something of a menacing quality to it that frighten her, the closet's design felt unnatural, as it was far too big for a child's bedroom. Given its large size it was perfect for someone to hide inside, be it a child or an adult. . .like that was a deliberate reason for its existence. Even with the lights being on in Tommy's room it was too dark to see all the way inside.

Yet it wasn't empty as she soon discovered.

Looking down at the floor Cassidy's eyes found a foxy plushie, only it wasn't one of Foxy, nor was it clothed in a pirate costume. Instead it was clothed in a pretty white dress with pinkish ribbons, plus its fox ears were a mixture of white and pink, even though much like Foxy himself it sported yellow eyes.

Curiously, Cassidy reached forward and gently took hold of the plushie, examining it.

To feel its soft fur against her fingers brought back memories of her old life when she was alive and didn't know the suffering of being unable to feel anything excluding the times when she was possessing her vessel Toy Chica.

Yet in this house, she was as human as she had been on her last day of life. It felt as satisfying as it was creepy, but Cassidy brushed her concerns to one side, wanting to linger in the moment.

Upon closer inspection it was clear that the plushie belonged to Mangle. Yet why was it in the closet and not on the bed with all the other Fazbear plushies?

Cassidy stared at the plushie in wonder, unsure as to whether she should just leave it here or place it with the other plushies.

Meanwhile Sammy and Charlie had moved over to the left side doorway, Sammy gripped the handle as Charlie gaze out into the surrounding darkness, keeping watch.

Compared to the right side doorway the left one wasn't completely empty as Charlie observed. The darkness was strong, cloaking just about everything beyond the light's reach, seeming to be holding the light itself at bay like it was an actual physical wall. Yet Charlie could spy out some pictures hanging on the far wall and although he couldn't fully make them out, he presumed that they were pictures of Tommy's home life.

However, given the heighten atmosphere and sense of being watched, he wasn't willing to walk out and examine the pictures for fear of the unknown. Sammy merely closed the door, completely shutting out the dark and any potential would be listeners. The closing of both bedroom doors didn't seem to alleviate Tommy's outward expression of discomfort.

"What happened at the restaurant, what was the bad thing that happened there?" Springtrap asked again, still in a reassuring tone, although he was painfully conscious of being on borrowed time.

Tommy now looked pained as he seemed to be fighting with himself on whether or not to speak, but he eventually seemed to come through, uttering in a single sentence with a nervous tone.

_"I died. . .I died in Fredbear's jaws."_

Immediately Springtrap's green greyish eyes went fully wide with both shock and confusion.

"What?" he stammered, unsure if he had understood Tommy's words correctly.

Surely, he had misheard, hadn't he?

Yet the children clearly hadn't misheard, evident by their reactions as they all turned to look in his direction. Their faces were a mixture of both naked shock and horror.

_"Fredbear. . .killed you?"_ Gabriel asked nervously.

Tommy turned to look at him, his face was crestfallen.

_"In a sense,"_ he mumbled softly.

_"It was my older brother really; he was pulling one of his pranks on me like he occasionally did."_

_"I was having my birthday party at Fredbear and Friends in May 1983, my father took there regularly as he worked there,"_ he remarked, although he looked depressed, despite sounding reflective.

Then he smiled slightly.

_"I did like the restaurant, seeing Fredbear and SpringBonnie preform and all. . .but."_

His smile immediately faltered, evident of his inner pain.

_"My older brother would never stop bullying me, no matter where I went, he and his friends would always find me."_

Tommy gently cradled the plushie of Fredbear in his hands, even he seemed to be in a great deal of emotional pain through having to relive the memory.

_"They always treated me like I was sport, regardless of what I did."_

_"On the day of my party, I was left alone for one moment, then, my brother and his friends suddenly ganged up on me and for a laugh, proceeded to shove me into Fredbear's jaws and. . ."_

Tommy began to look hesitant, becoming more and more shaken with each passing second, he began to psychically tremble.

"_The screaming, I tried to get out, but I couldn't, Fredbear was too strong. . ."_

He was evidently feeling the psychological trauma of such an event as he gripped his head, dropping his plushie of Fredbear in the act.

_"They were laughing at me, giggling, and pointing as I called out for help, but no one came. . .no one came to help me."_

Whilst Tommy painfully retold the story of his untimely demise and it was beyond evident that doing so was bringing up a lot of emotional agony, Springtrap was going through a variety of emotions on his own. He felt profound shock, confusion, then dread at the prospect of Goldie having harmed someone unintentionally, before finally settling on the feeling of conviction.

_"Fredbear wouldn't dare harm anyone, especially a child,_" he mentally commented, but he couldn't deny Tommy's words, but in all likelihood, what had probably occurred was simply a tragic accident.

Yet he could clearly see the agony in Tommy's face as he spoke, vividly reliving each moment.

Tommy had never left this tortured mindset, much like the other children and most likely the Fazbears themselves, although properly to varying degrees. Yet it was clear beyond doubt that Tommy's emotional baggage was an anchor that kept him pinned in Limbo.

At least it was one anchor that Springtrap could see.

Springtrap could feel his own thoughts twisting back and forth in confused mass as he pondered further.

_"Did Goldie feel shame about this incident, yet why did he seem ok with telling me about the other children and the other Fazbear locations, was because he wasn't somewhat responsible for what happened?"_

Every question that his mind created only ended up giving birth to more.

_"Wait, since when did Goldie have a jaw that was large enough to fit a small child's head?"_

_"Also, why didn't Goldie stop, surely he would have done everything possible to save a child?"_

In the end, Springtrap found himself left with only one conclusion.

Whatever happened to Tommy must have somehow been beyond Goldie's ability to control.

It was only explanation that made any sense given Goldie's nature and Springtrap knew him well.

Tommy meanwhile was still talking, and he looked physically shaken as though reliving the traumatic memory was actually taking a visible toll on him.

_"The pressure kept on building and no matter how hard I screamed Fredbear wouldn't let me go, he didn't stop performing."_

_"He wouldn't stop!"_

He paced back and forth on the spot, becoming further lost in his emotional outburst. It was now obvious to everyone how much emotional trauma he seemed to contain within himself.

_"I could feel blood running down my head, it felt as though my bones were on fire!"_

_"My brother and his friends was still laughing, they didn't seem to realise the danger I was in. . .or maybe they just didn't care!"_

He became more and more hysterical as his story finally reached its climax.

_"All I remember next, was the sound of a deafening crunch, an immense pain, everything went black and I was falling, but the pain still remained, constantly rippling against my skull like waves!"_

The children gazed back at him with a collective expression of dismay, sorrow, shock and above all pity.

This tortured soul who like them had done nothing wrong and yet had ended up in the bowls of death. Yet unlike themselves, Tommy most likely had not fallen into the abyss and be plagued by the guilt of his past actions.

Tommy kept on speaking, now evidently panicking.

_"I can't get out of here, they won't leave me, they won't let me go!"_

_"They, whose they exactly?"_ Charlie thought, as his eyes narrowed, whilst trying to determine the mysterious of those responsible for Tommy's imprisonment.

Then Tommy fell onto his knees, still gripping his head, but he seemed in immense pain, gritting his teeth and seemingly unable to speak any further.

His mere expression of agony promoted several of the children to back away, scared by the visual display of Tommy's torment.

Susie was keen to remain by the right side wall, she looked horrified by what she was seeing, daring not to approach Tommy out of fear of him lashing out. Similarly, Gabriel backed off, not wanting to be close to Tommy as he cried out in extreme pain.

_"You shouldn't have come here; they will find you!"_ Tommy screamed, unable to shake off his pain.

Cassidy had remained where she was, standing around the closet, she wished that she could do something to help alleviate Tommy's pain, but nothing came to mind.

He was right though, they had to leave, before this house fully turns on them. Cassidy had felt uneasy from the moment she felt a cold presence upon stepping into this place. The way the door to Tommy's bedroom had opened only further cemented her suspicions. She bit her lip, briefly enjoying the sensation as she hadn't done so since she was last alive decades ago, but she concentrated on trying to make sense of all this chaos. All the while Tommy continually howled in pain before her eyes.

Sammy had backed up against the blue chest of drawers that stood alongside the closet. He could only stare at the unfolding scene with a look of immense dread, fearing that Tommy's cries would immediately be picked up by whatever monsters lurked within this labyrinth of a house.

Charlie expressed nothing but pure pity. He wanted to help the child and free him from his ceaseless torment, yet he knew that in this case he was far out of his league, as he was when he transferred the children's souls into that of the Fazbears. Given how that turned out, he wasn't particularly willing to risk messing things up further with Tommy.

Yet Springtrap intervened, getting down on his knees and grabbing hold of Tommy by the shoulders, trying to stabilise him somehow.

Yet when he met Tommy's eyes, he immediately felt confused and deeply concerned.

Tommy's eyes which were usually blue were now flickering to red, switching back and forth between the two colours in a rapid motion and the very act seemed to cause Tommy agony. He seemed unable to end his inner turmoil.

_"You. . .should. . .leave. . .right now!"_ he hissed, his voice being a mixture of both concern and panic.

_"You. . .have. . .your. . .answers. . .now go!"_

Springtrap knew that Tommy was right, but only to an extent, he wanted to find out more. There had to be more to this, what exactly happened back in 1983?

There are had to be more to that event and more to this house than Tommy was willing to let on.

Springtrap had to find out for his own sake and for everyone else, especially if it could somehow lead him to being able to stop Tommy's torment and free everybody from this awaking nightmare.

He needed answers, but Tommy was clearly unable to give them and he had been largely unwilling to go any further beyond basic answers out of fear of telling them too much.

Why though?

Was there something in this house that didn't want him to speak?

Tommy's warnings on this house not tolerating their presence was an obvious hint and it was more than likely that he wasn't the house's only occupant.

Yet, his reluctance to speak gave Springtrap the strong impression that Tommy felt that someone or something was watching him. That they knew the subject that Springtrap was asking about and didn't want Tommy to give away any important information. In fact, he had looked towards the door when Springtrap had mentioned having to fight a monster version of Fredbear, who was actually Nightmare Fredbear.

The look of understanding that Tommy had given when he looked at the open doorway. Could it be that Tommy saw a connection, a familiarity that caused him to seem uneasy?

Quickly, Springtrap turned his attention towards the Fredbear plushie, noting once more its clothes. The colour purple and wearing a golden suit, whilst sporting both a purple bowtie and top hat, those were indeed the main features of Goldie's showman clothes from Fredbear's Family Diner.

Then Springtrap remembered, that Nightmare Fredbear had worn the same clothes when he first encountered him back at that old factory.

Seeing the similarity made his mind go into high gear, Tommy died in Fredbear's mouth, Fredbear and his nightmare opposite both wore the same suit and the look. . .that look which Tommy had expressed when mentioned having to a fight a monster version of Goldie.

It was like he knew who Springtrap had been referring to.

Springtrap's eyes went wide in fear as a chill went up his spine.

No, that couldn't be right.

Could it just be down to coincidence, but Springtrap's instincts told him otherwise, the connections were just too strong to be dismissed.

Nightmare Fredbear was here, somehow, he was present.

They had to leave, they had to get out now!

_"You will all perish here, regardless of already being dead."_

Tommy's words suddenly caught Springtrap's attention, making him turn to look at the boy, only now his expression had visibly changed. He still looked pained and his eyes continued to flicker but stayed red for longer before switching back to blue. Yet it was how he spoke that had caught Springtrap's attention the most.

It was cold, almost vengeful in its tone and Tommy's facial expression only confirmed it.

His eyebrows had narrowed, and they held a dark look to them, particularly whenever his eyes flashed red.

_"Welcome to my world SpringBonnie," _he said in a tone that sounded both vindictive and excited.

_"Your enteral grave lies here, let me lead you into it."_

Suddenly, a more pained expression appeared on Tommy's face. The cold hard expression that he had previously worn had vanished into nothing.

_"Please stop, I'm sorry!"_ he shirked, continuing gripping his head in a desperate attempt to subdue his pain.

Springtrap locked eyes with Tommy, seeing him a confused state. On one hand, he was a frightened and tortured child undergoing extreme agony, whilst on the other he seemed to express a dark nature, delighted with Springtrap having wandered into a trap and eager to inflict him to untold levels of suffering.

Yet Springtrap only looked at the boy sternly, his green greyish eyes boring deep into Tommy's. He could see a fractured, traumatised mind struggling to reconcile itself as one side seemed to viciously attack the other, refusing to let up its assault.

_"Please go. . ."_

Yet suddenly, his darker side reared its head again as he smiled coldly the moment his eyes flashed red.

_"And fall into my embrace SpringBonnie, I am eager to meet you, seeing how far you have come into our home."_

_"Our home?" _Springtrap thought in surprise, although deep down, he suspected what the most likely answer was.

Tommy's voice was once again eager and cruel, seeming to being enjoying every single moment as he gazed back at Springtrap with a sadistic expression of great anticipation. The red glow in Tommy's eyes remained, not flickering as he continued to speak in a chilling voice that was intermixed with his apparent bloodlust. Yet Springtrap felt as though there was something else in that voice, something vaguely demonic.

_"Tommy warned you, he truly means well, but I have different ideas for how this little expedition of yours should end."_

His eyes gave an intense stare, seeming to bore deep into Springtrap's own eyes like they were gazing into the depths of his very soul.

For a moment Springtrap felt hypnotised by the intrigued look in Tommy's red eyes, like they were invisible fingers reaching out and grabbing hold of him.

_"I like you, SpringBonnie, you were my second favouritive performer, but even a fan can become bored and irritated by a former interest of theirs and in the end, they just might end that interest through bloody means to be free of it. . .forever."_

Springtrap felt terrified as Tommy spoke, what the hell was going on with this kid, none of the others acted this way!

It was like seeing the mirror image of someone, only that both these personalities existed in the same body.

Did Tommy have a multiple personality disorder?

Springtrap felt so terrified that he could do nothing but look at Tommy with utter horror in his eyes at what he was seeing.

On the edge of his vision he could see the terrified face of Charlie, the boy looked pale in the face, unnerved by what he had just heard.

Just then Tommy's eyes flashed once more back to blue and all of darkness that had inhabited his expression vanished in an instant. It seemed that the old Tommy had broken through, although it required great effort for him to speak as he openly struggled with his inner demons.

_"They won't. . .let you go. . .if the monsters here. . .catch you. . .you will. . .suffer dearly for it. . .and some. . .are far worse than others. . ."_

_"Run. . .from this. . .place. . .I'm not. . .in control. . .of anything. . .here!"_

_"Please. . .run!"_

It looked as though he wanted to say more and Springtrap could tell that he did, given his urgent tone of voice, his choice of words and the way his eyes frantically darted about as if he was looking for some hidden onlooker that was listening in.

_"Leave. . .me!"_

Tommy undoubtedly knew many truths and they all had to be important if he was unwilling to speak them and especially if there was someone who didn't want him to share them with anyone else. Yet Springtrap wanted to be sure that his suspicions were indeed correct. Pushing all of the crazy shit that he had just witnessed aside, he asked in a calm yet serious voice as he gazed intensely at Tommy.

"Is Nightmare Fredbear here, is he one of those monsters?"

Immediately, Tommy's eyes looked right back at him, going wide and his face seemed to become pale in its complexion.

He knew, he recognised the name.

Nightmare Fredbear was here and that confirmation instantly caused a ton of questions to burst forth into existence within Springtrap's mind, but he subdued them all temporarily as Tommy spoke again.

_"He's here and he isn't alone. . ."_

Suddenly, he gripped his head again and howled in adject pain that seemed to come from somewhere within himself, ravaging both his body and mind like a savage beast. Seeing that Tommy was in complete distress and agony, Cassidy decided out of sheer desperation on her part to give him the plushie of Mangle, hoping that it would somehow calm him down.

Even though it was highly likely that it would not change Tommy's situation in the slightest, yet she still wanted to try. She turned away from the wretched scene towards the plushie that sat on the floor in the closet before her and reached in.

Cassidy firmly grabbed hold of the Mangle plushie, but suddenly she wished that she hadn't. . .

Instantly a metallic hand reached down from above and grabbed hold of Cassidy hand, swiftly pulling her up off the floor.

Cassidy screamed in terror at the sudden sensation.

Her high-pitched screams immediately earned everyone's attention.

_"CASSIDY!"_ Sammy yelled, rushing into the closet first as he was the closest, but when he looked up, he wished he hadn't.

Glaring of the darkness that hugged the ceiling of the closet were two vibrant yellowish eyes that eyed the boy hungrily like a predator in the wild.

_"Ahh, fresh meat, let fear devour your heart!"_ an excited female voice called out from the shadows.

Suddenly another metallic hand reached out from the darkness and proceeded to grab hold of Sammy's left leg, just as Charlie rushed into the closet.

The strength of the monster's pull was instantly felt, as Sammy only had enough time to grasp onto Charlie's hand and one of the closet doors as he was swiftly pulled upwards.

_"CHARLIE!"_ Sammy cried in absolute terror, he fought to maintain his grip as the monster pulled hard from the other end.

Charlie equally could barely prepare for the monster's sudden pull, as he grabbed hold of one of the closet's doors in a desperate attempt to hold on.

He looked up, past Sammy to see two quite hungry yellow eyes shining out of the darkness that cloaked the closet's ceiling from view.

_"Charlie, Sammy and Cassidy,"_ the monster spoke delightfully in an excited tone, Charlie felt his hear stop as fear took hold of him.

_"Innocent little children to the ignorant and murderous devils to those who are aware of their blood-stained deeds,"_ the monster cooed loudly, clearly enjoying every moment.

Charlie swear that his blood went ice cold at those words, he didn't know this. . ._'creature'_, but it clearly knew about him and the others.

But how?

How the hell was it even vaguely aware of what they had done in their past?

The only time that they had ever discussed it in this place was when he was undergoing a vivid flash-

Wait!

Charlie's eyes wide as the realisation impacted him like a blot of pure lighting.

They were being watched; someone had been listening in on their conversations!

He knew that this house wasn't empty, that there was a dark presence within, and often it felt like it was watching them progress with unseen eyes, beckoning them to go further into its depths.

And this was the trap being sprung!

He had been aware of such a strong possibly, but he had willingly ignored his own advice in the search for answers.

Charlie felt foolish, but his attention was suddenly returned to the creature as they seemed to lower themselves down from the closet ceiling, steadily revealing their true form.

Charlie and Sammy momentarily felt confused by the creature's appearance.

_"Mangle?"_ Charlie silently mouthed, his thoughts aligning completely with that of Sammy's as he had the same realisation.

The creature was indeed Mangle, but not as they knew her.

This Mangle wore a tattered and ripped pink whitish dress that was peppered with many holes and had clearly seen better days. She sported a reddish ribbon around her neck which looked withered and old. Yet it was the rest of her that frighten the boys, watching as she lowered herself down towards them using two of her four endoskeleton arms, in which the ends were comprised of claws, that were jagged sharp metal pincers. Her actual claws were deadly in their appearance as were her feet, with all limbs composing of a sharpness that could match a well bladed knife.

Her face looked strikingly similar to that of the real Mangle, the yellow eyes, the ruffled white hair, the white skinned face which from a certain angle might look beautiful to an observer, minus the scars. Yet it was her teeth that stood out the most, a cutting-edge set of fangs that seemed perfect for ripping and tearing into flesh as well as breaking bone or even wood, let alone metal if it were possible.

Faced with such a menacing appearance, both Charlie and Sammy found themselves going deathly pale in the face as this monstrous version of Mangle glared intensely at them. Her gaze was so strong that it felt like she was staring deep into their souls and judging them for any misdeeds.

_"You're a fine gift. . .just for us,"_ she remarked sinisterly as she brought out another one of her endoskeleton claws out of the surrounding darkness.

_"So easy to ensnare."_

In doing so she revealed Cassidy, being held up in her endoskeleton claw by means of having wrapped itself around Cassidy's body, pinning her completely in place as it she was held afloat, much to the shock of her peers. Monster, or rather fittingly 'Nightmare' Mangle growled in ravenous excitement, her eyes expressing a sadistic sense of mischief as she eyed Charlie.

_"I can see why you are the leader; someone has to be the strong one when it comes to putting everyone back together after they've been so viciously ripped apart,"_ she hissed playfully, almost seeming to be ignoring Sammy despite still pulling on his leg in her attempts to pry him into her grasp.

_"Now I get to play take apart and put back together,"_ she continued, her growls grew like a feral wolf, feeding into Charlie's fear.

_"You won't feel a thing!"_

Then she leapt at him, her mouth opened wide, revealing her full set of fangs as she launched herself forward, detaching her endoskeleton claws from the ceiling as she did. Yet she didn't let go of Cassidy as she crashed right into Charlie knocking him to the floor with him ending up halfway in and out of the closet.

Sammy was knocked to the side, losing his grip on both Charlie's hand and the closet doorway. Yet the moment he was forced to let go, the endoskeleton claw that was gripping him pulled back sharply and immediately Sammy felt his back slam into the closet's far wall with a sizeable thud. The impact rippled throughout his body sending a stab of sharp pain racing up his back. He then fell to the floor with another thud, feeling dizzy and confused.

_"Springtrap,"_ he croaked struggling to find his voice as he lifted his head upwards.

_"Help us."_

Fear and panic quickly reasserted themselves within him when Sammy felt himself being pulled upwards into the air, seeing Cassidy also being held in a similar president.

The way Nightmare Mangle's endoskeleton claw had wrap itself around her was alike to that of a large snake coiling itself around its victim as it strangled the life out of it. Meanwhile Nightmare Mangle had proceeded to pin Charlie down, using her claws to grip his hands and keep them in place as she opened up her jaw, revealing her deadly set of fangs.

_"Actions,"_ Nightmare Mangle said sternly, bearing down on Charlie, her eyes expressing full blown sadism as they stared back at Charlie's own fear driven pupils.

_"Have conquences. . ."_

She proceeded to bite at Charlie, trying to sink her teeth into either his head or neck, although Charlie was able to get one of his hands free and get it in between him and Nightmare Mangle's teeth.

Sheer pain ripped through his arm; it was like a thousand daggers were stabbing deep into his arm's muscle. It was followed by a fiery hot sensation that rippled through his entire arm as blood dripped out of the wounds that Nightmare Mangle made in her frenzied attacks. Charlie tired his best not to scream, but he couldn't help himself, emitting a cry of terror and pain which only seemed to excite Nightmare Mangle, evident by the vibrant glow in her eyes.

Then she viciously clawed at his face and agony erupted into being as Charlie felt a severe stinging pain like someone was pressing a white hot poker against his check. He felt a warm liquid trickled down his face and he knew it to be blood.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over everyone, resulting in Nightmare Mangle briefly pausing in her savage attacks to look up at this intruder.

Charlie also turned his head to look up at the newcomer as did Sammy and Cassidy, only to see that it was Springtrap. He bore down at Nightmare Mangle with an enraged expression; evident by his narrowed eyebrows and the anger that resonated within his greenish grey eyes. Yet there was also a degree of confusion in his expression as he silently stared Nightmare Mangle down, probably because of how similar she looked to the real Mangle.

Yet, he lunged himself straight at her and Nightmare Mangle seemed to more than welcome the challenge with open arms as she smiled in sweet satisfaction.

He collided sharply with her, with enough force to knock her off Charlie, allowing the boy to quickly scramble to safety as he crawled out of the closet doorway to relative safety.

"LET THEM GO!" Springtrap screamed in open rage and concern as he rammed Nightmare Mangle up against the closet' far wall.

Seeing her up close only further underlined how striking her appearance was to Mangle herself. Springtrap felt immediate confusion rush through him, running alongside his anger at seeing and hearing the harm she had been inflicting on the children.

This was thee Nightmare Mangle, but something stuck out to him like a sore thumb in his observations, slowly working itself out in the back reaches of his mind as pure adrenaline overtook his focus. He tried to hold her firmly in place to buy time for both Sammy and Cassidy to free themselves from the Nightmare's grip, yet Nightmare Mangle wrestled with him, countering his strength with one of her own.

Then and much to everyone's surprise, Nightmare Mangle's endoskeleton claws in one swift motion threw both children forward and out of the closet. Sammy was simply flung out without much of a second thought like a child tossing a toy away, whilst the endoskeleton claw that held Cassidy rapidly uncoiled itself as she was thrown forward.

Then Nightmare Mangle smiled coldly as she gripped Springtrap's hands tightly with her claws, grinning from ear to ear as she spoke.

_"Now I have who I really want!" _

Springtrap felt fear rush through him as all four of the Nightmare's endoskeleton claws suddenly turned on him, gripping and lashing out at his body like sharp talons.

Springtrap did his best to rein in his desire to scream in pain, but he retaliated by breaking out of her grip and quickly delivering several hard punches to the Nightmare's chest and then her face, aiming to disrupt her focus long enough for him to escape.

Nightmare Mangle hissed in pain with Springtrap's blows traveling throughout her body. Yet she didn't cease her own attacks, proceeding to slash viciously at Springtrap with her claws, trying to immobilise him with pain and he was willing to bet that she had a much higher pain tolerance than him.

"What are you?" he asked sternly, trying to hold her off and prevent her from escaping his grasp and reaching the children; but Nightmare Mangle didn't seem to be all too concerned about escaping.

Instead she merely smiled in response, a knowing smile, clearly enjoying Springtrap's confusion.

_"A shadow that became something much more,"_ she replied softly, her yellow eyes glowing brightly as she swiftly side stepped him before delivering a sweeping kick to the back of his left leg, causing Springtrap to stumble forward, although he quickly regained his footing, ignoring the pain.

_"But it matters not,"_ she muttered nonchalantly, yet there was a coldness in her voice.

_"You should know your priorities better SpringBonnie, shouldn't the children's safety come before asking me questions?"_

She then swiftly turned to face him, fully baring both her fangs and her array of vicious endoskeleton claws that hovered above her head like vultures waiting to descend on a fresh carcass. Springtrap did likewise, turning about to prepare for her next move. He couldn't underestimate her, yet he knew that he had to return to the children as their safety was paramount in his eyes.

Then Nightmare Mangle spoke in confident tone.

_"You must really feel like a fish out of water, locked away in the dark for years on end after witnessing a horrific crime being committed, you had no idea how far the effects of that singular event would go as the world changed around you."_

Springtrap felt immensely confused, not by what she was saying as he recognised that she was referring to his old life. It was how she knew that confused him.

_"And even if you weren't really present for it, you still got roped into another heart crushing tragedy and many more in the following years,"_ Nightmare Mangle continued, speaking clearly, but with evident enjoyment of the confusion that she was causing him.

_"And now you have to suffer in the aftermath, despite being an outsider for so long, but if I may ask you this SpringBonnie?"_

Nightmare Mangle then smiled, it almost looked sweet, if it weren't so bitter.

_"Do you really want to get drawn into the abyss, the answers maybe tempting, but the costs of doing so might be insurmountable?"_

Springtrap knew what she was referring to, Tommy's death, the missing children's incidents, and the fact that he had been absent for all of it. He was tempted to ask her more, but he knew that she would never answer. Yet, he desperately wanted to know how had things had gone so disastrously wrong?

However, in the back of his mind, he realised what it was that seemed odd to him the moment he had laid eyes on Nightmare Mangle.

Tommy had died in 1983 and the Toys had only appeared on the scene in 1987. So, how exactly could there be a Nightmare version of Mangle? Given how Tommy died and what Springtrap already knew about Nightmare Fredbear, it was fairly evident that he was the nightmarish embodiment of Tommy's perception of Fredbear. The Nightmare's large sharp teeth alone was a big giveaway.

Mangle was not present in 1983, so how exactly could Tommy have known her?

Springtrap dismissed the thought, needing to stay alert for Nightmare Mangle's next move.

However, as it turns out both were caught off guard by Charlie appearing in the closet doorway and suddenly a bright light flooded the closet.

It was so bright that it physically stung, with Springtrap needing to cover his eyes as did Nightmare Mangle.

_"SPRINGTRAP, GET OUT NOW!"_ Charlie sounded, as the light continually grew in its intensity that only caused further pain. Nightmare Mangle shrieked in agony, shielding her eyes as she leapt up onto the ceiling with her endoskeleton claws in a desperate bid to escape.

With the Nightmare clearly distracted, Springtrap heeded Charlie's advice and ran, stumbling out of the closet and into relative safety.

Charlie turned the flashlight he was using off and passed it to Susie. Then the closet shutter doors were quickly slammed shut with Cassidy, Gabriel, Sammy and Susie now holding them closed.

_"Quick, help me get this chest of drawers in place!"_ Charlie yelled, instantly moving to push the large blue coloured chest of drawers across the closet's doorway, despite the sheer pain that was shooting up from his wounded arm and his face.

Springtrap immediately complied, even though it took a while for his vision to clear. He used his superior strength to forcibly push the chest of drawers across the closet's doorway. However, Nightmare Mangle seemed to be clearly aware of what they were trying to do as the large shutter doors shocked and rattled with such intensity that the children were barely able to keep them closed.

_"SHINE THE LIGHT, SHINE THE LIGHT!"_ Gabriel screamed as Susie proceeded with shaky hands to shine the flashlight into the gaps to blind the Nightmare whenever she tried to smash her way through, be it by her own claws or those of her endoskeleton. The closet shutters doors creaked and groaned as it suffered from a ceaseless pounding from within, striking endless at them with sheer uncontainable rage, let alone strength.

Yet the light from the flashlight seemed to be doing the trick in keeping Mangle one step away from breaking through even through the wood was splintering, but Springtrap and Charlie finally pushed the blue chest of drawers firmly into place. It wasn't a perfect barricade, but it seemed to do the job as Nightmare Mangle stopped her attacks and a tense silence settled over the room.

"Where's Tommy?" Springtrap asked, looking about, only to then find the boy lying on the floor, rocking back and forth, and gripping his head as his eyes continued to flicker between blue and red.

Although he was no longer screaming, it was clear that he was still in great pain as he whimpered and hissed softly to himself.

_"Please,"_ he whispered in a tense voice that was racked with agony.

_"Let them go, they haven't done anything wrong."  
_

_"They don't need to know anything. . ."_

Those words immediately got Springtrap's attention as he instantly knelt down at Tommy's side. He reached out and touched Tommy's head, resulting in the boy's eyes turning to face him.

_"Please, leave now!"_ he begged and Springtrap swore to himself that he had never seen a child in more torment than Tommy, although the other children could definitely be joint holders of that title.

"Who or what is doing this to you?" Springtrap asked softly, looking very concerned by what was ever afflicting Tommy.

Tommy gritted his teeth, trying to withstand his inner pain, yet when the moment passed, he didn't say anything.

"Tommy, you need to tell me, I can't help you if I don't know what is going on," Springtrap said urgently, slowly stroking the boy's brown hair in a soothing motion so to distract him from his agony.

_"You can't help me," _Tommy replied wearily, still in great pain.

_"No one can help me, I'm beyond repair, I cannot leave on my own accord, even if I wanted to."_

Springtrap sighed in despair, he had thousands of questions on everything that he had encountered since coming to Limbo and how it all related to Freddy's. Yet, the only person who could answer his enquiries couldn't due to fear and being distracted by agony originating from some unknown source.

_"Please, get out before things get much worse!"_ Tommy begged, fervently locked into his endless cycle of pain as his body constantly tensed up.

Yet Springtrap had already decided on his next course of action.

"No," he muttered, now looking rather stern and Tommy immediately reacted, his eyes going wider than Springtrap had ever seemed them.

_"You won't survive them!"_ he protested vehemently.

"No," Springtrap answered again in a serious tone, he stood up, towering over Tommy with the boy falling under his shadow.

"I will leave as will everyone else, but not without you."

"I'm not leaving you behind in this accursed place."

Springtrap then looked at Tommy with a warm expression.

"I can save you Tommy," he said reassuringly.

Tommy stared back at him in absolute horror, only mumbling in disbelief.

_"You can't . . ."_

No sooner had those words left his mouth, the right side bedroom door suddenly swung open and two thick black ropes flew into the room out of the darkness, before proceeding to latch themselves around Gabriel's arm and Susie's leg.

No one had the chance to react as both children were instantly ripped away from the others; being dragged across the carpet towards the doorway and to whatever horror lay waiting beyond it.

They both screamed in blind terror, trying to grab onto anything that could prevent them from being ensnared.

Instantly, Springtrap as did Sammy and Cassidy raced forward, with the latter two grabbing onto the overstretched hands of Susie and Gabriel before they reached the doorway. Cassidy then grabbed hold of the other blue chest of drawers, just being able to bring Gabriel's slide to a halt, but she was being stretched to her limits. Sammy had nothing nearby to grab onto, but luckily Springtrap was able to grab hold of his arm and using his own strength anchored himself firmly.

Yet the horror that was controlling the ropes refused to let up and instead they continued to pull sharply on their end.

Seeing the ropes up close, their black, thick, and sticky texture made Springtrap think back to that room where he had first seen those gooey black strings that had been stretched across the room like a spider's web.

These things were the same as those, only much bigger.

Then a black pair of claws gripped the doorway and two white dots appeared in the gloom.

Slowly the horror revealed itself, a tall female figure dressed in black clothing from head to toe with white stripes on her arms and legs. Her hair was jet black, whilst her face was a deathly pale white as her eyes glowed sinisterly in the light.

For the second time Springtrap and everyone else for that matter found themselves feeling very confused as this newfound horror appeared to be the Nightmare version of the Puppet. The similarity between the two was rather striking, although the differences were noticeable. This version of Puppet had longer hair and was considerably taller, if not a little bit older than Puppet herself appeared to be.

In addition, there seemed to be several black tendrils sprouting out her back, as they hovered about her form, waving, and slithering back and forth in the air as she moved. Yet in her hands she tightly held on the other end of the ropes and was pulling back sharply.

_"It's been so long since we've last had company here,"_ she began, her voice sounded very similar to Puppet, were it not for the deranged and silky tone that she spoke in.

_"I smell fear, you've experienced a lot in your short lives, but in here, everything is enteral, and I will gladly demonstrate how fear can break even the strongest of minds."_

And then she screamed, but it wasn't like any ordinary scream. Her voice was am ear piercing high pitch wail akin to that of a banshee screaming her heart out. Her voice reached deep into Springtrap's very soul and filled him with a fear of unknown quality that he couldn't combat. It sucked his inner strength right out from him like a leech. His face went pale as hers and his mind began to collapse into a mush of dread and panic, he couldn't think straight. The Nightmare's eyes, those two vibrant white dots seemed to look deep into his soul, they were enchanting as Springtrap couldn't tear his eyes away and nor could any of the children.

Nightmare Puppet's howl continued unabated and grew in strength as the children seemed to be paralyzed with fear, expressing nothing complete horror as their will crumbled. The room was starting to shake, nearby lights began to explode and die within an instant, making the room go almost dark, the bed shuddered as did the chests of drawers and every single door nearby shook violently on their hinges, threatening to break them.

The nearby closet shutter doors let out a loud groan, followed by the cracking of wood. No doubt Nightmare Mangle could tell what was going on outside and saw an opportunity to break free of her makeshift prison. Multiple holes were created in the twin door's wooden frame as Nightmare Mangle's claws burst through and the blue chest of drawers wobbled, as the Nightmare forced it forward, trying to topple it over.

Springtrap could see that they were in an extremely dangerous position and it could only get worse. Within the remaining conscious part of his mind that wasn't completely being consumed by terror, he reasoned that the other ghost children would probably have already sensed the emotional state of their brethren; and would undoubtedly come looking for them, but who knows how long it would take for them to get there.

Out of the corner of his vision he could see that Charlie too was immobilised with fear, being motionless in the face of Nightmare Puppet's wail. Yet the flashlight that he held was still active, even though it was constantly flickering on and off, threating to burst its bulb.

Springtrap, focusing immensely on the task at hand, reached out and firmly grasped the flashlight, taking it off Charlie, who didn't seem to notice.

With even more effort, primarily driven from a need to survive, Springtrap turned the flashlight on, pointing it directing into Nightmare Puppet's eyes, blinding her with bright light that fully obscured her vision, despite it flickering.

In a near instant, Nightmare Puppet's banshee screams turned into one of immense pain as her eyes were overloaded, it was like a tidal wave of light impacting her eyes. She immediately retracted her strings back into her claws, releasing both Gabriel and Susie from their grip. The children wasted no time in making their escape, fleeing to the other side of the room. The shaking and the flickering of lights and the sounds of doors slamming repeatedly all ceased as Nightmare Puppet covered her eyes, feeling the pain flow throughout her entire body.

Immediately, the children and Springtrap felt their feeling of terror fade, although it did not completely die, but they could now fully focus without being paralyzed by fear.

Although they knew that they couldn't stay here, they needed to leave right now.

Springtrap instinctively went over to Tommy, who was still locked in a world of agony as he lay on the floor helpless yet seeming to have not been affected by Nightmare Puppet's banshee scream attack.

Without much of a second thought, only the drive to help this battered and abused soul, Springtrap bent down and picked Tommy up, cradling him in his arms.

On instinct Gabriel took the flashlight off him so he could use it when the need arose.

However, there came a new noise, the sound of plaster cracking and wood snaping, but it wasn't coming from the closet, even though it was continually being hammered against by Nightmare Mangle.

It was coming from the ceiling above them, immediately everyone looked above, with Gabriel shining the flashlight in the sound's direction. Upon doing so he saw multiple cracks appearing across the ceiling, getting wider and wider with each passing second and the sounds only further intensified, creaking and groaning as the ceiling struggled to withstand whatever pressure was pressing down on it as started to sag directly above Tommy's bed.

Nightmare Puppet meanwhile had mostly recovered from having the flashlight forced into her eyes as she fully entered the room, rising to her full height and barring her strings as though they were whips. Her face was one of immense annoyance, her white dots for eyes glowed with bloodlust and were narrowed, expressing her displeasure.

Then the blue chest of drawers toppled forward after receiving a powerful shove from behind, creating a massive thud once it hit the floor and the shutter doors of the closet burst open, sending hundreds of wooden splinters flying everywhere. Nightmare Mangle leapt through the opening, landing on all fours like a wolf, before turning her full attention towards her would be jailers. She was eager for revenge after being imprisoned. Her yellow eyes were vibrant in the darkness and filled with great anger.

Gabriel turned the flashlight in Nightmare Mangle's direction to blind her again before she could make a move. Yet the Nightmare merely shielded her eyes with her endoskeleton claws, warding off the light. Nightmare Puppet deployed a similar trick by unleashing many sets of black strings from her claws and having them wrap around her eyes, forming a mask across them. She could still see as evident by the whitish glow of her eyes peeking through the gaps, but it greatly reduced the brightness of the flashlight, rendering it dangerously ineffective.

The pair began to advance on the group, eager to continue their torment, when suddenly, the ceiling fully gave away directly above Tommy's bed, with broken wooden boards landing nearby and plaster shards impacting everything and everyone. Although Nightmares Mangle and Puppet didn't seem to be affected by the action, although they stopped moving, allowing the moment to pass. Thick dust travelled through the air, causing both the children and Springtrap to cover their mouths to avoid inhaling it.

The bed creaked as though it was in agony with its springs screaming out in pain as it strained under the weight of something massive having landed on top of it. Gabriel was reluctant to shine the flashlight in its direction, yet he forced himself to do so. However, before he did, a pair of scarlet red eyes appeared out of the gloom, shining brightly and when the flashlight was shone there, it revealed the eyes' owner.

Standing there in all his majesty and towering over everyone was Nightmare Fredbear. He still wore the same tattered golden suit, with the withered purple bowtie and top hat as when Springtrap had last seen him, only now he appeared to be even taller than before.

Perhaps this was his real height and being on earth had somehow reduced it, despite still being considerably tall back then.

Nightmare Fredbear smiled coldly, seeming to be enjoying the moment immensely with his search light like eyes firmly locked onto Springtrap.

_"Welcome Springtrap, you are not who I expected to see, but I did sense a familiarity about you when you first entered our beloved home,"_ he said, speaking in a confident, if not stateman like tone.

_"It's been so long since we've last had guests, but you are a welcome one at that as are your little friends."_

_"I am surprised that they were the ones who advocated caution on entering this place and not you Springtrap, particularly in Charlie's case,"_ he said, now more in an observant tone, gesturing towards the boy in question.

_"How do you know my name; in fact, how do you know anything about us?"_ Charlie asked, sounding defiant, but no one could deny how scared he looked, given that he was physically shaking.

Nightmare Fredbear smiled a little, it was a knowing smile and he narrowed his eyes as he gazed intensely at Charlie, before responding with.

_"Why would I need to tell you our secrets, it's not fun if you know, but I assume that you are smart enough to figure things out on your own. . .aren't you?"_

Charlie seemed to be deeply insulted by the Nightmare's words, but Nightmare Mangle spoke up before Charlie could reply.

_"Secrets are best kept, and some are best left buried,"_ she remarked in a serious tone, eyeing the group with a ravenous hunger for blood.

_"You came here for answers, there is much that is beyond your understanding and if you ever did figure things out, you might not like the outcome."_

_"However, this place doesn't like you, it knows that you are an intruder,"_ Nightmare Puppet said menacingly, glaring daggers at the group.

_"Tommy truly meant well when he told you to leave, but now you've overstayed your welcome and you must pay the price."_   
_"I wonder if this situation feels reminiscent of when you children murdered all of those nightguards who were unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time."_

That shocked the children as Springtrap registered them all going pale as they shrunk back further towards the open doorway.

Yet how on earth did the Nightmares know about what the children did decades ago?

Could Vincent Afton have told them, but then how would he have known?

The questions eroded away at Springtrap's ability to concentrate, only to be dismissed when Nightmare Fredbear addressed him directly.

_"You truly think you can save Thomas?"_ the Nightmare asked in both a curious and yet dismissive tone as he glared at the boy in Springtrap's arms.

Springtrap narrowed his eyes at him, looking angered as he instinctively tightened his grip on Tommy in a protective manner.

"When I find out what's wrong with him I will," he replied defensively.

"And he wouldn't have to fear you demons anymore!"

He had expected the Nightmare to laugh at his words, but instead the latter merely shook his head dismissively.

_"You are naive, but that's to be expected, you cannot save him, at least, not the way that you think,"_ he said, almost seeming to be disappointed by Springtrap's answer.

However, the moment was brief as his dark nature seemed to reassert itself within him as he smiled coldly once more, stepping off the bed as he spoke menacingly.

_"Still, it's perhaps best if you didn't figure things out, because what's the point in finding out the truth, if you're going to be dead a few seconds later."_

Then Nightmare Mangle advanced as did Nightmare Puppet, with the later stretching out her strings towards them like enticing vines from which escape would be a near impossibility.

_"We thank you Springtrap for delivering all of these little souls into our grasp,"_ Nightmare Mangle said sadistically, growling as she approached them, her yellow eyes glowing intensely with bloodlust.

_"A gift. . .for us,"_ Nightmare Puppet remarked eagerly as she to glide across the floor.

_"You know horror all too well, but you are yet to experience what we can deliver when it comes to true fear."_

Nightmare Fredbear's ominous smile grew bigger as he flexed his claws, whilst moving towards the defenceless group. In his hunger filled eyes, the time for talk had clearly passed.

Immediately, and without saying anything, Charlie, Cassidy, Gabriel, Susie, and Sammy all rushed out of the open doorway behind them. Springtrap followed, quickly backing out of the bedroom whilst holding onto Tommy, who was still very much in a world of pain that he was probably oblivious to what was going on around him.

Springtrap glared coldly at the Nightmares, feeling enraged by their taunts and what they had done. The fact that they were willing to harm children showed them to be as immortal as Vincent.

It sickened him to his core.

Yet he knew that they had to quickly get away from these monsters. Far enough away to devise a way to escape and if possible, take Tommy with them.

Even though Tommy himself had said that it wasn't possible for him to leave Springtrap was determined to find a way. Even in death, he wanted to save the children and help his friends in unravelling the mysteries that plagued them.

Tommy seemed to be the key to all of it, but he had to get him somewhere safe where neither these demons, let alone his personal ones could harm him.

Yet, just as Springtrap crossed over into the hallway and reached for the door handle, Nightmare Puppet threw one of her strings forward at breakneck speed.

It was so fast that Springtrap felt air rush past him as it flew by, only to latch itself onto Susie's shoulder, but it didn't stay there.

No sooner had the black gooey string stuck to her, Nightmare Puppet quickly retracted it.

It was the equivalent of using wax to rip out body hair, only in this instance it was human skin being ripped off the body.

Susie screamed in immense pain as she fell onto her knees, clutching her shoulder as the string ripped off parts of her skin, exposing the muscle underneath and making it bleed profusely.

The string raced pass Springtrap before he could reach out to grab the door handle.

Nightmare Puppet smiled sinisterly, fully enjoying the misery that she had created, whilst Springtrap stared back at her in complete horror.

_"You maybe already be dead,"_ she said coldly, but with an undertone of dark delight as her white dots for eyes glowed like diamonds in the dark.

_"But in this place, death cannot save you!"_

Then Nightmare Mangle leapt up at Springtrap, her claws and fangs at the ready, but he quickly grabbed the door handle and slammed the door shut in one swift motion.

There was a sharp thud of her impacting the door, only to be followed by the sounds of the door being hammered against with the sounds of hellish screams coming from the other side.

_"Where do we go?"_ Sammy asked, panicking as he supported Susie by the shoulder, helping to hold her up as she clutched her bleeding shoulder.

_"Where's the exit?"_ Cassidy pleaded, frantically looking around for any signs of an escape from this hell, but there was only one route to take, the hallway that led further into the darkness and the rest of the house.

Springtrap knew that time was of the essence, he maintained a serious expression as he held Tommy in his arms, the boy had ceased to cry out in pain, but he was still clearly suffering.

"Charlie, are the other children aware of what is happening to us, are they coming to help?" he asked, turning to face the boy.

Charlie sighed deeply and nodded, but he didn't look relieved.

_"Yes, they are aware, but I fear accidently leading them into a trap, we don't know if there are any more Nightmares in here,"_ he said wearily.

_"Plus, we don't know if we'll be able to retrace our steps, let alone find a new exit, but perhaps they'll find one and can lead us to it, but that's not without its risks."_

Everyone understood his logic, it was a double-edged sword. They could call in the other children and gain a safety in numbers. Yet, given how the house was built like a labyrinth there was the probable risk that it wouldn't be easy to retrace their steps.

They could become trapped in here, never finding their way out, with only monsters for company.

The screams and the sound of the door being pounded against only grew louder, putting everyone on the spot, but Springtrap could only see one option to take.

So, he took it with both hands, speaking clearly.

"We need to find a place to hide first, contact the other children and then regroup ideally near an exit point and leave this wretched place behind."

All of the children nodded in agreement with his words, they were in the deep end, there was no point staying any longer unless it couldn't be helped.

Springtrap moved forward, keeping a firm hold of Tommy as he headed into the darkness. The other children quickly followed, trying to ignore the nightmarish sounds coming from behind the door as its hinges cried out in agony as it buckled under the pressure.

It wouldn't last for much longer.

"Only use the flashlight when I say so Gabriel, the last thing we want to do is to give away our location," Springtrap said calmly.

_"Understood,"_ Gabriel cautiously, keeping a firm hold on the flashlight, trying to ignore the dreadful sounds that rang out from Tommy's bedroom.

One by one the children followed Springtrap into the darkness, all save for Cassidy.

She had started to follow the others when the row of pictures along the far wall caught her eye.

Turning to look at them she could see that they depictured an array of things, family, holidays, scenic pictures of nature, nothing out of the ordinary.

_Wait. . .what was that picture?_

Moving closer Cassidy focused on the picture in question, examining its contents intensely. . .her eyes went wide.

_"No,"_ she whispered, feeling herself go pale in the face.

_"That can't be right, it can't be."_

She gripped the picture's sides tightly, staring at it with a look of pure shock and dread.

_"How can this be real?"_

A loud animalistic female shriek probably from Nightmare Puppet judging by its pitch caused her to jump out of her skin, but she repressed the urge to scream.

_"Cassidy!" _

She quickly turned and saw Charlie standing a fair distance away, gesturing at her frantically to join him.

_"Come on!"_ he urged in a low voice, but also in an annoyed tone as it was painfully obvious what would happen if Cassidy stayed near that door.

_"Coming,"_ she said quietly, before prying the picture off its holdings and cradling it under her arm.

The others would need to see this, she was sure of it. The implications were grave if what she saw was true.

Cassidy could feel her mind racing with a thousand questions. It made her feel nervous, but she pushed them all aside as she joined Charlie.

"_What is it, what's up with that picture?"_ he asked curiously as they both ran off to re-join the main group.

_"Something mind bending to say the least,"_ Cassidy replied in a serious tone, but in her eyes, she looked very concerned.

_"I'll show you later when we've reached a place of safety, but if it's true, then we won't see things the same way ever again."_

Charlie sighed, thinking for a moment before saying.

_"Then hopefully this trip wasn't a complete waste of time."_

Cassidy genuinely smiled, feeling rather pleased with herself for having stumbled across something potentially ground breaking.

If what the picture showed her was true, then everything was potentially open to reinterpretation like a shattered art picture reforming itself to present an entirely new image. However, Cassidy's moment in the sun was swiftly dashed as there came a loud smashing sound from behind them. It was followed an equally loud defeading thud as something heavy hit the floor.

Both Charlie and Cassidy looked back to see three pairs of eyes glowing in the darkness, moving about before looking forward in their direction, it almost looked as if the eyes were looking right at them.

The Nightmares had broken through!

Suddenly, three loud voices called out, echoing off the surrounding walls and sending a sharp chill up the children's' spines.

_"THIS IS A NIGHTMARE THAT YOU WON'T AWAKE FROM!"_ screamed a high pitch female voice that no doubt belonged to Nightmare Puppet.

_"NO LIGHT CAN SAVE YOU NOW!"_ cried another female voice, this being Nightmare Mangle, followed by the sounds of her jumping up onto the ceiling.

_"LET ME PUT YOU CHILDERN BACK TOGETHER, THEN TAKE YOU APART ALL OVER AGAIN!"_ the third voice roared in eager anticipation, obviously being Nightmare Fredbear.

Charlie and Cassidy gripped each other's hands and ran blindly into the surrounding darkness, hoping that it might hide them from the Nightmares' sight.

They desperately needed to find a way out, to share what they had uncovered in this twisted place.

If they did escape this hell, then they had a chance to finally make things right, to break free of their blood stained past and all of the misery and pain that accompanied it.

For once, even amid their fear and though it was sparingly brief, they both felt a faint tingle of hope, like a lone candle in the darkness, standing defiant against the odds.

This time, it couldn't be snuffed out. . .for everyone's sake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hunt is on, but when in a labyrinth the exit can seem to be impossible to find and in some cases it never is! ;-)
> 
> Hoped that you liked the reveals for Nightmare Mangle and Nightmarionne. I've been aiming to introduce them properly for quite a while and I enjoyed writing their parts.
> 
> Plushtrap and Nightmare Balloon Boy will turn up shortly! ;-) 
> 
> Things are moving very fast now, the next few chapters will be of great significance going forward, trust me.
> 
> Thank you for reading and please review, I appreciate your thoughts.


	52. Stepping Out Into The Light Of Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, chapter 52 at last and it is another long one!
> 
> There's no song for this chapter, but the content alone should entertain you greatly, it's very important. 
> 
> Apologies for any grammar mistakes that I've missed and do enjoy. . .
> 
> Also thank you to those who have read this story so far and those who have left Kudos, I appreciate it. :-)

** Chapter 52 **

** Stepping Out Into The Light Of Day. **

_ **"He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it."** _

**Plato.**

The van turned a corner, before coming to a complete stop alongside the pavement on a street of suburban houses.

Yet this was the right place to be, this was where the fun would begin.

The endoskeleton in the driver's seat firmly applied the brake, locking the van's gears into place. It wore a grey cloak and a cowl that covered its entire body, especially its face. Its inbuilt special disk had been enough to disrupt any attempt by the police to investigate the van and to fool them enough that it was human.

Besides if things got tense, there were _'other' _ways to convince them _permanently_.

It looked up from the steering wheel, its grey eyes now staring forward. The target was only one house down from where they were.

_"We have arrived master Vincent_," it said plainly, but there immediately came the sounds of someone moving in the back.

"Excellent," Vincent muttered nonchalantly through the inside window.

He then turned about on the spot and examined the small number of endoskeletons that he had brought with him. Carefully he avoided stepping on the slumbering Nightmares that were laid across the van's floor as he moved around. Despite having a small number of endoskeletons present, Vincent knew full well that what they lacked in numbers would be made up for with regards to their newfound capabilities.

"The others should be making their way towards us now. . .through the sewers," he remarked plainly, gently stepping over the sleeping Nightmares so he could be in the centre of the van's floor space.

There lay his creation, the helmet that he had been working on for a while ever since the Nightmares had 'met' with Balloon Boy.

He knew what he needed to do next and he hoped that all of his hard work would pay off, but he was equally aware that everything could potentially go south once he initiated the next stage of his plan.

No plan survives first contact with the enemy as the saying goes and Vincent just hoped that he would be able to ride the chaos that was soon to come once he put the helmet on. Although he trusted his endoskeleton enough that they wouldn't do anything foolish that undermine his intentions whilst he was busy elsewhere.

That isn't to say that he wouldn't worry about it though, but sometimes things couldn't be helped, and he would just have to react to any new development as best as he could. Upon finding an ideal spot between the slumbering bodies of Nightmares Chica and Freddy, Vincent proceeded to sit himself down on the floor.

He reached forward and picked up the helmet, being extra careful not to drop it. It was definitely one of makeshift design, the sort of thing that the fictional mad scientist Dr Frankenstein would have worn when conducting his horrific experiments and testing brain waves. Well. . .that's what the films seemed to depict.

Trailing off from the helmet were several long blue and red wires that were connected to the heads of Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy as they continually slept undisturbed. As Vincent intended the helmet would be a nexus of sorts, allowing his mind to connect with theirs and thus travel into the same dream that they were all having.

Granted that they weren't holding hands with eachother, but being Nightmares, they could compensate for this lack of physical connection by merely shaping the same dream that they all had in mind and then calling the others in. Once all four of them were united in the same dream then they would shape it to their exact liking. For non-Nightmare beings though, it was either through physical connection or in Vincent's case linking his mind with theirs.

He hoped that this form of connection would be more stable.

However, if the connection ended up being weak somehow, then this endeavour would have been a complete waste of time. Although he could simply put his hands on either the heads of Nightmares Freddy and Chica and access their dreams through that form of physical connection, so he had a viable backup at least.

Yet everything was riding on this moment, and Vincent knew it, for the importance of this encounter could not be underestimated.

What he intended to do today would send shock waves through the Fazbear Family. He would be effectively throwing away a vital chess piece that he had so often used to torment them. . ._but no more._

Today. . .he would bring everyone two steps closer to the end, whether they knew it or not.

It wouldn't quite be the ending stages of the game, but it would be worth it, particularly with what he aimed to deliver onto Freddy and the others.

Vincent smiled to himself as he stared longingly at the helmet, he genuinely felt like he was standing on the edge of a waterfall and wondering whether to jump in and let the momentum of the rapids carry him over to wherever it would lead.

What happened from now on would largely be dictated by chaos, even though Vincent had his own goals in mind. Yet he was sure that the chaos would be more benefiting for him than it would be for the likes of Freddy and co.

"Never though that one day I would be connecting my mind to demonic nightmarish versions of people whom I hate with a passion. All so I can enter the dreamworld and proceed to hammer in another nail into their collective coffin," he muttered softly, feeling the irony and the strange paths that his life had taken to arrive at this particular moment.

He then paused, feeling the weight of everything surround him and his smile dropped.

"As well as my own," he whispered bitterly.

"Things weren't meant to ever be this way, but it is what it is and all I can do is ride the storm as best as I can."

He could say with absolutely clarity that he had both loved and hated his life, the soul crushing pain of his past trauma that had refused to heal. The enjoyment of seeing the fear in the eyes of the children before he plunged his knife into them. Feeling a sick sense of satisfaction as he overheard the wails and screams of the families whom he had made childless, along with a strong sense of justice. Then finally, there was the depressing, mental agony of his reality, of how empty his life had become and realisation that there was nothing he could do to change it.

All he could do was wander down this wretched path to its end conclusion.

"In the end, I will get some relief for what my actions will achieve," he remarked warmly, feeling a small upsurge in his spirits.

"I am not a complete monster, despite having enterally stained my soul."

Then his eyes narrowed, and he became serious in his expression.

"However, enough reflecting, it's time for the show to truly begin."

He lifted the helmet up and placed it firmly onto his head, turning to the endoskeletons as he did, making his orders clear through his strict tone.

"Wait for my instructions, none of you or the endoskeletons in the sewer are to move until then."

"Although if anyone is curious enough to stumble upon us, you know what to do," he said, drawing a line across his throat to make his meaning very clear so that it could not be mistaken.

The endoskeletons nodded firmly.

_"Of course, master Afton,"_ one of them responded in its nonchalant tone that they nearly always spoke in.

Vincent smiled a little, pleased that they clearly understood his instructions.

He then proceeded to lay down on the van's floor, reaching around the back of his head to flicker a switch on that would power it.

No sooner had he done so; the lure of sleep immediately arose like a mountain stretching above the clouds. His eyes felt incredibly heavy and he gave in almost immediately.

"It's showtime," he whispered, as he fell deep into the enticing realm of slumber.

Only he knew that this wouldn't be any ordinary dream, but it would be one that changed everything. . .

* * *

At first there was darkness, with muffled sounds that echoed about in the dark and Vincent couldn't deduce their origins or their owners.

Yet steadily a white light began to appear before him, getting bigger and brighter as it fully emerged from the surrounding darkness.

It acted in the same way that a comet did when it was racing towards the earth, getting brighter and brighter as it burned in the atmosphere upon approach.

Vincent could float, but he felt stationary, locked in and unable to move as the bright aura of light raced towards him with lighting speed.

The voices meanwhile became much clearer, he could now identify some of them.

"Why are you doing this?!"

That voice was undeniably Foxy's and he sounded panicked, if not very concerned about something.

"What do you want out of this?!"

Vincent smiled a little, by the literally sounds of it, things weren't going so well for Foxy and the others. Hopefully, the Nightmares weren't creating too much chaos though, even with the former night guards at their side in their mechanical coffins.

Vincent had to admit that he was both curious and a little disturbed by what he would actually see when he eventually encountered the nightguards face to face. The last thing he saw of some them was their metallic blood stained coffin being dragged out the pizzeria backdoor the morning after their death and that was decades ago. Back when he was watching such horrific events through the pizzeria cameras that he had been able to hack into.

God alone knows what their mental state would be like having spent decades in Limbo and it made Vincent shudder, ever so slightly. Still, nothing like a nice reunion and given what he intended to do; they might as well be there to witness the moment the curtains were fully pulled back.

He just hoped that the Nightmares hadn't provoked things too soon and were able to keep the night guards in line.

After all, they knew very well what their roles were in this situation, to keep the Fazbears occupied until he arrived.

Then a new voice came through.

"Entertainment Foxy, and to drive home a point that the tables have fully been turned, it's time for you to face the past."

This voice was youthful, male, mischievous with a knowing tone, but Vincent didn't recognise it and his smile dropped to be replaced by a look of confusion. Yet he remembered something about the Nightmares being able to possess their own creations within the dreamworld and interact through them.

The unknown voice spoke again, only now it was cold and stern and they were most likely speaking to Foxy.

"There will be answers very soon, but nothing is ever so simple when everything finally falls into place, trust me."

"Shhhh."

"The show will begin momentarily, for not all of the guests have arrived. . .yet."

Vincent smiled again, the Nightmares were aware of his approach, as the white light grew ever larger and brighter that it threatened to swallow him whole.

He also hoped that the other Fazbears would arrive as well, the more the merrier.

Then a new voice appeared, singing in song.

"How unfortunate, uh oh, how unfortunate, uh oh!"

It sounded very much like a child and for a second Vincent thought that Balloon Boy was singing, but he immediately recognised that the voice was far too girly to be BB.

It must be one of the scrapped animatronics that Henry Emily had designed for Fazbear Entertainment back in the day.

Then the light enveloped him whole and all Vincent could see was bright white as the voice continued to sing in a mischievous tone to its end conclusion.

"I'm gonna do a sneaky thing and throw a new contender in the ring."

BANG!

* * *

Vincent felt himself stumble forward slightly the moment his feet hit a solid surface, which as the light rapidly faded turned out to be a smooth grey tile floor.

He looked up, straightening himself as he did and gazed around.

He immediately recognised everything, the stage, the flashing neon lights, pirate's cove, the parts and services door that seemed to have been bashed right open. Then there was prize corner, with the toy shelves and Puppet's music box.

There were a few other features to the pizzeria that he didn't recognise, although he quickly deduced that this was a mishmash version of both pizzerias. However, all that was that he was here at last.

He certainly had a lot of company present and by the looks of it, things hadn't escalated into an all-out fight. . ._yet_.

Vincent found himself standing alongside Lefty, whom he immediately recognised from the blueprints. Yet to see Henry's long sought project brought to life in vivid detail certainly took his breath away.

"Glad that you are able to join us minster Afton," Lefty said a relaxed tone, but he looked amused by Vincent's surpised expression.

For a moment Vincent allowed himself to reminisce, remembering Henry's visible excitement and pride in Lefty's design.

He could recall Henry's words clearly, as though he had spoked them only yesterday.

_"This is my pride and joy."_

_"Lefty, I aim to have him made before Sammy's birthday next year, he is rather complex, so I need time to make him perfect for the limelight."_

And perfect he was, standing there in the flesh, even though Vincent knew that none of this was actually real.

He pulled himself out of memory lane and turned to see the entire ensemble of animatronics that the Nightmares had skilfully recreated.

The Rockstars, the Mediocre Melodies, Candy, Cindy, Blank, Chester, Music Man, El Chip, Cadet Candy, Funtime Chica, Dee Dee and many more.

To see them up close and in such detail was captivating.

_"You really did have a creative mind Henry,"_ Vincent thought observantly, as he gazed over everything animatronic in the room.

_"It's a pity that none of your work got to see the light of day."_

_"Yet I am well aware of the irony, with me being the one responsible for all of your pain."_

_"But I promised that I would look after what was left behind, even if it is just your blueprints that remain."_

Then of course there were the night guards in their prop suit coffins and Vincent's eyes did widen upon seeing them in the flesh.

Vincent had expected them to look worse for wear and he wasn't disappointed given their degraded and rusted appearance. The blood stains were still visible on the surface of their new bodies even after all this time. The way that their aged face plates twitched and jerked made him feel uneasy, knowing the maelstrom of negative emotion that lay behind the withered mask

Agony could be an immensely powerful emotion and it could drive people to commit the most insane and destructive of actions if it could just for a second relive their ceaseless burden.

Or it would just turn them into mindless beasts, consumed by a ravenous hunger to inflict pain on everyone and everything, blind forever to reality and lost in the darkness of their own ceaseless pain.

Vincent knew from first hand experience that it was a fine line to balance on, with the ever present risk of falling off.

Now turning to face his front, he could see Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy all facing him with a collective expression of surprise, shock, recognition, dread and even fear to some degree.

They certainly hadn't been expecting him to appear, evident by their eyes suddenly narrowing in open contempt, if not disgust.

Anger soon became the defining emotion of their expressions as they glared daggers at him.

They all seemed to quickly recognise that he was not an illusion of the Nightmares' making, but the real deal.

"It's you," Freddy growled in a low tone that barely hid his hatred for the man that now stood before him

Vincent smiled confidently.

"Yes, it's me."

"You weren't expecting me to turn up, were you?" he asked in a knowing tone, as he walked forward slightly.

Although he made sure not to get too close in case, they did try to lash out at him.

"No, we weren't," Foxy replied bitterly, his eyes were aflame with anger and they briefly flickered over to Lefty, who held a delighted expression on his face.

"Yet, we shouldn't be too surprised that this has happened," he muttered.

_"V. . .i. . .n. . .c. . .e. . .n. . .t A. . .f. . .t. . .o. . .n?" _(Vincent Afton?) came a strained female voice, which resulted in everyone turning to see one of the possessed prop suits twirling towards him in graceful manner.

Immediately the slight of the suit's ballerina movements made Vincent's eyes wide momentarily and he felt his mind undergo a brief flashback before he wretched it back into the present.

But still the memory felt strong in his mind.

_"I. . .t's a s. . .t. . .r. . .a. . .n. . .g. . .e t. . .h. . .i. . .n. . .g f. . .o. . .r y. . .o. . .u t. . .o b. . .e a. . .l. . .i. . .v. . .e, d. . .e. . .s. . .p. . .i. . .t. . .e h. . .a. . .v. . .i. . .n. . .g c. . .a. . .u. . .s. . .e. . .d e. . .v. . .e. . .r. . .y. . .t. . .h. . .i. . .n. . .g, w. . .h. . .y h. . .a. . .s. . .n't k. . .a. . .r. . .m. . .a s. . .t. . .r. . .u. . .c. . .k y. . .o. . .u d. . .o. . .w. . .n?"_ (It's a strange thing for you to be alive, despite having caused everything, why hasn't karma struck you down?) the nightguard asked in a curious tone, although there was a strong undertone of resentment.

It was in this moment that Vincent could recall the identity of the woman entombed within her mechanical grave. . ._Amy Crawfield_.

"Because unlike you, I learnt how to survive the unnatural and keep myself hidden," Vincent replied modestly, although there was a stern undertone to his voice, to make her think twice about attacking him.

Amy seemed to loom over him, even though she was perhaps only taller than Vincent by a few inches. Although the ghastly appearance of the prop suit that she possessed made her seem tall and imposing. A feature that was further amplified by the constant anger and hatred that raged on inside of her.

The nearby presence of Lefty, or rather the Nightmare within him gave Vincent some form of comfort with regards to security in case things were to take a rather bad turn.

"Plus, I was well aware of what would happen to me if I did return to Freddy's," Vincent remarked plainly.

"It's a pity that you didn't," Bonnie muttered coldly under her breath, but Vincent was too busy focused on dealing with Amy with hear her words.

"We could have ended this nightmare right there and then."

_"W. . .h. . .y d. . .i. . .d y. . .o. . .u d. . .o i. . .t?"_ (Why did you do it?) Amy asked, tilting her head to one side as she examined Vincent. Her voice was strained because of her battered voice box, but her tone was clearly one of both curiosity and sorrow if it were possible.

"Yes, that is a question that we would all like an answer for," Freddy remarked sternly, his eyes fixed solely on Vincent and nothing else. Not even the close proximity of the possessed prop suits could gain his attention.

He wanted answers and he wasn't leaving until he got them.

Taking a step forward, Freddy felt his hands morph into fists of furry as he glared daggers at Vincent.

"Can't you at least give us the satisfaction of knowing why you kill those defenceless kids, created endless torment and agony for us and everyone else who was ever involved with Freddy's?" he asked, still in a cold tone, but there was a clear undertone of anger in his voice.

Vincent turned in his direction immediately picking up the serious tone in Freddy's voice, as did Amy and everyone else around them.

"Why create so much chaos and why drag so many unfortunate people into it?" Freddy demanded.

He briefly paused as he gestured over to the Possessed Prop Suits, their fate was very much on open display.

"And even with twenty years having passed since the company went under and with us being left with nothing, you still hound us!" Freddy exclaimed, now starting to sound bewildered.

"It's like you have nothing better to do with your life than to constantly harass us and cause us pain."

His fist further tightened, threatening to turn white so strong was his grip and his emotions as he glared at Vincent with a look that could kill if it were possible.

Briefly looking over to Foxy, Bonnie and Chica, their expressions strongly matched Freddy's own. Although Bonnie looked more cold than angry with her inner furry hiding behind her eyes. Whilst Chica seemed to be a storm of emotions with narrowed eyes that could penetrate even the most hardened of souls. Foxy meanwhile had raised his hook hand in anticipation of a fight and he seemed to be eager for one. Yet in his eyes you could see the rage bubbling like a raging cauldron. Everyone's fear of what lay ahead of them had seemingly vanished into nothing. The mere sight of twenty five possessed prop suits and the thirty something animatronics that stood before them didn't scare them in the slightest anymore. Not even the Nightmares bothered them that much, despite them having near absolute power in the dreamworld.

Well. . .with their new found lucid dream powers that advantage should be ripped away from the Nightmares in a heartbeat.

Yet all that mattered in the Fazbears' eyes was Vincent Afton and the answers that he held. If the ghost children were possessing them right now there was no doubt that they would just proceed to tear through everyone left right and centre in order to lay their hands on the man behind the slaughter.

The one responsible for everything, be it directly or indirectly, his actions were like a ripple that never ceased to stop, spreading far and wide.

"Why, what is your reason for wanting to hurt us without end?" Freddy asked again in a cold but demanding tone, his anger was evident, but he had enough control over himself to rein it in until an opportunity presented itself.

"Why Vincent, why can't you just leave us alone?"

Vincent had been looking at Freddy with a blank expression, although his eyes showed a sense of being intrigued by his questions.

"Those questions have haunted you, haven't they?" he asked slowly, his eyes shifting from one Fazbear to the next.

Foxy growled, barely able to check himself in check and he was probably felt insulted by Vincent's words, the answer to his question was obvious to everyone here.

"I think we all know the answer to that question," Lefty commented nonchalantly, stepping forward to put himself firmly between Vincent and Amy so to discourage her from trying anything against Vincent.

_"E. . .v. . .e. . .r. . .y. . .o. . .n. . .e i. . .s h. . .a. . .u. . .n. . .t. . .e. . .d,"_ (Everyone is haunted,) Amy remarked softly, turning away as she gazed back at her nearby brethren.

_"I. . .n o. . .n. . .e w. . .a. . .y o. . .r t. . h. . .e o. . .t. . .h. . .e. . .r."_ (In one way or the other.)

"On that I agree with you," Vincent replied plainly, earning a look of disgust from Bonnie with her cold demeanour immediately falling away to be replaced by naked rage.

"How could you possibly relate; you've never suffered like we have!" she hissed venously.

Vincent smiled slightly, yet his eyes still expressed an intrigued look, but there was an element of understanding in them, as well as a look of annoyance, but it was well hidden.

"Actually, I can relate, even I have no right to expect your pity, given the hell that I've put you all through," he remarked in an understanding tone, which felt off to the Fazbears.

"Wait, what?" Chica muttered, sounding confused, her eyes going slightly wide as she eyed Vincent with suspicion.

"How you could relate to us, you're the one who is responsible for everything and you never looked on what you did with any regret!" Foxy yelled furiously, brandishing his hook with an aggressive stance.

There were several mechanical mummers of confusion from the possessed prop suits as they raised their rusted eyebrows in a visible expression of bewilderment.

The Nightmares and their animatronic puppets didn't respond at all, instead the ones that the Nightmares were directly possessing smiled. . .a knowing smile. They clearly knew something in relation to what Vincent had just said.

Vincent sighed, but he didn't change his expression.

"Surprisingly enough I can relate, and the irony isn't lost on me, considering how I have caused everything, be it directly or indirectly," he said in an intrigued tone.

"Yet I reasoned long ago that getting lost in regret would simply leave me in a never spiral of self destruction."

He then cast all four Fazbears a meaningful look.

"Why regret what you can't change?"

"We can't divert from our path, we're all in too deep now to escape what has to happen."

Freddy could feel his words cut deep and considering what they had done to the former nightguards and how there was no possibility in reversing what had happened, he had considered abandoning all hope and just allowing the vengeful child spirit inside of him to dictate his life.

They all had in various ways thought about letting go of their humanity back in those dark days of the 1990s, when there was no way out of the mire that they were dumped in.

They couldn't swim against the ceaseless rising tide, so they might as well submit and sink into their inner darkness.

Yet it sounded as though Vincent had indeed at some point held regret for what he had done, despite such a realisation going completely against what Freddy knew about him.

However, something that Nightmare Freddy had told Balloon Boy earlier came back to Freddy.

_"I am a monster, it is infused into me and I cannot help it, but even a monster can learn to feel things that go against its inner nature. . .even a monster like Vincent Afton."_

Had Vincent learnt to feel regret, or even remorse for his actions?

If so, it didn't make any sense for why he was continuing to hound Freddy and his family to no apparent end other than their ultimate destruction.

It was clear that any feeling of regret that Vincent may or may not hold weren't dictating his actions. Something else was fuelling his actions and whilst Freddy believed that it was the man's stoic determination to ruin him and his family. He suspected that motivation was being driven by something far beyond the mere thrill and desire for carnage and blood.

"What are you talking about?" Chica asked venomously, her eyes still ablaze with anger and confusion.

"What do you mean don't regret what you can't change, you've never cared from the beginning, you loved it, every single moment."

She then pointed at him accusingly.

"You don't have the ability to feel anything but the sick sense of satisfaction that you get from your murderous acts!"

Her hatred for him was beyond evident, it was a feeling shared by everyone else around her.

"You befriended us, helped us, all the while you were plotting our downfall, you never stopped to reflect on whether what you were doing was worth it, you just dived straight in!"

"You're the sort of person who wouldn't stop until you end up dead, you are completely soulless Vincent!"

Alongside her hatred for him was the overwhelming disbelief that he could ever relate to her and the others. Given how he had treated them, she would be beyond surprised that he actually wanted to relate them, he certainly didn't hold any of them in high regard.

"If you truly regretted what you did and understood what you've put us all through then you would have stopped years ago and left us well alone!"

Vincent smiled in response, yet it was a cold smile and his eyes narrowed as he gazed back at her. Although there was something else in his eyes that Chica couldn't quite decipher. . .recognition perhaps, but of what she couldn't tell.

"If only you truly knew me Chica," he replied slowly in a sombre tone.

"We have all suffered and I can't stop hunting you because I don't want to stop, and I can't reverse what I have done."

"It's all I have now."

There seemed to be a deeper meaning to his words.

"Please Vincent," Bonne began with a harsh tone, shaking her head in dismissal.

"Don't try to beg for our pity."

"I have no intention of doing so Bonnie," Vincent replied with a casual tone, but that odd look in his eyes remained, but it wasn't the look of a crazed serial killer which had often been assigned to him over the years.

"I know when something is pointless in trying."

Was that mysterious look. . .humanity, a form of acceptance of how utterly diabolic he had been to them?

If so, then this was certainly the first time that Vincent appeared to be humble, which was strange given that he had always verbally tormented them with a steadfast refusal to give away any weakness.

_"Y. . .o. . .u a. . .r. . .e a v. . .i. . .c. . .t. . .i. . .m o. . .f m. . .i. . .s. . .f. . .o. . .r. . .t. . .u. . .n. . .a. . .t. . .e, V. . .i. . .n. . .c. . .e. . .n. . .t?"_ (You are a victim of misfortunate, Vincent?) David asked, his degraded metallic body leaning forward to hear more. He sounded curious, but there also an undertone of displeasure. He probably disliked the idea that Vincent could ever claimed to be a victim of misfortunate, when considering his role in creating and prolonging this mess.

As he had told Freddy earlier, he hated Vincent for what he had done, even though he and the other former nightguards saw the Fazbears as their primary enemy.

"Yes," Vincent replied slowly, turning his gaze in the possessed prop suit's direction, he seemed to agree with David's words.

"In many ways I am, even though I have no right to anyone's sympathy."

There was some muttering amongst the possessed prop suits with their damaged voice boxes struggling to form their words, but enough was heard by the Fazbears that it earned their attention beyond anything else.

_"S. . .o, t. . .h. . .e r. . .u. . .m. . .o. . .u. . .r. . .s c. . .o. . .u. . .l. . .d b. . .e t. . .r. . .u. . .e."_ (So, the rumours could be true?) one muttered.

_"W. . .h. . .a. . .t e. . .l. . .s. . .e w. . .o. . .u. . .l. . .d h. . .e b. . .e r. . .e. . .f. . .e. . .r. . .r. . .i. . .n. . .g t. . .o?" _(What else would he be referring to?) another remarked, seemingly in agreement.

"Wait, what rumours, what do you know?" Freddy asked and probably a bit too hasty for his own liking as it portrayed his desperation for answers. The possessed prop suits immediately caught on and responded accordingly.

_"W. . .e a. . .r. . .e. . .n't t. . .e. . .l. . .l. . .i. . .n. . .g y. . .o. . .u!"_ (We aren't telling you!) one of them hissed venomously.

They were very vindictive, and, in all fairness, who could blame them given their gruesome fate at the Fazbears' hands.

Vincent nodded, putting his hands behind his back as he stepped forward once more.

"Some secrets are best left buried, but others finally have to come out," he said confidently.

"This part of the game has gone on for long enough."

Yet Freddy refused to believe it, there was always an ulterior motive with Vincent. He wouldn't simply tell them anything unless he wanted it to have a desired effect on them.

Still, the sudden possibility of knowing called to him and he wanted to reach out and grasp it with both hands.

He knew that Vincent had told Goldie why he did what he did back in that abandoned factory, but due to the circumstances with that dreaded machine, Goldie couldn't remember much from that time.

If only he could fully remember what had been said.

Yet amidst his frustration over the lack of proper answers, he remembered something else, which he had touched upon earlier when he was facing down Lefty.

Vincent's actions, the way in which he went about his killings, the fact he hadn't killed them yet despite having plenty of opportunities to do so and how he was constantly hounding them even now. . .long after those tragic and horrific events had occurred.

Then Freddy remembered what Vincent had told him back in 1987, when he was in his SpringBonnie disguise.

_"I only want to kill as many as I need to."_

Looking back at everything Vincent had done from the beginning up to now as he stood before Freddy, the latter could see that Vincent was a driven individual and a like a serial killer he had stripped everything away from the Fazbears that they cared about. . .excluding their lives.

They had nothing left, no livelihood, no home and a stained reputation that would be next to impossible to restore. It was very clear now that Vincent had wanted to hurt them, bit by bit as he destroyed their lives, with a vindictive mindset.

He had watched them, befriended them and even helped them on a few occasions. All the while he was a snake in the grass, waiting for an ideal opportunity to strike. He didn't even need to tell them that it was him who was the one responsible for all of their pain, but he did. . .knowing that the reveal of his betrayal would hurt them.

Freddy's eyes slowly widen as it began to finally dawn on him, the implication was as terrifying as it was shocking.

Everything Vincent had done was personal, because he had been hurt. . .somehow and he wanted Freddy and the others to feel his pain, because them he equally had nothing left. . .other than this vindictive feud that he pursued relentlessly.

_A serial killer is what Vincent had become, but not who had once been. . ._

Freddy had wanted to ask further, but before he could even open his mouth, there was a sudden bright flash of white light that enveloped everyone in a single instant.

The bright light stung everyone's eyes, even the animatronics closed their eyes in a form of self defence to prevent the brightness from overloading their eye circuits. The possessed prop suits groaned in distress at the sensation as did Vincent, as he had completely been caught off guard like everyone else.

If Freddy himself wasn't in the same position he would have used the opportunity to rush over grab Vincent and proceed to beat the answers out of him.

However, the bright white light faded away as rapidly as it had appeared, and Freddy found much to his relief that Goldie and the others had finally arrived.

They were in the clear and when the moment came to reveal their new found they would be able to trap not only the Nightmares, but Vincent too.

They were all together in one place. . .it was particularly a gift that was wrapped up with all the trimmings.

"Glad to see that you four are still alive," Goldie commented, looking very pleased, resulting in a smile from Freddy.

"Thankfully, they haven't made a move yet," Freddy replied, sounding very relieved that back up had finally arrived.

"Now the tables begin to turn," Bonnie remarked, as Toys Freddy and Chica stepped forward besides her. They were both expressing a mixture of nervousness, fear, concern given the mass of opponents that they faced and yet relief that they were among friends.

"We've had a long conversation with our 'old friends'," Bonnie muttered, pointing over to the massed grip of possessed prop suits, who seemed very excited with the new arrivals.

_"T. . .O. . .Y F. . .R. . .E. . .D. . .D. . .Y!"_ (TOY FREDDY!) David screamed in open glee, barely unable to contain his desire to rip the Toy into two.

_"T. . .O. . .Y B. . .O. . .N. . .N. . .I. . .E!"_ (TOY BONNIE!) Laura yelled in delight and her rusted face plates fully opened up to reveal her withered deformed skull, in doing so her actual jaw opened up fully, expressing her excitement.

_"T. . .O. . .Y C. . .H. . .I. . .C. . .A!"_ (TOY CHICA!) Henry cried, sound very happy to see her and everyone else. To him it would seem that Christmas had come early.

_"B. . .A. . .L. . .L. . .O. . .O. . .N B. . .O. . .Y, W. . .E M. . . E. . .E. . .T A. . .G. . .A. . .I. . .N!"_ (BALLOON BOY, WE MEET AGAIN!) Amy squealed, her voice was a strange high pitch mechanical cry for joy as her face plates opened up fully to expose the decayed skull underneath that was now locked in an expression of what one could describe as enteral happiness. At the mere sight of the possessed prop suits and of all the animatronics, BB proceeded to stand behind Puppet for safety.

He particularly didn't wish to look at Lefty and feared drawing the human looking animatronic's gaze on him. In his showtime clothes and with his human features Lefty looked relatively harmless, but BB knew it to be all a lie and he didn't wish to undergo a repeat of his last experience with Lefty.

_"P. . .U. . .P. . .P. . .E. . .T T. . .O. . .O, T. . .H. . .I. . .S I. . .S T. . .O. . .O G. . .O. . .O. . .D T. . .O B. . .E T. . .R. . .U. . .E!"_ (PUPPET TOO, THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!) Phone Guy called out, almost in triumph, clasping his hands together as he glared at her with sinister intent.

_"I. . .t's b. . .e. . .e. . .n s. . .o l. . .o. . .n. . .g s. . .i. . .n. . .c. . .e w. . .e h. . .a. . .v. . .e l. . .a. . .s. . .t f. . .e. . .l .. .t s. . .u. . .c. . .h p. . .l. . .e. . .a. . .s. . .u. . .r. . e a. . .n. . .d h. . .o. . .p. . .e. N. . .o. . .w w. . .i. . .t. . .h o. . .u. . .r s. . .a. . .l. . .v. . .a. . .t. . .i. . .o. . .n b. . .e. . .i. . .n. . .g s. . .o n. . .e. . .a. . .r," _(It's been so long since we have last felt such pleasure and hope. Now with our salvation being so near,) he then whispered, as his metallic mouth stretched itself to form a foreboding smile, expressing his dark thoughts.

It seemed to him and his comrades that their prayers had finally been answered after so much suffering in both life and death.

"_E. . .v. . .e. . .n i. . .f a. . .l. . .l o. . .f y. . .o. . .u a. . .r. . .e. . .n't p. . .r. . .e. . .s. . .e. . .n. . .t, i. . .t s. . .t. . .i. . .l. . .l f. . .e. . .e. . .l. . .s l. . .i. . .k. . .e a c. . .e. . .l. . .e. . .b. . .r. . .a. . .t. . .i. . .o. . .n, a f. . .i. . .n. . .e g. . .i. . .f. . .t,"_ (Even if all of you aren't present, it still feels like a celebration, a fine gift,) he remarked ominous, noticing the absence of Mangle, but they could all go after her later.

Plus, there someone else Phone Guy knew who wasn't present as well, but who was _'dying' _to meet Mangle to repay her for what happened in 1987.

His smile grew, stretching its joints, he knew that Helen would want to join the fun, despite the Nightmares choosing to keep her back in reverse for the right moment. Although in truth it was because compared to Phone Guy and the other possessed prop suits, Helen was a wild animal, consumed utterly by her despair of dying so suddenly and her desire for vengeance against Mangle. She had become the embodiment of agony and rage; it was such a pity though, from what Phone Guy knew of her back in his old life, she was a lovely person with many things going for her.

A close distance, one could easily detect the raging fire of vengeance that was threatening to burst out of Phone Guy and consume what little willpower he had for keeping it in check. Yet he was certainly more sane than Helen was, and that was definitively saying something!

If Helen were to be brought in, then she would immediately make a beeline straight for the Fazbears, particularly the Toys and especially Mangle if she were here.

Phone Guy's own bloodlust was only contained by his curiosity in what Vincent was about to reveal as he sensed an important moment was dawning.

Although it was very tempting to just reach forward and proceed to rip into the Fazbears for they stood so tantalising near like a worm on a fishing line, but he resisted. . ._for now._

Foxy meanwhile felt jubilant with Goldie and the Toys having finally turned up, it gave him a much needed sense of security, given the odds that they faced.

"It's good to see you guys," Foxy remarked humorously, as Puppet quickly seemed to take notice of her new surroundings as did Balloon Boy, although he made sure to remain behind her, not wanting to drop his guard.

"We couldn't leave you four hanging," Puppet replied softly, seeming to be focused mainly on the situation at hand, but she gave Foxy a small reassuring smile.

Now with everyone else here Foxy no longer felt as though he was standing on a cliff edge with a pack of ravenous predators waiting to push him off it. Now it felt as though he had the upper hand, be it one that well-hidden, but when the time came, the tables would finally be well and truly turned.

"This is all very much a blast from the past," Toy Freddy muttered in bewilderment, as his eyes flickered from the horde of possessed prop suits to the fairly large gathering of animatronics. He recognised most of the room's layout, seeing the stage, prize corner and Puppet's music. Then there were the flashing neo lights and the large posters with their disturbing writing on damnation for the guilty.

The whole room had cuddly appeal to it, but he knew it be all a front, a facade that hid its true wicked nature. That description alone summed up Freddy's, a place for where kids and their families could enjoy themselves with fun and games, only for everything about it to be twisted and turned into the stuff of nightmares.

Toy Freddy sighed, it was a shame to see everything that he loved about his former life be twisted in such an insulting manner and it revealed how little control he and anyone else truly had when it came to shaping their legacy.

The unsolved murders, the ghost stories and the poor public image of a once proud franchise, that was the story of Freddy's and that was what people would remember the most whenever one thought about Freddy's.

His sense of shame turned into anger, raw and unbridled as his gaze now fell upon Vincent Afton, still alive and not seeming to be suffering the slightest conquences for his actions.

Knowing that fact sickened Toy Freddy, he actually felt a bit nauseous just looking at the man.

If karma was a thing, then it was sure taking a rather long time to rain down on Vincent. Toy Freddy just hoped that if it did arrive it would be devastating, and that Vincent got what he truly deserved.

_"May the darkest pit of hell open up to swallow you whole. . .'old friend',"_ he mentally muttered to himself in a bitter tone, as he eyed Vincent from where he stood.

_"But even such a fate as that would be far too merciful for a monster like you."_

"It's such a pleasure to finally see most of you again," Vincent remarked, looking rather pleased with Goldie and the Toys having arrived.

His eyes slowly moved from one of them, as he spoke in a confident tone.

"It's been too long, and we have much to discuss, I do believe that I owe you all an explanation for everything, the murders and the constant hounding."

"Granted, it's been long overdue. . ."

Toy Chica couldn't help herself, allowing her jaw to drop in her astonishment.

"What?!"

Then she quickly regained control and closed her mouth, now giving off a deeply suspicious look.

"Why now, all of a sudden?" she asked coldly.

"How do we know that you're not just taking us all for a ride?"

Vincent smiled in amusement and nodded.

"You have every right to be suspicious of my motives, given how I've refused to tell you for countless years."

"Like the time you turned up outside Freddy's in 1994 and told us that you were the one responsible for the murders of the children, for destroying our lives," Puppet remarked in a displeasured tone that carried an icy undertone and her white dots for eyes burned with an inner fire as she walked slowly toward him.

"I certainly remember that you refused point blank to tell us why you did it though."

Her expression of veiled vengeance was one that Vincent had seen so many times before that he had now lost count.

It didn't limit its effects though as he felt a faint chill run up his spine, he remembered the moment when he first saw her act possessed back in 1987.

"Everything you've done to us," Puppet said coldly, her eyes were fixed solely on him and he could see a storm of negative emotion building inside of her.

"Has always been done with ultimate aim to cause as much harm as possible and I have always wondered why you desired to hurt us so badly?" she asked slowly, stopping only a short distance from him, disregarding her close proximity to the possessed prop suits and the animatronics that circled the group like a horde of hungry vultures.

"Why did you have to make it so personal Vincent?" she asked slowly, but one could easily deuce her ravenous desire for answers and her urge to rip him in two where he stood.

She then gestured to all the other Fazbears.

"None of us have ever done anything to you to deserve such cruelty."

For a while, Vincent stared back at her with an unreadable expression, until he finally responded.

"You're almost right Puppet, my actions are completely unjustified, to an outsider looking in."

He sighed, now looking reflective and a little sombre as he gazed around from one Fazbear to the next, reading their confused and enraged expressions.

"Almost none of you, be it here or anywhere else has done anything to earn my hatred of you," Vincent said solemnly.

Then his gaze fell on Goldie and it immediately changed with his face becoming hard and his eyes narrowed, now expressing only an inner coldness that was marred by immense displeasure.

When he spoke, he did so in a tone of restrained anger and vindictiveness.

"Apart from you. . .Fredbear. . ."

Immediately Goldie felt a thousand eyes fall on him and none were as strong as Vincent's gaze.

Goldie blinked, looking visibly confused and feeling a heavy sense of dread start to rise from within him.

"Wait, what have I ever done to you, I never knew you in until 1983, at least not on a personal level," he answered hastily, as he felt as though the ground was starting to collapse beneath him.

"None of us did," Freddy commented defensively, quickly coming to Goldie's aid.

"You were just one of several staff members back then Vincent, we hardly knew you."

"You were one of many faces," Chica remarked with a serious tone as she folded her arms with her narrowed eyes.

"How could Goldie have ever hurt you; it isn't in his nature. . .unlike yours."

Yet Vincent wasn't convinced by their words and he didn't shift his gaze from Goldie.

"You didn't need to know me in order to hurt me and you. . .Fredbear, hurt me badly."

His hands which hung by his side had now formed into tight fists, expressing his inner furry.

"You gave me a wound so deep and terrible that bled out and even now it still remains. . .making my old life nothing but a bitter and painful memory," he said coldly, although there was a clear undertone of anger as he spoke.

"Although there is a certain amount of irony in how one tragedy can lead to the creation of others, but I know that we're all used to making that connection."

There was a subtle collective growl of anger from the possessed prop suits, they understood Vincent's words, given how the murdered children had in turn murdered them.

Vincent's gaze was unflinching as his cold, yet fierce green eyes bore deep into Goldie's anxious dark red, yet the latter quickly put on a brave face, seeing Vincent's machinations.

"I don't know what I did to you that made you want to commit those horrific sicking acts, but don't you dare try to blame me for it!" Goldie retorted, feeling angry at this potential accusation.

"Whatever I did does not excuse the horrors that we've put everyone through!"

Yet Vincent surprisingly nodded, although his expression didn't relax in the slightest.

"I fully agree Fredbear, I won't excuse what I had done, but. . ."

"You cannot outrun the past Fredbear, it's towering over all of us and I need to reveal it for my sake and yours."

Goldie felt his blood freeze, he remembered some of those words, they were the exact same words that Nightmare Freddy had spoke to him during his first experience in the dreamworld.

Back then the Nightmare had been referring to Goldie's responsibility for the Bite of 1983, which made sense given how he knew the boy whom had suffered, but the fact that Vincent was using the same words, made Goldie's heart skip a few beats.

_It couldn't be a coincidence._

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could spy out the knowing smiles of Lefty, Funtime Chica, Rockstar Bonnie and Dee Dee. Given how none of the other animatronics were smiling, he quickly deduced that the Nightmares were directly possessing them.

And they knew full well where Vincent was taking the conversation and the man's next words only confirmed what Goldie dreaded.

"Do you remember Fredbear and Friends?" he asked in a curious tone, but there was a coldness in his voice that made Goldie feel all the colour drain away from his face.

He could sense the sinister nature of Vincent making itself known through his voice.

"Do you remember the Bite of 83?" he enquired, with his cold eyes burning deep into Goldie's.

"I do, in vivid detail," Goldie answered back in a sombre tone.

"I remember every moment, the screams of the child, the terrified look on his face, the taunts and laughter of his bullies, the cracking sound of his skull and all of the blood."

He sighed in great shame.

"The shell-shocked expressions of the crowd, it was like time had stood still for a singular moment before chaos immediately took hold and panic ensured."

All of the other Fazbears looked pained as Goldie spoke, remembering his breakdown when he first recounted his tragic tale.

It was even more tragic with them knowing that Goldie in truth had no real control over what happened.

Yet Vincent's cold hard expression hadn't wavered at all in the face of Goldie's words.

"There's far more to that day then you remember Fredbear," he said bitterly.

"Given what you can remember, I am surprised that you don't recall the rest of it."

"And how would you know?" Puppet asked, now visibly annoyed by Vincent making Goldie relive his darkest day.

"It was an isolated incident, only a few would have known about it, given that FE was able to limit people's knowledge."

"It's not as though you were present."

Vincent smiled. . .a knowing smile.

"I was there Puppet, I was present on that dreadful day and I remember it vividly, every waking moment as though it was yesterday."

He then sighed in almost a mournful tone.

"Such horror and tragedy never left me. . .despite it being thirty years since that dark day."

"What gives you the right to be mournful or sorrowful?" Puppet asked in an annoyed tone. For her to see Vincent act in a hurt and grieving manner was an insult given his evil acts, it felt unnatural if anything else.

Yet Vincent's anger suddenly returned as his eyes lit up with a vengeful inner madness as he quickly faced Puppet.

"I have every right," he hissed softly, keeping his inner monster in check.

"As you all will soon learn. . ."

He then returned to face Goldie.

"I can help you remember more that dreadful day Fredbear, fill in the gaps that you didn't know existed."

"How do we know that you're not making stuff up?" Toy Bonnie asked in an accusing manner as she glared daggers at him.

"You don't have to believe me Toy Bonnie, I understand, but in this matter, I will be utterly truthful," Vincent answered stoically, although he didn't look away from Goldie.

"Think back Fredbear, remember those horrific scenes, try to recall everything, not matter how painful it is to remember it and the scenes should connect."

And so, Goldie dived deep into his memory, dragging out all of the pain that accompanied that day and he did feel reluctant to touch upon the mental agony that he had mostly buried for three decades.

Yet despite the sheer mental trauma of remembering it in vivid detail Goldie pressed on. He needed to do this so that they could finally uncover the heart of Vincent's motive that had eluded them for so long.

The others didn't seem to protest at what was he doing, as they too desperately wanted to know and for everyone's sake Goldie was willing to suffer the mental agony of reliving his wretched past to uncover the truth.

Pushing past his strong instinctive reservations required immense mental focus, so much that he tuned out of everything else around him. Sounds faded away into nothing and he couldn't feel the physical presence of those closest to him, that being Freddy, Puppet, Vincent, Lefty and some of the Possessed Prop Suits as he blocked them all out.

As he began to recall the boy's blood curling screams of terror and the mocking laughter of his bullies, including those of his older brother. Vincent's voice cut through and it was surprisingly encouraging for once.

_"Stay the course Fredbear,"_ he said in a tone of both encouragement and yet it clearly held sinister intentions.

_"Focus only on those memories."_

_"Don't let anything else lead you astray."_

His words gave Goldie the feelings of naked dread for where this moment was leading him and yet the curiosity of how the Bite of 83 involved Vincent.

Yet deep in his heart, he had a suspicion that terrified to him to his core and he prayed to heaven that he wrong.

_"Keep focused Fredbear,"_ Vincent said, still in a mixture of both encouragement and ill intent.

_"I am quite sure surpised that you will be shocked with what you should uncover, but in the end, one's interpretation of events are not so clear cut when you look at them again."_

_"And yet. . .that is often when we discover the most tragic and darkest of secrets that are otherwise best left buried. . ."_

* * *

The door was slowly pushed opened as Springtrap carefully lean through, listening intensely for any sounds that might give away the presence of something sinister lurking in the room.

So far, he couldn't hear anything, but that didn't mean that someone or something wasn't hiding in the darkness, watching him through unseen eyes.

He reached down with one hand and tapped Gabriel on the shoulder, instructing to him to turn on the flashlight.

The boy did so, and he immediately swept the light across the room, quickly going from one corner to the next, making sure not to leave any area unsearched.

The light revealed the room to be another bedroom, only this one clearly belonged to a girl. There was a medium sized bed with a pinkish strawberry coloured quilt and several white pillows on top.

There was a green chest of drawers to one side and along the wall appeared to be a series of childish drawings and doodles. One the other side of the room was an open series of shelves that held various dolls and toys, but most were of My Little Pony and Barbie dolls. On top of it was an inactive lava lamp, it being green in colour.

Further beyond running along the same wall was another double shutter closet, which like its companion was also inbuilt into the wall.

The floor itself was reddish colour and on were several more toys scattered around, all of which looked very girly.

A set of Strawberry Shortcake dolls, a Tinker Bell makeup set, some Cabbage Patch Twins dolls and boy did they look ugly. So much that it was visibly off putting to even look at them.

On the bed there were some Pound Puppy toys, along with a Popples toy of sorts and finally somewhere off to one side was a child's plastic medical knit. Despite the aged appearance of the rest of the house, nothing in this room seemed to have aged, at least not in any drastic sense. Although the room was clearly dusty and filled with cobwebs.

Overall, the room looked relatively normal, until one looked at the room's far end on its left side and saw another door was situated there.

Having it placed there made no sense in terms of room design, but then again this was limbo, the rules of reality didn't apply here. Although it was nice to have an escape route, instead of being trapped in a room that would quickly become a dead end.

Still, they would need to check that door to make sure that there weren't any hidden threats lurking behind it.

Yet Springtrap's attention was quickly caught by that of the old 70s to 80s style toys. Seeing so many made Springtrap remembered how hugely popular they all were back in the day when he was preforming at Fredbear's Family Diner.

_"Christ, every single toy here was an epidemic in my time, I remember seeing girls playing with those Barbie dolls nonstop at the diner, they were more interested in them then they ever were in Goldie and I,"_ he mentally muttered to himself.

He wondered if they were still around in this day and age, probably, unless their popularity had since died.

With the coast seeming to be clear, he slowly headed inside, with Gabriel following right behind him, sweeping the flashlight across the room as more things came into view.

Sammy, Susie, Charlie, and Cassidy also entered the room in quick succession; with the latter two carefully closing the door shut behind them, so not to give away their location through making a loud noise.

Springtrap was still holding Tommy in his arms. The boy had long since ceased to cry out in pain for which Springtrap was greatly relieved, given the dire circumstances that they found themselves in.

Yet whenever he looked at Tommy, he could see a great deal of mental agony in the boy's eyes as he fought his inner battles with his demons or. . .whatever the hell had been speaking through him.

Was that his inner dark side, rearing its head?

If so, then Springtrap really wouldn't like to be dealing with it at the same time as having to fight off the pursing Nightmares.

There was much about Tommy had he wanted to know and yet he was equally afraid of what he might uncover.

Tommy was certainly not like the other dead children present, if anything he seemed to be an anomaly of sorts. Granted Springtrap was aware of the conception of souls being divided in a variety of ways and unable to move on due to their conflicted nature on how to settle things, but to see it in action was disturbing.

Nightmare Fredbear's words in that moment came back to haunt him.

_"You are naïve, but that's to be expected, you cannot save him, at least, not the way that you think."_

Springtrap shook his head, dismissing the Nightmare's words as he gently lay Tommy down before the bed, propping him up against it for back support.

Yet he couldn't help but wonder what the Nightmare meant by his words.

Something didn't quite add up and it was obvious that he was missing something vital, but what exactly?

He was certain beyond doubt that Tommy was saveable, but he sure was complicated and comparison it made the other children's problems seem rather small.

Yet Tommy was clearly troubled and Springtrap was willing to suspect, given what he knew about the boy that Tommy's problems were caused by trauma and a part of him that was unwilling to let go and move on.

But that was just a theory. . .

He was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts when Tommy spoke.

_"Thank you SpringBonnie,"_ he whispered, sounding rather exhausted and somewhat relived.

_"For putting up with me. . .and them."_

Springtrap leaned down and gently placed his hand on the boy's shoulder as a form of reassurance.

"You don't have to apologise for anything, what is going on isn't your fault, you can't control what is happening to you," he said attentively.

He then gave Tommy a warm smile, which seemed to make the boy smile back, but in his eyes Springtrap could still see that he was in great pain. . .there was a storm raging inside.

_"It hurts,"_ he whispered painfully, putting one of his hands to his head.

_"It always hurts."_

"I know it does, just try to relax a little, you're far safer with us then you ever were with those monsters," Springtrap replied, lightly ruffling the boy's hair.

His eyes briefly glanced around at the room, seeing again all of the girlish toys and then pink strawberry bed cover.

"Whose room is this by the way?" he asked curiously, trying to take Tommy's mind off his inner pain, whilst also hoping to gain a deeper understanding of this place and what had been Tommy's home life.

_"It's my sister's room, Elizabeth's,"_ Tommy answered, sounding a bit more engaged in the conversation.

_"She liked a lot of dolls, as well as to sing."_

_"She was very good when it came to drawing though."_

Tommy's weary eyes glanced over to the room's left side and Springtrap turned to follow his gaze.

It was those series of drawings and Springtrap felt inclined to investigate them, but he knew that he had to check up on the other children first.

Being in the centre of the room he could see Charlie and Gabriel searching the room's closet and much like the one in Tommy's bedroom this one was equally imposing with its huge shutter doors.

Charlie was suited right outside the closet doors, whilst Gabriel shone the flashlight in between the closet doors, checking thoroughly for any hidden dangers by shining the light at the ceiling and in the dark corners of the closet.

Other than having a few dolls scattered about the closet floor, it was completely empty, much to the boys' relief, as Gabriel turned to face Charlie and nodded.

_"It's secure,"_ he remarked, sounding rather relieved, if not outright pleased.

_"Good, we don't have to worry about being ambushed again by that 'Nightmare Mangle'_," Charlie muttered bitterly, remembering all too well his close encounter with her earlier.

The scar that she had craved across his right cheek still stung like someone had plunged a red hot knife into it, and Charlie was worried that it might scar his face.

He could see Gabriel winch in the light, as he gazed uneasily at the wound that Nightmare Mangle had 'gifted' onto him.

_"How is your wound?"_ he asked curiously and yet at the same time seemed to be dreading the answer.

_"It hurts,"_ Charlie replied, sounding significantly pained.

_"Immensely. . ."_

_"It'll heal in time,"_ Gabriel said in a reassuring tone.

_"That outcome can't come soon enough,"_ Charlie muttered in a bitter tone, wishing that the pain would quickly subside.

Seeing that Cassidy and Sammy were about to inspect the other doorway, Gabriel quickly turned and threw the flashlight over the bed toward Sammy who easily caught it, before returning his attention back to Charlie.

_"Let's hope that we can get out of here,"_ Gabriel remarked warmly.

_"Let's hope so,"_ Charlie said, slowly nodding, as his eyes flickered over to where Tommy lay, propped up against the bed.

_"For all our sakes. . ."_

Sammy and Cassidy inspected the doorway, carefully shining the flashlight everywhere at once, pushing aside the darkness like it was a heavy cloak, but they found nothing threatening in their search.

In fact, it turned out that the doorway just led into another long corridor that seemed to stretch both ways for entirety. Yet the fact that it was windowless made it clear that they had ended up moving further into the house, instead of reaching the windows.

At least they had an escape route though in case the Nightmares attacked them from one end.

Relieved that there were no hidden dangers, Sammy noticed that Cassidy was holding onto a picture frame.

_"What is that?"_ he asked curiously, gazing at the picture which Cassidy hugged close to her chest. She held it with its back towards him, so he couldn't see the actual picture on the other side.

Cassidy whipped her head in his direction and her facial expression was one of dreaded anticipation.

_"Something mind blowing to say the least,"_ she whispered, and Sammy immediately detected the fear in her voice.

_"We won't see things the same way ever again I think."_

_"Let me see please?"_ Sammy asked, reaching out for it, but Cassidy swiftly shook her head and tighten her grip on the picture's wooden frame.

_"No, I need to show it to Springtrap first,"_ she replied, sounding very cautious and at the same time afraid.

Her eyes turned in Springtrap's direction, seeing him still entertaining Tommy with various questions about his homelife. Springtrap looked reassuring, whilst Tommy seemed to be enjoying their little conversation with apparent ease, although he still looked pained.

_"This could very well contain the answers that he's been seeking,"_ she whispered, feeling both excited and tense.

Her eyes then moved onto Tommy, seeing him smile a little at Springtrap's responses.

_"I don't hate you,"_ Cassidy muttered, staring at the boy with a look of concern.

_"How could you have known what your death would lead to. . ."_

Whilst Springtrap was delighted that Tommy seemed to be feeling better, he did what to know more about his old waking life.

"Was Elizabeth a nice sister?" he asked curiously.

Tommy's smile faltered a little and he looked reflective, even though it seemed to pain him to think back on better days. Then both of their attention was caught by there being a sudden burst of green light that came from the lava lamp as Gabriel turned it on. With there being no immediate threats, he judged that it was safe enough to create a little light and thankfully it only brightened up most of the room, leaving the corners shrouded and not being strong enough to show under any of the doors and hence give away their location.

_"Yes, she was very kind to me, and she usually protected me from our older brother Michael,"_ Tommy replied, in an upbeat tone returning his attention to Springtrap.

_"She cared for me, as did father, but Michael just wanted to bully me, he was like that ever since mum died."_

His face dropped and he looked sad.

_"Father tired hard to make things comfortable for us when mother went, he truly did, but even he was struggling, but he always tried to put our happiness first."_

His smile returned a little, but he still looked quite sombre.

_"My father was a good man, he was very creative, making all sorts of things down in his basement, he once made me a mini animatronic frog for my eighth birthday."_

He then looked up at Springtrap and smiled fully.

_"You would have liked him; he knew a lot about the Freddy's franchise, and I think that you were his favouritive animatronic too."_

"I didn't realise that I was that popular," Springtrap remarked humorously and he smiled warmly, reaching out and lightly ruffling Tommy's brown hair.

"Your father sounds like a nice man, it's a great shame that he lost a son like you."

Tommy smiled briefly, but he then looked sad again.

_"I don't. . .know if he is ok after all this time, or even if Elizabeth and Michael are still alive, I hope that they are all well,"_ he said, sounding rather depressed, given that it been three decades since having seen his family.

_"If I ever do see Michael again, I want to let him know that I forgive him for what he did, I know that despite our father's best efforts. . .we weren't in a good place. . .none of us were."_

It looked as though he wanted to say more, but he seemed to be withdrawn into himself, probably due to feeling emotionally overwhelmed by memories of the past, be they good or bad.

"I hope that your family is safe too Tommy, regardless of what Michael did to you, he must miss you terribly, as does Elizabeth and your dad." Springtrap replied reassuringly, his eyes flicker over across the room to see if he could bring Tommy out of his sullen mood.

He wanted to ask Tommy more questions about his relationship with the Nightmares, but he knew that Tommy was quite fragile, especially when given his two sided nature and he needed to make him feel good in order to focus his tormented mind.

Then Springtrap's eyes fell upon the series of drawings that lined the left wall, he had an idea, well two actually.

"Hang on, I'll get your sister's drawings for you, you'll enjoy seeing them up close," he said, pushing himself up off the floor.

He saw Tommy smile briefly, so he knew that he was making the right choice.

Once fully upright, Springtrap made his way across the room to where the drawings were stationed. He briefly turned towards the main door and saw that Susie had her head pressed firmly against the door, listening intensity for any sound on the outside.

Her eyes momentarily turned to face him, and he mouthed the question if she could hear anything and she shook her head firmly.

They were safe. . .for the moment.

"Charlie, a word please?" Springtrap asked modestly, knowing full well that Charlie would pick up on the real meaning of his words as he secretly wanted to assess their current situation with him.

The boy immediately compelled, quickly crossing the floor to join Springtrap, as he examined the colourful drawings that were stapled to the far wall.

"Are the other children on course to reach us?" he asked quietly, but loud enough to be heard by Charlie.

_"It's hard to say but given their emotional mood and what I am reading from them, then yes they are closing in on our location,"_ Charlie replied, sounding a little hesitant.

_"I know that they are desperate to find us, that much is clear to me."_

Springtrap nodded slightly, that was some good news, he hoped that with their full numbers the Nightmares might think twice before attacking them again. . .although he could only hope.

He then fully turned his attention to the actual drawings. Immediately the first one of the five caught his eye with its immense detail and beautiful colours that seemed to dance right off the page. The drawing was that of a clown like girl, who had bright reddish or orange hair, vibrant green eyes, held a red microphone and wore a reddish skirt, including a reddish overall dress with matching clown bell shoes.

She appeared to be the age of a child despite her tall statue and large size and she was smiling sweetly in the picture. Underneath her was a name.

It read as: _Circus Baby._

Springtrap being extremely carefully took hold of the drawing and slowly unstapled it from the wall.

He examined it in much closer detail but found nothing new.

_"This is a very good drawing for a kid, clearly Elizabeth had an artistic flare,"_ he thought assumingly as he turned it over to see if anything was on the other side.

He found a name, the writing was a bit jumbled up, so he read it out loud for clarification.

"By Elizabeth Afton."

Instantly, Springtrap's grey eyes widen at the surname, it was all too familiar with him to go unnoticed.

"Afton. . ." he muttered, sounding unsure as a feeling of dread appeared within him.

_"Wait. . .what?"_ Charlie uttered, also in shock, his eyes widening at what he had just heard.

_"Excuse me, Springtrap, I need to show you something, it's very important."_

Instantly both Charlie and Springtrap turned round to see Cassidy standing before them.

She looked very nervous; her hands were trembling as she held a picture in her hands, with it facing both Springtrap and Charlie.

_"I think we've found a vital piece of the puzzle_," Cassidy whispered, her voice being shaky as though she greatly feared their reactions.

The picture itself was that of a family portrait, depicting three children and two adults.

The first child was obviously Tommy, wearing the usual grey and blue clothes as he did now, but at a much younger age.

Light brown hair, blue eyes and a face that read, 'I love my life'.

He looked happy, smiling even, glad to be there.

The second child was that of a girl of similar age with bright reddish/orange hair and green eyes, the same eye colour as that drawing of Circus Baby.

Springtrap reckoned that she had to be Elizabeth.

The third child that was another boy, clearly older than Tommy, but he equally looked happy and friendly, smiling with warm brown eyes and black hair.

That was Michael, the eldest child.

Judging by their collective appearance, the children were of similar age, maybe four, five and six.

Slowly, both Charlie's and Springtrap's gaze shifted onto the parents and Springtrap admittedly smiled when he saw the mother, she looked to be someone who was incredibly open and warm hearted, and she was quite beautiful.

Then at last Springtrap's eyes wandered over to the father. . .he wasn't ready for what he saw.

Instantly he felt a wave of emotions surge within him, sudden recognition, immense shock, brief confusion, then great anger, followed once more by a stronger sense of confusion.

_"No. . .NO, THAT CAN'T BE RIGHT!"_ Charlie shouted in frustration, forgetting about the dangers of alerting the Nightmares to their presence by raising his voice, but he simply couldn't contain himself.

His tone immediately caught the attention of everyone else, even Tommy, who gazed over at the small gathering, being immensely curious.

_"What is it?"_ he asked in an unsure tone.

_"Is something wrong?"_

_"SpringBonnie?"_ he called, but Springtrap didn't answer, he was too shocked to reply.

Slowly, Springtrap took hold of the picture off Cassidy, who was rather eager to part with it. Springtrap stared in confusion at the picture, at the father, a man whom Springtrap could recognise anywhere in the world.

Vincent Afton. . .the infamous Purple Guy, the Man Behind the Slaughter. . .was the father.

"Vincent Afton," Springtrap muttered, voicing his shock.

"But how. . ?" he asked aloud, feeling a thousand alarm bells ringing in his head non-stop as millions of pieces to the puzzle that was the great mystery that had hung over everyone finally began to connect together at a pace so fast that he couldn't mentally keep up.

For the first time, Springtrap felt afraid of the answers now that they were staring at him in the face.

This setting didn't make sense, it certainly didn't feel right and yet on both accounts it did and Springtrap felt himself tremble, shaking all over as he held the picture depicting a happy family.

At the bottom of the picture's wooden frame was a bronze plaque, it read as:

_Thomas, Elizabeth, Michael, Evelyn and Vincent Afton, June 1977._

There was no room left for doubt, it beyond evident that Vincent was indeed Tommy's father, but Springtrap still didn't want to believe it.

This happy family picture didn't fit Vincent, not the crazed, sadistic, murderous and vindictive man that Springtrap knew.

He could hear Tommy's earlier words about his dad echoed back and forth in his mind.

_"My father was a good man, he was very creative, making all sorts of things down in his basement, he once made me a mini animatronic frog for my eighth birthday."_

_"You would have liked him; he knew a lot about the Freddy's franchise, and I think that you were his favouritive animatronic too."_

Then his own words came racing back.

_"Your father sounds like a nice man, it's a great shame that he lost a son like you."_

The man that Tommy had described and whom Springtrap had imagined to be his father didn't match Vincent in any shape or form. Especially with it being the man whose life long ambition seemed to be nothing more than the complete destruction of the Fazbear family, as though he had nothing left to live for.

Wait. . .

Springtrap's mind went into overdrive, bringing up information so fast that he couldn't handle all of it.

"Charlie?" he asked, his voice barely being a whisper.

"When did you and the other children die, the month and year please if you can?"

_"I died sometime in 1978. . .I can't recall the exact month. . .but five of us died in June 1983. . .and then the other five died in November 1987,"_ Charlie replied, his voice too was shaky, and he struggled to focus on Springtrap's question.

Yet with his answer, Springtrap slowly began to piece things together.

Tommy had died in May 1983 at a Fazbear Entertainment pizzeria, then a month later five children had been killed at another Fazbear Entertainment Pizzeria. Could it be that Vincent had done the act out of revenge, striking back at the company whom he deemed to be responsible for his son's tragic demise?

Yet more importantly Tommy had accidently died at Goldie's hand, even though he wouldn't never harm a child and Vincent had seemed utterly obsessed with hounding the Fazbear family into complete oblivion.

"Oh on. . ." Springtrap muttered, his voice was one of utter fear and dread as it fully dawned on him on what Vincent's real motivation was.

"Goldie. . ."

Yet his realisation only created more questions than answers that kept on multiplying in his mind like a ravenous swam.

What had happened to Elizabeth and Michael Afton?

What had caused Vincent to kill Charlie in 1978, his death seemed to be an outliner, but there had to be a reason behind it?

What had become of Evelyn Afton, Vincent's wife?

Tommy had mentioned that she had died when he was young.

The picture was dated 1977, could she have died in 1978 and Vincent had perhaps killed Charlie out of intense grief for his loss?

Springtrap knew that there was no use in trying to answer these questions, there were simply too many to process.

Yet he knew one thing for certain.

Given that Tommy's death was Vincent's motivation for just about everything and what Springtrap knew of the man; Vincent wouldn't stop until he had utterly destroyed those whom he deemed responsible and that the end would be undeniably bloody and absolute. . .until nothing remained.

The other Fazbears were in far more danger than they perhaps realised, given how destructive Vincent's mindset was.

Springtrap looked up, staring directly at Tommy. The boy's expression was one of immense confusion, curiosity, and dread. He undoubtedly wanted to ask Springtrap why a picture had caused him and the other children to look so pale and shaken.

_"Is something wrong SpringBonnie?"_ he asked, even though he recognised the situation for what it truly was.

Yet amidst the tension that Springtrap felt rising deep within him, one singular thought passed through his mind; minus the hordes of questions that had since settled there and that raged unabated.

_"If you truly love your father Tommy. . .then you would utterly hate to know what he has become. . ."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Collapses face down onto computer keyboard due to exhaustion)
> 
> I've been wanting to get to this reveal since 2016!
> 
> I hope that it landed well, now that the curtains have been pulled back as Lefty calls it, but there is still much to explore. ;-)
> 
> Thank you for reading and do please review, I appreciate your thoughts.


	53. Update

Hey everyone, Comedy Monarch here.

This is the first time that I've had to do this, but circumstances demand it.

Unfortunately, I have some bad news to share with you, due to a lack of time I will not be able to upload Chapter 53 at the end of the month as I originally intended. I know that a lot of you are looking forward to reading it and I thank you for sticking with this story, I hope that you are enjoying it, particularly with the large chapter sizes.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though, as I should be able to upload the chapter some point in early to mid September. Although I won't list a specific date, as I don't want to get your hopes up and then be unable to deliver. Often enough I always upload at the very end of each month, but this time I'll upload it when it is ready, whenever that will be.

I want to stress that this isn't due to me suffering from a writers' block, far from it in fact. I know what I want to write for this chapter and I almost have it planned out from start to finish. Currently it sits around 7,500 words and as usual I'll end it somewhere around 12,00 to 14,000 words.

This is due to me not being able to find the time to properly focus on this chapter and whilst I did entertain the idea of cutting the chapter in half, keeping it more focused as a result. I have decided that it would be better story wise to finish the whole thing and then upload it instead.

Hopefully, I shouldn't have to keep you waiting too long for new content. :-)


	54. Shadows Within Shadows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I know that it has been a long while since I last uploaded a chapter and much has happened in the FNAF universe since August. I thank you for your patience, especially Doctor Chaotic, (love the name btw) and now it can be rewarded.
> 
> Fazbears Frights 'Bunny Call' came out and I really like how it and the preceding books are (excuse the pun) stitching the story of the Stitchwraith together, with it being a shared universe. Although 'In the Flesh' carries a lot of interesting implications and a way for many of FNAF's previously 'dead' characters to return (if you've read the book and its setting, then you'll know what I am referring to).
> 
> Loved Bunny Call, it carried its tension well and the Man in Room 1280 was very integrating and an interesting change to the other stories that we have gotten so far.
> 
> Also, we finally got footage for FNAF Security Breach and wow, it looks absolutely breath taking!
> 
> Given what the trailer showed us, it seems that we might be switching between playing as Gregory and the security guard and the Glamrocks will actually be helping us (at first. . .).
> 
> Or we could just be playing as Gregory in the prologue and the security guard is our main character for the rest of the game.
> 
> Either way hats off to Steel Wool for a good first impression, hopefully we will get more gameplay footage in the near future. I suspect that the game will be launched in November as that's when the Playstation Five is being released.
> 
> Seeing a FNAF game being teased alongside the likes of Resident Evil, Spiderman and Call of Duty, it really shows how far the franchise has come, after initially being Scott's last game when he received tons of criticism for his previous works.
> 
> Thank you Scott Cawthon for making Five Nights at Freddy's and long may it continue. . .
> 
> Now regarding this chapter, this was originally much larger, but in the end, it simply become too big and I had to split it in half, so Chapter 54 should be uploaded sometime next month.
> 
> Hopefully, my upload speed will be quicker than before, but we'll see.
> 
> A huge thank to those who have read thus far and to those who have left Kudos.
> 
> Yes, to confirm to everyone Vincent Afton is the father of Thomas Afton aka Tommy and everything falls into place. . .well most of it does. Although there is still much about this connection to be revealed, I will say that this is largely where the main difference between Vincent Afton and William Afton lies, it being their motivation for why they carried out such murderous actions. – Even if some of you could see it coming or even suspected this reveal, then I hope that the impact landed well and that it didn't appear to come out of nothing.
> 
> Obviously with Elizabeth Afton being canon as well as that drawing of Circus Baby, FNAF Sister Location will indeed be a part of this story, as well as several non-FNAF related things! :-)
> 
> Apologies for any lingering grammar mistakes.

**Chapter 53**

**Shadows within Shadows.**

** _"Somethings can only be seen in the shadows."_ **

**Carlos Ruizz Zafons**

_Half an hour earlier. . ._

Nightmare Mangle eyes burned out of the darkness like the vibrant eyes of a predator as she hung from the ceiling like a snake lying in the grass waiting to pounce. Although she had no intention to do so, as she could spy out the faint figures of both Charlie and Cassidy running away in the darkness.

_"Run all you like, you are not the first victims to have fallen into our trap, our labyrinth, the darkness will not hide you,"_ she whispered harshly under her breath.

_"This place was our womb, our home, it will betray you to us."_

She felt a whoosh of air from underneath her and looked down to see Nightmarionne gliding across the floor like a shadow, with the Nightmare speaking with great curiosity as she did.

_"If I were them, I would either try to find an exit point in desperation to escape, or. . ."_

Her tone then changed, now sounding amused.

_"I'd find a place to hide and wait things out."_

_"They'll certainly do one or the other,"_ Nightmare Fredbear muttered nonchalantly, his scarlet red eyes sweeping the area ahead of him like a searchlight. He stood before the doorway to Tommy's heavily damaged bedroom.

"_Regardless we will find them, even if they call in the remaining children to help them out, that'll just adds to the fun," _he remarked coldly.

He then walked forward, casting a sweeping glance at the nearby wall upon which hung several pictures.

_"Wait. . .hang on,"_ he mentally whispered in surprise, realising that he had noticed an irregularity.

He looked back, quickly finding the source of his confusion.

One of the pictures was gone with there being a faded outline of where it once hung.

_"Interesting,"_ he muttered, gazing at the vacant spot.

Quickly, looking down at the floor, he could see that it hadn't fallen off its holdings, as there were no traces of shattered glass to be found.

He felt a shadowy presence brush past him, and he briefly glanced over in its direction to see Nightmarionne also being intrigued by the missing picture.

Her white dots for eyes widen as she swiftly reached out and traced the picture's faded outline with her long claws, running her jagged vine like fingers along the aged wallpaper.

_"They've taken 'that' picture,"_ she whispered, sounding rather shocked.

_"The Afton Family picture. . ."_

She turned to face Nightmare Fredbear, uttering in a voice that barely betrayed a fearful tone.

_"This is bad. . ."_

Nightmare Fredbear narrowed his eyes as he spoke in a serious manner.

_"So, they have, that is a concern Nightmarionnie as you've noted, but what matters above all is that they cannot be allowed to share the significance behind that picture or anything else that they might uncover in here."_

He flexed his claws menacingly as he turned to face Nightmarionnie, his scarlet red eyes burning into her ghostly white dots as he continued to speak.

_"No more fooling around, they cannot be allowed to escape this place and I would rather have their will be ripped out of them instead of having them run around in endless circles inside an ever shifting maze."_

"_Even though that would be entertaining, we can't afford to give them any breathing room."_

_"Well,"_ Nightmarionne began, speaking nonchalantly, although in her eyes she looked serious.

_"The house will hopefully delay them, and we know this rabbit warden inside out."_

_"Although that's not to say that they won't fight like a cornered animal when we do catch up to them."_

_"Given what we will put them all through, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest,"_ Nightmare Fredbear remarked, turning away from Nightmaronnie and looking up at Nightmare Mangle.

In his vision he could see beyond the darkness that kept the ceiling shrouded and easily spot Nightmare Mangle clinging to the hallway ceiling. She was like a spider, posed to race across the ceiling's surface in quick pursuit of the children.

_"Nightmare Mangle, what do they know so far, you heard more than we did?"_ he asked curiously.

Nightmare Mangle immediately looked down at him and she smiled knowingly.

She almost looked pretty with that smile.

_"In terms of serious news, only that Fredbear was responsible for Tommy's death back in May 1983, which was quite a shock for Springtrap,"_ she replied assertively, confident in her own memory of what she had heard.

_"Other than that, nothing much else, thankfully Tommy was in one of his 'states' and for obvious reasons refused to say anymore, other than that we were his jailers," _she said nonchalantly, although her voice quickly became irritated.

_"I was for a moment worried that he might just confess everything that he knew in the vain hope that doing so would set him free."_

Then Nightmarionne spoke in a rather knowing tone.

_"Regardless, Tommy knows more than anyone else on how to handle himself."_

Nightmare Mangle smiled a little, knowing exactly what Nightmarionne meant by her words, before replying with.

_"Still he gave us away, the dam fool, but I had the good sense to drop right in and prevent him from revealing any more information."_

She gritted her fangs together and narrowed her yellow eyes like a hawk.

_"I wonder why you didn't attempt to jump Springtrap earlier on when he entered your room, by the sounds of it according to you Nightmarionne; he nearly discovered the animatronics from Fazbear Entertainment that Vincent had given us,"_ Nightmare Mangle remarked observantly, although with an undertone of frustration that the Nightmare hadn't acted sooner.

Nightmarionne sighed and pushed her raven/jet black hair back behind her ears, replying with.

_"I was merely waiting, watching from the corners of that room as Springtrap wandered around for a bit, although my webs kept him and the children well at bay from any of our secrets."_

She smiled mischievously, as she turned to look up at Nightmare Mangle.

_"Trust me, had he actually discovered the suits, I would have dealt with him via my 'womanly charm',"_ she said in a dark tone, although her voice held a mad edge to it.

She gave Nightmare Fredbear a psychotic grin that radiated an unhinged nature lurking beneath her eyes.

_"I can be very 'enchanting, when I want to be with my songs and tunes."_

Nightmarionne's white dots for eyes glowed an unnatural vibe.

_"Granted I have never been given a proper opportunity to prey upon the innocent, but my fight against that demonic clown was a worthy test of my skills."_

_"Have you ever been seduced by song N-Fredbear and made helpless like a puppet on strings before someone whom you suddenly hold so much desire for?"_

Nightmare Fredbear resisted the instructive urge to shudder at the thought of finding Nightmarionne to be _'desirable'_ and the mad glint in her eyes made him feel warry.

Nightmarionne giggled, sounding rather assumed by Nightmare Fredbear's cautious expression.

_"Don't worry, I'll never try to use my talents on the likes of you, you're far too below my standards to be worth seducing,"_ she said humorously.

Nightmare Fredbear frowned at her words, he even growled slightly at the insult, but Nightmarionne spoke again before he could respond.

_"Yet going back to it, thankfully for Springtrap's sake, he didn't attempt to explore any further, nor did the children; and they certainly didn't notice me as I had my eyes closed the whole time, listening to their footsteps, wondering how far they dared to go."_

_"Although listening in on their emotional conversation about how dark the children's' souls had become and how Springtrap could somehow save them was very interesting, thankfully Plushtrap and Nightmare Balloon Boy were listening in as well, so it saved me the time of having to tell you two."_

_"Just as well, that neither Springtrap or the children sensed you earlier,"_ Nightmare Fredbear began plainly, allowing her previous insult to slide, he didn't feel too bothered to bring it up again given their current circumstances.

He looked around, with the glow of his scarlet red eyes illuminating the surrounding walls.

_"This house has a way of cloaking us, distorting the spiritual senses of outsiders, so we are lucky that they didn't get the overwealhming sense to leave earlier."_

_"Even though the children got a bad vibe from this place and heavily advised caution, their desire for answers and naïve curiosity has driven them into our hands; regardless that their instincts were screaming at them to turn and run."_

_"Though you are quite right N-Mangle, Tommy needs to be returned to us soon, to avoid him giving them any further information."_

His scarlet red eyes then narrowed, as his voice became deadly serious.

_"We'll need to remind him that secrets are meant to be kept."_

_"My thoughts exactly N-Fredbear," _Nightmare Mangle remarked confidently_._

_"Even though it was fun to mess with Springtrap on his desire to know more about the past, still. . ._"

_"It's a good thing that Tommy doesn't know 'everything'."_

Nightmare Fredbear was more than aware of what she meant, expressing a knowing look in his eyes as he spoke.

_"Tommy wouldn't like the truth, it would certainly devastate him to say the least, although that would depend on what aspect of the truth he is being informed of."_

He glanced back at the faded outline of the picture; his eyes now displayed a sense of concern before speaking rather reflectively.

_"Still, his heart would be broken if he were to realise this particular truth. . ."_

_"And yet, I don't think that it matters too much in the grand scheme of things,"_ Nightmare Mangle said nonchalantly, still looking down at Nightmare Fredbear.

_"Even if Tommy were to find out the truth, there is far more that neither he, Springtrap, or any of the children will ever know of."_

She smiled and it was a genuine smile, one of comfort, a rarity among the Nightmares given that such emotion was only expressed among themselves.

_"In truth, we have little to fear for ourselves in terms of safety."_

Nightmarionne smiled and nodded in agreement, before reaching across and placing one of her skeletal claws on Nightmare Fredbear's shoulder. He couldn't deny that he monetarily flinched at the sensation, but he did eventually welcome the move, he even leaned into it.

_"We are still safe and if we act right now, then everything else can be kept hidden from prying eyes,"_ Nightmarionne said reassuringly.

_"Remember. . ."_

_"We hold the upper hand here and we should never forget it, if their desperation for answers forces them to stay here, then they shall learn the conquences of 'overstaying' their welcome."_

_"Actions have conquences,"_ Nightmare Mangle remarked assertively, smiling even more than before.

Nightmare Fredbear could feel himself being uplifted by Nightmarionne's words. What she said was true, there was far more information that was hidden then there was known and only he and his Nightmare brethren knew the full truth.

Vincent Afton knew most of it, but there were even a few things that remained beyond his knowledge.

A few things that they had deliberately kept from him.

Some things are best left buried. . .

Nightmare Fredbear smiled, feeling his concern being washed away like a sand castle before the tide. Things could be a lot worse and hopefully the significance of the picture would be the last thing that Springtrap learned before they found him. Regardless, Nightmare Fredbear knew that the significance of the picture wouldn't be damaging to him and his brethren in the slightest. . .although the same couldn't be said of Vincent Afton.

Yet it would in many ways be a price worth paying, his secrecy for their own survival.

_"They will learn the hard way, lost in a labyrinth, searching for answers that seem to be so close and yet somehow always out of reach," _Nightmare Fredbear said confidently.

He smiled sinisterly, as he turned to face Nightmarionne and Nightmare Mangle, now speaking with a determined tone.

_"This where their story ends, they are already dead, but death will not save them from the horror and terror that can exists in Limbo."_

He then looked beyond them down the gloomy hallway that stretched forth into the darkness that seemed to have no end.

_"We should remind them of that fact,"_ he muttered seriously.

_"Considering what we ourselves have experienced over the years we are well versed in delivering such an experience."_

_"Although,"_ Nightmare Mangle began in a reflective tone.

"_Given what we've suffered through it is nice to once more be the one inflicting the pain instead of receiving it."_

Instantly, both Nightmare Fredbear and Nightmarionne knew exactly what she was referring to.

There had been two occasions in the past where they were to force to fight for their very existence and the agony that they been forced to endurance was almost indescribable.

The first occasion was when they were able to drag five kids into Limbo back in the mid-1980s, intending to use them as physical vessels in order to escape this mausoleum labyrinth of a house. It was their first attempt to break free and for the most part things went reasonably well, with their intended victims being lured right into a waiting trap.

The four boys were easy to take out, but the lone girl among them proved to be a lot tougher. Although it wasn't a contest, when given how they had been watching her and the others for a considerable amount of time. The girl possessed an incredible gift and it was her power that had gained their attention as she seemed to wield and control physical objects with the power of her mind, telekinesis it could be called, as well as possessing a few other interesting capabilities.

Yet it caused her to bleed from the nose each time she used it, an interesting side effect to observe.

Yet in the end the girl was forced to succumb to their combined strength and unwillingly become a vessel, as her very being was invaded by a Nightmare and her soul was slowly crushed into oblivion. Nightmare Fredbear could remember her piercing screams for mercy and help, as her body was viciously wrapped and altered to comply with its new host.

In the end, all they needed was time to properly consolidate their newfound hold over their recently gained bodies and be one more step closer to bringing about their actual freedom.

Only, things didn't quite turn out that way. . .

Something_ 'else' _also wanted the children, something extra-terrestrial and it was willing to do anything to get them. . ._absolutely anything_.

The moment the entity breached the house's walls, everything went straight to hell. Hordes of strange humanoid monsters threatened to engulf them all in a tide of chaos as they swarmed the house from top to bottom.

Things might have been a little bit easier for Nightmare Fredbear and Plushtrap to defend their brethren in their new host bodies had Nightmares Mangle, Balloon Boy and Nightmarionne been present.

Yet unfortunately for them, this event happened before their creation.

However, it was the second occasion that had almost destroyed them all back in late 1980s, when something from the outside found its way into their home in the pursuit for souls to sustain itself. It had a particular thing for the souls of children, using their fears as a demoralising weapon against them; having sensed great potential to feast upon the terror that existed within Tommy's soul and to consume him utterly to satisfy its ravenous hunger.

Yet by removing Tommy from existence, it would have resulted in the Nightmares themselves ceasing to exist and thus it became a life or death struggle to defend the boy from the monster that ruthlessly sought him out.

And they almost lost, barely hanging on by a thread. . .

Now Nightmare Fredbear knew that for the most part you couldn't actually die in Limbo due to you being already dead. In fact, such a realisation had given them all an ego in believing that they were all technically immortal for long as Thomas remained.

It was the main reason as to why the Nightmares found the real possibility of death on Earth so terrifying, because it was a remote outcome for them in Limbo.

Yet, there were at least two ways in which one could cease to exist in Limbo, or in other words. . ._die._

The first explanation was simple in that when a spirit moved onto either heaven or hell, anything which their mind had created faded away into nothing, a fate that the Nightmares were desperate to avoid before they could successfully break free.

The second explanation however wasn't actually known about until it almost happened to the Nightmares themselves.

_Soul absorption_. . .

Yet the ravenous creature that sought their souls, especially Tommy's, despite it being in a fractured state seemed to be aware of how to inflict such a fate.

_"That wasn't a monster, it was a demon and she would have consumed all of us, had we not all pulled together to stop her,"_ Nightmarionnie remarked with evident displeasure, physically shuddering at the memory.

_"In fact, it was probably her discovery of how eating Tommy would result in her eating us as well that further drove her on."_

_"She was a desperate creature at best and a powerful one, she nearly pushed us all onto the grave,"_ Nightmare Fredbear muttered, sounding reflective as he recalled the dire straits that they all found themselves in.

_"I have never been so scarred as I was back in that moment."_

He could remember feeling his body disintegrating, sensing all of his strength leaving him, struggling to breathe as his mind began to collapse. It was like he was going backwards in his mental development, ceasing to be sentient and turning back into the feral beast from which he originated, but it wouldn't stop there.

After that point was simply death, permanent death, as his soul was dragged out him, feeding that creature's hunger, as it proceeded to devour everyone's souls like a ravenous child. Tommy's soul was like a whirlpool, dragging everyone else in and due to the Nightmares' spiritual bonds, they couldn't resist the pull as their life force was literally drained out of them.

The hellish screams of the other Nightmares, the traumatic groans and moans of the house as it physical shrunk itself down in size. It was like a spider curling its eight legs up as it slowly died, with its hairy limbs twitching amidst its death throes.

Even Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy who at the time had been placed in a sleepless coma in their new human hosts on earth, remembered feeling a dreadful sensation wash over them. They all heard a sinister laugh that vibrated deep within their minds, like invisible fingers reaching forward and ripping their souls out of their bodies. They were more than aware that something terrible was happening to them, but they couldn't fight it as they grew ever weaker in both mind and body, with only the feeling of immense dread and panic left to accompany them through death's door.

Everything was dying and all that Nightmare Fredbear could do was watch and suffer alongside his family, as the creature feasted on their very being and to great delight.

He remembered its voice well, male, animalistic, cruel, and perverse. It openly mocked him as he tried to defend Tommy from its grasp, and it mocked him still as the Nightmare tired his best to withstand the pull he was feeling on his soul as the monster devoured him, immensely revelling in his torment.

Nightmare Fredbear closed his eyes briefly, with his mind recalling scenes that he would rather forget. . .

* * *

_Limbo Late Summer 1989_

_Tommy Afton was shivering next to him; the boy was particularly clinging to Nightmare Fredbear so great was his fear of the intruder that had broken into the house._

_The room was small, but it was dark enough to hide them and Nightmare Fredbear had his eyes closed to prevent giving away their location to the monster that now stalked them._

_"Please. . .don't let her get me," Tommy whispered, barely able to contain the fear in his voice as he clung to the Nightmare's side._

_"Shhh, 'it', or rather she won't harm you or any of us anymore," Nightmare Fredbear whispered back in a somewhat reassuring tone that was intermixed with a determination to avenge his fellow Nightmares._

_Just what the hell happened?_

_There had been some indication that was something wrong, but nothing on this sort of scale._

_They had been investigating something supernatural, but when things started to go wrong, their attempts to reverse it had been met with stony silence. Then a short while later, everything had gone to hell and they found themselves fighting off a monster that had suddenly broken through into the house, seeking out Tommy's soul._

_Despite being on edge, there was no doubt that they had been caught off guard and their efforts to defeat the monster failed; with Nightmare Fredbear being forced to flee with Tommy, while the other Nightmares covered their retreat until they could resist no more. Now having disposed of them, the monster was free to hunt down Tommy, although it was probably aware that the other Nightmares would eventually recover their strength and seek a rematch._

_"Just what is she, a demon, posing as a clown?" Nightmare Fredbear asked himself mentally, as Tommy hugged him, burying his head into the Nightmare's tattered golden suit, as though he was trying to escape his fears._

_"Keep quiet Tommy, she's won't find us if you are really quiet," he whispered again, keeping his voice low._

_If the situation wasn't so tense or terrifying then he would actually find Tommy clinging to him humorously, let alone deeply ironic._

_He was literally running to the Nightmare interpretation of the man who had taken his life for protection against an even bigger threat._

_However, Nightmare Fredbear's realisation of the irony of the situation quickly vanished in the face of reality._

_This monster was ruthless and strangely enough it had somehow perceived the Nightmares as additional souls on which to feed alongside Tommy's, who acted as the key that bound everyone together._

_They were all prey and this monster clown was the predator, and it was a ruthless one at best._

_Suddenly, his ears stood up, he had heard something. . .a footstep._

_His body stiffed and Tommy's whimpering lessen momentarily, noticing the change in the Nightmare's posture._

_There were more footsteps from somewhere outside, moving in a steady pattern, even they sounded light._

_"Tommy, are you there?"_

_"Your Nightmare friends are worried about you, they're with me now, please come out," a soft and reassuring female voice called out._

_"Tommy, I am sorry that I scarred you earlier, but I was confused on where I was and your Nightmare friends didn't exactly react well to my presence, it was all just a big misunderstanding."_

_The footsteps appeared to be getting closer, as with each step the sound became louder._

_"Please, I didn't mean to frighten you, everything happened so fast," the voice said, retaining its gentle tone._

_Then there came the sound of doors along the corridor outside being opened and then closed a short while later, the creature was searching for them._

_"It's been such a difficult day for all of us, we've both witnessed things that we would like to regret."_

_"No, no, no," Tommy whispered, sobbing as he spoke in absolute fear. He knew what the creature was saying was a lie. It didn't regret anything in the slightest, seeming to relish the opportunity to wreak havoc and generate fear._

_"Please come out, I won't act out again, it was just a mistake, an overreaction on my part," the voice said in an almost remorseful tone, but both Tommy and Nightmare Fredbear knew that it was merely a fabrication, a trick to lure Tommy out._

_The sound of doors being closed shut grew ever closer, as did the footsteps of the creature and each time either one sounded, Tommy's breathing became more tense and frantic._

_"Keep quiet or she'll find us," Nightmare Fredbear whispered in a stern tone, trying to maintain his aura of authority, even though he was feeling just as terrified as Tommy was._

_This creature had been able to take out Nightmarionne, Nightmare Mangle, as well as Nightmare Balloon Boy and Plushtrap, despite the tremendous amount of damage that they were able to inflict on it._

_And less said about how Nightmare Fredbear's black clothed counterpart had fared, the better. . ._

_Tommy proceeded to cover his mouth, trying to muffle his terror induced sobs._

_"Why do you come out and we can play a game together, it'll be fun, and I promise that I won't scare you like last time," the voice called out once more, and it was now so close that Nightmare Fredbear could easily pinpoint its location in the corridor outside._

_He could also hear its claws dragging themselves against the corridor's aged wallpaper, creating a scratching sound as it moved towards the door of the room that they were hiding in._

_He felt his gut twist in fearful anticipation of what was soon to come._

_"Your Nightmare friend can join us, we can always make room for one more," the voice remarked, now in a playful manner, yet there was something in its tone that felt. . .off._

_Nightmare Fredbear half opened his eyes and through the pitch blackness that surrounded them he could see the faint outline of the door at the room's end._

_Suddenly, there was a growing eerie yellowish light, coming from underneath the doorframe, the creature was right outside._

_Instantly, Tommy's breathing quickened, and his grip on Nightmare Fredbear immediately tighten, he had also noticed the yellow light emitting from under the door._

_"It was just a misunderstanding, I'll make it up to you Tommy, I promise," the voice called out, but as with before there was something unnerving about it's reassuring tone and Nightmare Fredbear could easily deduce that the creature was speaking vaguely, appearing to mean nice things, but really intending to do the complete opposite._

_Its idea of a 'game' would certainly be different to what Tommy or any other kid would envision._

_Normally Tommy would have buried his head into Nightmare Fredbear's suit for safety, but he was too terror struck to look away._

_"Save me Fredbear," he whispered, barely to say the words as though something had clamped his voice box shut._

_The door started to creak, with the scratching sound of the creature's claws pushing against the wood._

_Nightmare Fredbear gripped Tommy's shoulder tightly._

_"Tommy be still," he muttered softly, preparing for what was now inevitable._

_The door was slowly pushed open and the hellish yellow light of the creature's eyes flooded into the room._

_"I think she's found us. . ."_

* * *

Throughout his life Nightmare Fredbear could say with conviction that there were moments where he had been terrified.

Yet those moments when he was hiding like a terrified child with Tommy, followed by the sensation of disintegrating into nothing as the monster feasted upon his soul; and cruelly mocked him for his helplessness were by far the scariest.

And he would never forget it, feeling the mocking laughter of that _'clown'_ echo about in his head.

However, that was then, and this is now. Although somethings would perhaps never be the same and a terrifying encounter such as that one had only reinforced their desire for secrecy. They liked to play it safe when they could do and limit what was known about them to either enemy or ally. Even though one might argue that their current line-up of enemies was not as threatening as what they had previously encountered.

_But appearances can be deceiving. . ._

Turning his mind back to more pressing matters, Nightmare Fredbear concluded on what concerned him the most regarding Springtrap's seizure of the Afton Family picture.

_"It is how they, the Fazbears might use such information that worries me," _he muttered to himself in a low tone.

_"Even though there is no doubt that Vincent would suffer the most from its' reveal then compared to us, but still. . ."_

He thought things over, trying to shape his inner thoughts into something coherent.

_"It's a dangerous precedent that I would like to avoid."_

Suddenly with renewed vigour, he turned upwards to face Nightmare Mangle.

_"Go quickly, keep a watch on Springtrap and the children, and if the opportunity arises, hound them all into oblivion."_ he ordered.

A delighted smile crept over Nightmare Mangle's face.

_"Challenge accepted Nightmare Fredbear,"_ she remarked playfully, with there being a mad glint in her eyes as she spoke.

_"It's hunting time at last."_

She turned about in the direction of the hallway, primed to race across the ceiling in leaps and bounds.

_"Happy hunting Nightmare Mangle,"_ Nightmarionne replied in a dark tone.

_"Don't give them any room to breathe."_

_"Oh, don't worry, others will want to join in, the more the merrier I say," _Nightmare Mangle remarked excitedly.

She then paused, seeming to have realised something.

_"Are you two going to join me?"_ she asked, looking back at Nightmarionne and then at Nightmare Fredbear.

_"We need to find them quickly, granted that Plushtrap and Nightmare Balloon Boy are probably already on their tail."_

Yet Nightmare Fredbear shook his head.

_"No, Nightmarionne and l will join you later," _he replied casually.

_"Besides. . ."_

Nightmare Fredbear smiled humorously.

_"We wouldn't want to ruin your 'fun'."_

Nightmare Mangle smiled back in response.

_"I can't argue with that,"_ she replied, clearly amused.

Then she proceeded to move forward across the ceiling at a rapid pace, using her endoskeleton claws, as well as her own to leap forward at certain moments. Slowly she disappeared into the darkness, with it appearing to swallow her whole like a black inky tide.

_"You'll both know where to find me,"_ she called out eagerly, her voice carried great anticipation.

_"Just follow the screams. . ."_

And with that Nightmare Mangle completely vanished into the darkness, with the sound of her endoskeleton claws slowly fading away.

Thus, Nightmare Fredbear and Nightmarionne were left alone.

Nightmarionne turned to face Nightmare Fredbear no sooner had Nightmare Mangle fully departed.

_"They cannot get out this place, the last group of children we had in here only escaped by pure luck,"_ she muttered nonchalantly, although there was a clear undertone of frustration in her tone.

_"Had that wretched monster not decided to intervene, then we would have been in an advantageous situation, hell we might not even have needed Vincent's help at all."_

_"Might I add Nightmarionne, that you didn't even exist at that point, so I cannot see how it is a concern of yours," _Nightmare Fredbear added plainly and Nightmarionne looked irritated with how he dismissed her words.

Then his tone took on a warm tone, preventing Nightmarionne from mounting any immediate response.

_"Yet, seeing it through your eyes, I understand your frustration, who knows how far things would have gone had we been able to access the world beforehand, without the need for any outside help."_

Nightmare Fredbear's eyes slowly narrowed as he spoke.

_"However, it is greatly received, and Vincent has proved himself to be very resourceful and more cooperative than I first imagined."_

Nightmarionne sighed, turning about on the spot to face the open doorway that led into Tommy's bedroom.

_"How could he object to the offer that you lot presented to him, both he and us needed help and it was fortunate that our end goals align,"_ she remarked reflectively, staring into the darkness that had since claimed Tommy's bedroom when her banshee scream took out all the lights.

Nightmare Fredbear chuckled slightly, although he didn't un-narrow his eyes, maintaining a serious expression.

_"Well. . .they're close enough for us to share a common goal," _he muttered knowingly.

_"Still, there are somethings that even Vincent doesn't need to know. . .for good reason."_

His scarlet red eyes flickered over to Nightmarionne, even though she had her back to him, but he knew that she was listening attentively.

_"Our experiences with the unknown have taught us to be careful and to cover our tracks."_

_"No loose ends, Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy know what they need to do if Vincent is seriously endangered and has absolutely no chance of getting himself out of any hole that he's got himself into."_

His words resulted in a cold response from Nightmaronnie.

_"He has to die before the Fazbears can gain any insight from him, not that he would tell them anything 'willingly',"_ she remarked, saying the last part in a stern tone, she was determined to maintain her family's secrecy at any cost.

_"He knows far too much be allowed to live in the event of his capture."_

Nightmare Fredbear nodded in firm agreement, before looking away towards the faint outline of where the Afton Family picture had once hung.

_"It may not surprise you, but Vincent has already dug his own grave given what he intends to do, but still, we can't afford to take any major risks."_

_"Thanks to that demented vindictive clown monster, we have learnt to be keenly aware of our weaknesses."_

Yet Nightmarionnie didn't respond, although someone else did.

_"I'm glad to see that lessons from our past experiences are sinking into you Nightmare Fredbear."_

Nightmare Fredbear's eyes widen, and he instantly spun round on the spot.

He knew that voice, that smooth, soft demonic voice that was close enough that he could decipher it to be male and in truth he had been wondering when this certain individual would finally make their appearance. It wasn't like them to miss an occasion like this, especially not with how it had practically fallen into their laps.

Nightmare Fredbear smiled in delight as he gazed at the doorway that lay on the far side of Tommy's bedroom. Yet he felt that the stale surrounding air had noticeably gotten colder, and he could feel an icy presence brush lightly against his skin.

_"Finally,"_ he said in naked relief and excitement.

There in the darkness, surrounded entirely by shadow and gloom was a bright pair of scarlet red eyes, glaring out of the dark back at him.

_"It took you awhile to show up,"_ Nightmare Fredbear remarked humorously, gesturing towards the figure in question.

_"Although you like to wait in the shadows while we do the heavy lifting. . .as always, you've become a creature of habit. . .Nightmare."_

The figure whom Nightmare Fredbear had addressed as Nightmare didn't respond initially, but Nightmare Fredbear could easily sense that he wasn't amused by his choice of words, even though there was a ring of truth to it.

After a brief tense silence, Nightmare responded in a plain tone, but there was a clear undertone of coldness, if not irritation to his voice.

_"I would challenge that presumption of yours Nightmare Fredbear, after all you and the others are in my debt for what I was able to achieve regarding 'many great things'. . ."_

He made sure to stress that last point, a reminder of what he had been able to bring to the Nightmare family, particularly regarding the creation or _'birth'_ of Nightmares Mangle, Balloon Boy and Nightmarionne.

_"Granted you and the others have made yourselves known to the intruders, but I can't see why I need to make my entrance right now,"_ he remarked observantly.

_"I can wait until a more ideal opportunity occurs, certain 'things' hold my interest currently."_

Nightmare didn't need to specific what those _'things'_ were but Nightmare Fredbear was more than aware on what he meant, and he nodded slowly, his eyes locked with those of his Nightmare counterpart.

_"Still, it would be intriguing to see how Thomas reacts, should he uncover the truth about his father and what he has done in his name,"_ Nightmare said smoothly, as though he relished such an outcome.

_"It'll break his heart for sure. . ."_

His scarlet red eyes then narrowed slightly, giving off a stern look, though it was the only visible part of him that expressed any indications to what his inner thoughts were.

He spoke again, this time sounding rather reflective.

_"The boy who suffered so much without justification, completely falls apart at last when he hears what has become of his tragedy stricken father."_

_"Vincent did promise to put him back together, that he would do his upmost to set his son free," _Nightmare Fredbear remarked nonchalantly.

_"He is doing so. . .in his own messed up way,"_ Nightmarionne muttered observantly, drifting into the open doorway and curling her black skeletal fingers around the doorway's frame.

_"He knows that there is no coming back from what he has done, all that matters to him is making Fredbear and the others suffer, before everything ends. . .as every heart wrenching tragedy should."_

She looked a little bit sorrowful as her eyes glanced over to the scattered Fazbear plushies that lay about across the bedroom floor, having been thrown from the bed when Nightmare Fredbear landed on top of it by bursting through the ceiling.

It had been a dramatic entrance on Nightmare Fredbear's part, but it certainly sent several tremors of fear racing up the children's spines. For a monster of such size being able to break through the ceiling must be a terrifying sight to behold.

Nightmarionne continued after a momentary pause.

_"Looking at it from the outside, it is a pity that Tommy has had to suffer so much, given that he is the most innocent of the Aftons, excluding his mother Evelyn of course,"_ she said softly, reaching out with one of her claws and picking up the plushie of Foxy, examining it briefly, before Nightmare caught her attention.

_"And therein lies the tragedy of his fate Nightmarionne, knowing the truth about his father will just be adding another layer to it,"_ he said in a determined tone, as though he were trying to prove a point.

He then looked away, now appearing to be in contemplation before speaking again in a soft tone.

_"Still. . .he'll be in shock for weeks or months on end if he actually does find out; but Thomas doesn't need to know about Elizabeth or Micheal and I know for a fact that Vincent wouldn't want to tell him for obvious reasons."_

_"He didn't when he and Tommy briefly met in Limbo back 1987, but we could all see that he desired to keep his son in the dark about his misdeeds by telling him lies about how Michael and Elizabeth were still alive and what he had been doing since Tommy's unfortunate demise."_

The Nightmare chuckled to himself, enjoying a private joke of sorts.

_"Lies intermixed with truth, he did tell Tommy that he was seeking a way to free him, but he deceived him on how he would make Tommy's freedom from Limbo a reality."_

Nightmare Fredbear smirked and his scarlet red eyes shone with a strong sense of humour as he too understood the game that they were all playing.

_"It was ironic and still is that Vincent was keeping Tommy in the dark, when he is also in the dark about many other things,"_ he remarked coldly, almost seeming to be taking some enjoyment from the fact.

_"It would appear that only we know what is really happening and why."_

_"I am not surprised that Vincent doesn't want to let Thomas know of his dark deeds, daring not to shatter the heroic image of a father desperately trying to save his son,"_ Nightmare Fredbear said stoically.

_"Still. . ."_ he turned to gaze at the destruction which his arrival has brought to Tommy's bedroom. Not that it mattered as it would soon be restored to its original state by the supernatural powers of the house within an hour at most.

When he spoke again, his tone had changed to become immediately, if immensely curious.

_"Do you think that Springtrap and the children, particularly given that these are the children that Vincent murdered will want to reveal to his son what he has done?"_

Nightmarionne wasted no time in responding, for her, the answer was obvious.

_"Yes, the children will undoubtedly want to tell him, as they will want to expose Vincent's crimes and if that turns Thomas against him then they will do it simply out of spite_," she answered vehemently, slowly stroking the soft fur of the Foxy plushie.

Yet Nightmare thought differently.

_"Springtrap might not want to tell him though, he truly seems to care about the boy's welfare and may not want to harm him,"_ he remarked curiously, with his eyes shining brightly in the dark and yet his face was barely luminated.

_"He seems to be domineering enough to dictate where any conversation might go if he truly wants to avoid exposing Tommy to any uncomfortable truths."_

_"I am intrigued as to what he might want to gain out of it though, it is beyond doubt that he wants answers to our connection to Vincent and to Fredbear and Friend's. He correctly senses that there is something big afoot here and we cannot let him discover any more than what he knows already."_

Then he turned his gaze towards Nightmarionne, looking rather intrigued.

_"I am sure that discovering the bear, bunny, chicken and fox animatronics in your room Nightmarionne would only have given him more reason to keep exploring."_

_"For them to be housed in a decrepit and seemingly desolate place as this would be baffling to most people."_

Nightmare's eyes then seemed to gleam with realisation.

_"Regardless, he won't understand their significance, and nor shall we ever tell him, even though it would be tempting to lead him on a wild goose chase."_

_"Still, keeping those suits on hand is a valuable form of insurance should our plan with Vincent fall through somehow."_

Then Nightmare's eyes immediately looked over at Nightmare Fredbear, as though he could sense that the Nightmare was about argue and he sought to pre-empt him.

_"If anything, it'll be his immediate capture that'll force our hand in removing him, I cannot see him betraying us, or that we will deliberately seek to end his life," _Nightmare said sternly, making sure that his voice dominated the conversation.

_"Only once he becomes a serious lability, do we take him out."_

Nightmare Fredbear looked curious, if not a little unsure.

_"Do you really think that Vincent may not end up making himself a lability?"_ he asked, sounding rather mystified.

_"Given how much of his life, what little remains of it he has devoted to his long pursued quest for vengeance, his mental state could begin to deteriorate as his life long goal now nears its end."_

_"The realisation that death is staring him in the face and that everything else is finally coming to an end could cause him to either lose focus or to doubt his determination to go through with his death spiral."_

Nightmarionne nodded, still clutching the Foxy plushie in her long bony fingers and she spoke in a confident tone.

_"I agree, Vincent has stated before that he knows where he is going when the smoke clears, but when he spoke of such things, the end was far off and the implications of his actions were remote."_

_"He could afford to be brave in the face of his own annihilation back then, but now. . ."_

She then smiled sinisterly as she started to squeeze the Foxy plushie, so hard that it was as though she was strangling it.

_"Vincent might want to back out and delay things to extend his own life, out of fear of the devil; he has a strong survival instinct and I would be very surprised if he is willing to actually dive into hell if it means utterly destroying the Fazbears."_

Her white dots for eyes narrowed, giving her a rather cold and intimating expression that combined with her cruel smile to make her look truly terrifying.

Nightmare Fredbear felt a faint chill run up his spine, but he suppressed it.

_"If he starts to back out, then that'll cause problems for all of us and we cannot allow that to happen," _Nightmarionne uttered softly, but her voice held a lot of venom to it, making it clear to both Nightmare Fredbear and Nightmare what her position was.

Nightmare was about to respond when Nightmarionne held up her hand to stop him and she kept on talking.

_"Yet if I may add, we actually don't need Vincent as much as we think we do,"_ she said confidently.

_"We know how to re-build Soul Stealer each time we need to use it, granted it uses some parts which are quite hard to come by, but we don't need Vincent for that part."_

She then gestured over to Nightmare, who remained hidden in the darkness, only revealed by the reddish glow of his scarlet red eyes.

_"In fact, you got those parts yourself, the ink from Bendy and Alice Angel and those demogorgon dog creatures from the Mind Flayer, although the latter event involved everyone excluding myself and Nightmares Mangle and Balloon Boy for obvious reasons."_

She then frowned, looking visibly disappointed, resulting in Nightmare's narrowing his eyes in anticipation of an accusation coming his way.

_"It's unfortunate that luring those kids in here ended up attracting the Mind Flayer and its demogorons minions,"_ Nightmarione remarked in a disappointed manner.

_"I admit that I didn't fully cover my tracks that time, even though you weren't alive at the time to even complain Nightmarionne," _Nightmare replied in defensive tone, but there an undertone of coldness to his voice.

"_None of us fully understood the risks that came with trying possess actual bodies, considering that it was our first time."_

Nightmarionne's frown reduced slightly, arguing back with.

_"We can get new human vessels, unwilling or otherwise and we just need a human helper, a follower if you will for a brief period of time to help set things up and then we can just discard them."_

_"Thanks to Vincent, we have worked out the clinks and know how to break through the barrier, we don't need him anymore, even though we are both seeking the same outcome."_

_"Ask yourselves this, do we still need Vincent Afton?"_

Nightmare Fredbear looked thoughtfully for a moment, comparing the costs and benefits of such an action, tossing the thoughts around his head like a ship caught in a storm.

Nightmare likewise also settled into a quiet demeanour, pondering on the implications of Nightmarionne's suggestion, as his eyes looked downward at the floor, lost in deep thought.

For a moment there was a period of utter silence before any of the Nightmares responded to her question.

Nightmare Fredbear went first, speaking calmly.

_"In one sense, no, we don't need him, not to get through the barrier, and we are capable of reaching the same outcome as Vincent is, so I can definitely see where you are coming from_."

He could see a lot of validity to Nightmarionne's argument.

However, Nightmare saw things differently.

_"Yet would it be worth the effort to remove him, we are close to the end now,"_ he muttered stoically, sounding rather convinced of their arguments.

_"Granted we didn't need Vincent to collect the key components of Soul Stealer, even though he was useful in putting them together, but that is another problem within of itself."_

Nightmare then sighed, before he resumed speaking in a low tone.

_"I do not know the fate of either Bendy or Alice Angel; not that I care much for either of them, given how they were posed to tear eachother and that decaying cartoon studio apart."_

_"Getting any new ink of that 'special' variety will be extremely difficult if every one of those ink emotion-infused entities are gone, despite us having a few spare containers of ink lying around."_

_"It was hard enough trying to convince them to settle for a trade,"_ Nightmare Fredbear remarked stoically, thinking back to that chaotic time.

_"Even the Mindflayer was easier to bargain with, it could at least sense the worth in making a deal with us."_

He then turned to face Nightmare, speaking sincerely.

_"Yet I would rather hope that either Bendy or Alice are still alive after all this time, they could continue to be useful to us, regardless of how irritable they were."_

_"That is an understatement,"_ Nightmare muttered coldly.

_"Particularly where Alice Angel was concerned, even though Bendy literally threatened my life on several occasions."_

_"And the less said about Bendy's 'followers'. . .the better."_

His voice trailed off, evidently wanting to forget his experience of having to deal with those 'Ink demons'.

Yet Nightmarionne laughed heartily at Nightmare's expense, covering her mouth with her hand, but it didn't stop her girlish laughter.

_"I remember being told how difficult Alice was to work with, given how she kept switching personalities while you were talking to her," _she said humorously, laughing as she spoke.

Nightmare growled in a low tone, expressing his displeasure at being reminded of having to deal with the fallen psychotic angel, as his scarlet red eyes glowed in annoyance.

_"Regardless,"_ he muttered, steadily regaining his calm composure and the fierce glare from his eyes slowly died down.

He could let her enjoyment of his past embarrassment slide, given the importance of their current situation.

_"We'll find a way to acquire more ink, as well as anything that we need from the Mind flayer, if it is required, although we don't know of its whereabouts, let alone that it is still alive."_

Nightmare then looked at both Nightmarionne and Nightmare Fredbear, his scarlet eyes flickering from one to the next, to see if they were fully listening.

_"We clearly don't need Vincent for any of this and thus_ _I argue that we only remove Vincent if he is about to be captured and there is no way of saving him, or if he appears to be backing out of his plans to destroy the Fazbears. . .in other words a liability."_

His scarlet red eyes narrowed, as his voice became stern.

_"If we were going to remove him, then I might well have done it no sooner had he brought Nightmares Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy into the world, that was the ideal time."_

_"To me, there is no point, considering that his life is going to end, he might as well enjoy his life's work up to its final moments and in the end we'll be free; Tommy is forced to move on and Vincent gets to die happy."_

Nigthmarionne slowly nodded, before speaking in a quiet tone.

_"Fair enough, this game is almost at its end and it's not like we can't take Vincent on if he ever tried to back out."_

_"He can live. . .we might as well help him see things through to the bitter end."_

_"And if he wavers or is captured,"_ Nightmare Fredbear began coldly, slowly tightening his fists.

_"Then we shall quickly end his life within a heartbeat."_

_"In the end, we both want the same result, perhaps in hell Vincent might thank us for carrying out his wishes."_

His words made Nightmarionne smiled in sadistic satisfaction, as she equally gripped the Foxy plushie as she still held.

_"Well. . ."_ Nightmarionne said, now in a sly and knowing tone.

_"Not quite the same outcome, when you really think about it."_

Nightmare chuckled darkly, knowing fully what she was implying.

_"If Vincent knew, I am sure that he would appreciate the end result all the same, regardless of not being able to see it take place,"_ he replied humorously.

_"And above all Tommy himself doesn't need to know if Vincent ends up dead anyway."_

_"Even though he has revealed a few truths to Springtrap, he won't reveal anything else because of his fear of us and that any hope of escape is merely an illusion."_

Yet Nightmarionne now looked unconvinced and her grip on the Foxy plushie weaken, relaxing her black skeletal hand, even though she narrowed her eyes at Nightmare.

_"I wouldn't' be so sure, Springtrap might be able to convince him to reveal more of what he knows," _she remarked in a stern voice, with an undertone of worry.

_"Regardless of. . ."_

She sighed, before continuing with.

_"You know what I am on about, don't you?"_

Nightmare's eyes shone vibrantly as he stared back at Nightmarionne, expressing a blank expression, but there was no doubt that he carefully crafting a response to her concerns.

He knew full what she was referring to.

Then Nightmare Fredbear's eyes glowed as he thought things over, seeing a solution to Nightmarionne's concern.

_"It is a great risk yes with having him in the company of someone like Springtrap, but as I've told Springtrap already, Tommy cannot be 'saved' the way in which Springtrap believes."_

He continued unabated as the eyes of both Nightmares slowly turned in his direction.

_"Besides, the presence of Springtrap and the children is to be temporally, and Tommy should surely know this, in the end he'll be left alone with us as always."_

_"As weak as he is, he is aware that telling Springtrap of our true intentions and secrets won't get him anywhere in the long run, especially not when we hold most of the cards."_

Yet Nightmarionne shook her head in disagreement.

_"Still, it would be better for us to get him back as soon as possible," _she said worryingly, not hiding the urgency she felt.

_"Because even if what Tommy knows is useless to him, Springtrap, or worse yet the Fazbears might be able to find a way to use it against us."_

She then looked directly at Nightmare, before asking.

_"Surely you must know that, if I can clearly see it?"_

_"It is a glaring weakness that shouldn't be overlooked," _Nightmare Fredbear remarked in a concerned tone, appearing to support Nightmarionne's words.

Yet Nightmare only expressed a calm outlook, as though Nightmarionne's argument on the dangers that Tommy present when in the company of outsiders didn't shock him in the slightest.

And when he responded, he appeared to have a good reason to not be worried compared to his Nightmare brethren.

_"And yet you both forget that Tommy won't tell them any more than what he has admitted to already because of his divided nature,"_ he said in a quiet tone that reflected his collected expression.

_"Tommy is weak, indecisive and above all else he is afraid of us, as well as not wanting to let others get hurt."_

_"He'll believe that there is no point in revealing in any extra information as it'll make Springtrap and the other children stay for longer and put them in greater danger."_

_"Tommy has good reason to believe that there is no path to freedom, other than the one that we are seeking for him."_

Nightmare's eyes widen, further amplifying the glow from his scarlet red pupils.

_"He'll have to accept that his options are extremely limited, well. . .the lighter side of him will have to accept it."_

_"We are well aware of the other half of him thinks,"_ Nightmare Fredbear remarked, expressing a knowing smile.

_"However abrupt and chaotic it makes itself known."_

_"Tommy should be tearing himself apart, unable to truly decide what he wants and even though one side of him wants to move on in a certain way, the other part of him will do anything to prevent its own desires from being denied."_

Nightmare smiled in agreement.

_"That is how it is,"_ he remarked amusingly.

Nightmare Fredbear looked rather bemused as he replied, whilst gazing in Nightmarionne's direction.

_"Tommy is caught within his own mental tomb, even when he isn't being watched by us, he is never truly free, or have you forgotten so easily Nightmarionne."_

Nightmarionne's look of concern did seem to waver slightly as Nightmare Fredbear continued.

_"Tommy as he is currently is the walking embodiment of trauma and indecision, and you Nightmarionne should know the mindset of his darker nature. . ."_

The Nightmare could have said more, but he instead withheld his tongue, seeing his words shake Nightmarionne loose from her worry, as she visibly relaxed.

_"You're both right,"_ she began, looking from one Nightmare to the next and speaking in a relaxed tone.

_"Thomas Afton shall never be free as long as he lingers, it is his curse and our blessing that he is inflicted to such an insane degree."_

Nightmarionne then looked at Nightmare, who gazed back at her with a vicious smile and she replied in kind, although hers was far more deranged then his.

They both knew the cause for Tommy's terrible affliction, as well as to how and why it kept on reoccurring. In their shared smile they fully understood the sadistic intentions of the other and how Tommy's _'darker side'_ would be a useful element in the very near future.

Nightmare Fredbear's scarlet red eyes glowed with satisfaction as he smiled with hideous intentions. Like his brethren he perfectly understood the true nature of the game that was being played against Springtrap, the children, as well as against Vincent Afton.

He then briefly turned in the direction of where Nightmare Mangle had gone, knowing that they needed to join her and the other Nightmares. Even though Tommy would keep himself and the others occupied, Nightmare Fredbear had to agree with Nightmarionne on the need to get Tommy back as soon as possible.

_"Now that we are fully on the same page, we should leave and re-join Nightmare Mangle, for we have nothing left to discuss,"_ he said in a domineering tone, catching the attention of both Nightmarionne and Nightmare.

_"Agreed Nightmare Fredbear,"_ Nightmarionne called out in a joyous tone and her white dots for eyes glowed with sinister intent, no doubt she was looking forward to what would soon follow.

_"Yes, our conversation is at an end, we should leave and join the other Nightmares,"_ Nightmare stated firmly, officially concluding the conversation as he focused his attention onto the hunt that lay ahead of them.

_"Before we all depart, Nightmarionne,"_ he began, immediately earning the Nightmare's attention.

_"The Foxy plushie, give it to me please, I have an idea, one among many."_

Nightmarionne eagerly complied, wanting to see what Nightmare had in mind with the plushie as she threw it across the room.

The plushie seemed to vanish into the darkness beyond the doorway, but there was the sound of it being caught by Nightmare's invisible claws.

His scarlet red eyes glowed once more, as they expressed a shrewd if not devious intent.

_"Soon, very soon. . ."_ he began, sounding rather malicious.

_"We'll make Springtrap, the children and Tommy regret that they ever met eachother in this accursed hell. . ."_

* * *

**Finally, Nightmare has been introduced, even if it is in a limited capacity, only two more Nightmares to go before we get the full cast.**

**Even if two groups are mostly aligned in their goals, there will nearly always be an variation in what they specially want. **

**Despite Nightmares being incarnate creatures of pure horror and terror, there are other beings that are much greater and better skilled in such arts, more than enough to terrify the Nightmares themselves. . .**

**As I said earlier hopefully chapter 54 will come out next month, but if not then just know that it will be finished eventually.**

**Thank you for reading and do please review, I appreciate your thoughts.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, Nightmare has been introduced, even if it is in a limited capacity, only two more Nightmares to go before we get the full cast.
> 
> Even if two groups are mostly aligned in their goals, there will nearly always be a difference in what they view as the end goal.
> 
> Despite Nightmares being incarnate creatures of pure horror and terror, there are other beings that are much greater and better skilled in such arts, more than enough to terrify the Nightmares themselves. . .
> 
> As I said earlier hopefully Chapter 54 will come out next month, but if not then just know that it will be finished eventually.
> 
> Thank you for reading and do please review, I appreciate your thoughts.


	55. Shattering Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, happy Halloween!
> 
> FNAF Security Breach is getting steadily closer and closer, although it might be released in early December, but hopefully Steel Wool will release a new trailer soon showing us some gameplay footage.
> 
> Plus we have new Fazbear Fright books arriving next year and some of their front covers do generate alot of questions. . .
> 
> Anyhow, here is the new chapter, as with the previous one it was meant to be bigger, but I decided that I didn't have enough space to cover what I wanted sufficiently, so that section will be covered in the next chapter.
> 
> There is a song in this chapter, it's 'Nothing Remains' by Avaitors and it is a long one (8 minutes in total), there's plenty of stage directions in it and hopefully you won't get confused. I had thought about using 'Our Little Horror Story', but the lyrics for 'Nothing Remains' really work well in this chapter, particularly as they are written from the perspective of a serial killer from the Fallout game series.
> 
> Eventually O.L.H.S will have its day, it's just about finding the right moment to make it work.
> 
> Thank you to those who have left Kudos and to those who have read so far.
> 
> Once again, apologies for any lingering grammar mistakes and do enjoy. :-)

**Chapter 54.**

**Shattering Revelations.**

** _"Something bad happened yesterday."_ **

** _"Something bad always happens. . ."_ **

**Circus Baby from FNAF Sister Location Night Five**

_"Keep focused Fredbear,"_ Vincent said, still speaking in a mixture of both encouragement and ill intent as he stared longingly at Goldie.

_"I am quite sure that you will be shocked with what you should uncover, but in the end, one's interpretation of events are not so clear cut when you look at them again."_

_"And yet. . .that is often when we discover the most tragic and darkest of secrets that are otherwise best left buried. . ."_

Goldie's eyes widen as he wrenched the repressed memory free from the depths of his subconsciousness, fully bringing it to the surface with all the baggage that accompanied it.

In his mind's eye images rushed pass him, a swirl of colours as his mind tried to process the memory and play it from the very beginning.

Screams, blood curling cries echoed about in his head, the shrieks of a terrified boy begging to be spared from his brother's torment. The cracking sound of his teeth with their jaw extenders biting down hard on something soft. . .the boy's head and echoing sound of the boy's blood slowly dripping down onto the wooden stage.

Every horrific detail was given a new leash of life and presented to him in vivid detail.

Goldie couldn't block the memory out as it began to consume his focus, even though he could feel the presence of Toy China's hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok," she whispered gently into his ear, with her hair briefly touching his skin. he felt his heartbeat start to lessen; the panic that had gripped his mind subsided somewhat.

"If you don't face this, it will haunt you forever, but if you get through it, you'll remerge a much stronger person because of it," Toy Chica whispered again, her reassuring tone, being the lighthouse in the raging storm that was his repressed memory of the Bite of 83, as it howled within his mind.

"We can finally uncover the truth that has plagued us for so long."

Goldie internally sighed, Toy Chica was right, if he wanted to remerge from the nightmare intact, then he would have to face it head on, regardless of the dangers involved. He needed to find out the answers to the biggest questions that had stalked them ever since Vincent had lured those five children away into a back room and sent them all spiralling headlong into the dark.

Steeling himself for the worst, Goldie took a huge mental leap down memory lane, diving into the heart of the storm. . .

He was done running from the past and he knew very well what awaited him and it terrified him to revisit such a traumatic event. Yet he was even more afraid of what he might uncover, given Vincent's malicious intentions for him to remember a blood chilling tragedy. . .

* * *

_5__th_ _ May 1983_

_Fredbear and Friends Pizzeria_

_Columbus Ohio_

_"Welcome Kids, welcome to Fredbear and Friends' Pizzeria!" Fredbear announced in a cheerful tone to what was largely a sparsely crowded dinner._

_The big lunch rush was yet to begin with it being 11:45am, but there were enough people present to be defined as an audience; even though they were strung out in separate groups across the pizzeria, largely preoccupied by the various arcade games that dotted the establishment._

_Yet that didn't stop Fredbear from making further announcements._

_"We have a great show lined up for you all today that I'm sure that you'll all enjoy," he called out enthusiastically._

_"Keep preforming, with there being a considerable gathering for the birthday party that is set to begin at noon, play the Fredbear Welcome song," his mental programming told him as though he was being issued an order and Fredbear complied without question._

_To him, preforming was just as natural as breathing, it almost took no effort on his part to act and bring a smile to many children who usually crowded the area beyond the show stage._

_Gesturing to his immediate left, Fredbear announced in a booming voice so to grab everyone's attention for good measure._

_"And I am joined by my helpful band mate and best friend SpringBonnie, are you ready to light up the stage with your guitar buddy?"_

_"I sure am Fredbear"!" SpringBonnie yelled, positioning himself to play a series of playful songs._

_"Get ready for a pretty crazy concert kids!"_

_SpringBonnie laughed heartily, being fully invested in the moment as his green eyes gleamed with joy. . .as his programming dictated and he performed his role pretty much flawlessly. _ _He re-stringed his guitar to make sure that it would function correctly and then he started to play out a cheerful tune._

_SpringBonnie's amazing guitar playing did catch and maintain the attention of several groups of people and seeing their admiration did put a smile on his face._

_Yet Goldie knew deep down that the smile wasn't real, none of SpringBonnie was. . ._

_There was some magic that an AI couldn't recapture and only Goldie seemed to notice the difference, however small or invisible it was to everyone else._

_He remembered the real SpringBonnie's breakdown. . .that fateful day, which only now came to the mental surface from the oceanic depths of his subconscious, before being swiftly repressed by his mental programming. _ _Yet it couldn't supress the brief physical shudder Goldie felt whenever the moment occurred. Although it didn't dimmish his happy go luckily expression as he began to sing the pizzeria's iconic welcome song._

_"Welcome to Fredbear and Friends, a place of joy and fun."_

_"Win special prizes and hang out with me Fredbear," he sang in a booming voice, gesturing to himself._

_"And sing along with me SpringBonnie," SpringBonnie called out, also gesturing to himself as he played his guitar without error._

_"There's something fun here for everyone," they sang together in unison._

_"Fantasy and fun is our motto, here at Fredbear and Friends."_

_Together with their singing talent, they were able to create a more festive atmosphere and gain the attention of a few more children._

_"Have a hearty slice of our famous pizza, enjoy the show."_

_"This is heaven on earth and you'll always feel welcome here at Fredbear and Friends."_

_SpringBonnie played out a final musical blast with his guitar before slowly reducing the sound and bowing out with a satisfying musical conclusion._

_There were several claps of approval from some groups who were evidently impressed by the duo's performance. Other groups, often those who stood around arcade games just returned to their previous occupation of cheering their friends on as they resumed playing, trying to beat the game's high score._

_Fredbear smiled though, feeling pleased that he and SpringBonnie had been able to brighten the day for some people._

_"That went well," SpringBonnie remarked joyfully, turning to face Fredbear, who responded in turn._

_"Yeah, although I'm sure that with a few more songs, we'll have a real concert, just like the ones you've dreamt of," Fredbear replied eagerly._

_SpringBonnie's green eyes lit up with excitement and he looked beyond joyed._

_"Well, dreams can become real. . .one day."_

_Fredbear chuckled in assument, but underneath his smile, his subconscious bitterly hissed._

_"You're not the real SpringBonnie, just an animatronic puppet that wears his likeness!"_

_Then his programming or rather mental conditioning crushed the independent thought like a large hammer against a nut; quickly pushing it back down below the mental surface of his mind and proceeding to give him orders on how to continue the festivities._

_"Play the showtime song, then when the clock hits noon play the birthday song for the birthday boy; he'll be instructed to approach the stage with his family for the special moment when the birthday cake is presented to him, followed by a photoshoot of him, you and SpringBonnie on stage."_

_It dominated his mind and Fredbear had no choice but to listen and comply._

_"Let's play the Showtime song SpringBonnie, that'll sure give our guests something to cheer about," he announced enthusiastically_

_"Right you are Fredbear," SpringBonnie replied warmly, high fiving him, before he quickly restrung his guitar._

_So, they started to sing like always and everything was normal, with Fredbear's booming friendly voice being supported by SpringBonnie's more drawn back gentle tone. _ _Their combined playful music filled the pizzeria, entertaining some kids and adults, whilst being ignored or half listened to by others._

_However, as Fredbear and SpringBonnie continued their song, there was a minor disturbance during their performance that Fredbear couldn't help but notice; even though he remained in constant sync with SpringBonnie and blindly obeyed his mental programming._

_Near one of the groups of tables, there was a small brown haired boy surrounded by a group of four older boys, who all wore face masks of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. _ _Judging by the boy's frighten expression and that he was crying, the other boys were clearly bullying him._

_He desperately held onto a Fredbear plushie, trying to find comfort in its presence, as the other boys continually tormented him to no apparent end. _ _Suddenly, one of the older boys, the one wearing a Bonnie face mask grabbed the crying boy's hair and pulled on it hard, making the boy cry even more._

_"Wow, your brother is kind of a baby, isn't he?" the older boy asked, turning to face the boy wearing the Foxy face mask._

_"It's hilarious," the crying boy's brother remarked, clearly taking a great deal of pleasure in bullying his younger brother._

_He then turned in the direction of Fredbear and SpringBonnie and the former felt their eyes lock._

_In the boy's eyes, Fredbear could perceive a devious mind seeing an opportunity to cause further his younger brother even more torment._

_Suddenly the older boy made an announcement to the others._

_"Hey, why don't we help him get a closer look, he'll love it!"_

_His younger brother immediately seemed to understand the horrifying implications of the boy's intentions._

_"No, please!" he cried, as the other older boys swarmed him, much to his older brother's delight._

_"Come on guys, let's give this little man a lift!" he yelled, as he and his friends lifted the younger boy up off the ground and proceeded to carry him towards the stage._

_"He wants to get up close and personal!"_

_Yet the younger boy protested fiercely, but he couldn't overcome the strength of his tormentors._

_"No, I don't want to go!"_

_And his cries only seemed to further fuel his brother's enjoyment._

_"You heard the little man," he said sinisterly._

_"He wants to get even closer!"_

_The younger boy's cries for mercy did catch the attention of a few people, but they preferred not to interfere and before long the bullies reached the stage, despite the younger boy's desperate attempts to pull himself free of their grip._

_"Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss," the boy's older brother said mischievously, looking up directly at Fredbear himself._

_With the other boys' help, they positioned the crying younger brother just below Fredbear's mouth._

_"On three!" the older brother yelled, tightly holding onto his younger brother to pin him in place._   
_"One. . ."_

_They were timing themselves to act when Fredbear next opened his mouth._

_"Two. . ."_

_When Fredbear opened his mouth wide to sing a long note, the bullies struck._

_THREE!"_

_They forcefully shoved the poor younger brother into Fredbear's mouth, regardless of how hard he fought back._

_"I DON'T WANT TO GO IN!" he screamed, utterly terrified as his head was forced into the gaping mouth of Fredbear, before feeling it begin to close shut on him like a trap._

_Fredbear felt himself gag as the crying boy's head heavily restricted his ability to breathe, but he was able to inhale and exhale through his nose._

_Yet he was unable to continue the song, so he instead bit down hard, and he repeatedly kept on doing so, whilst his programming continually relayed orders._

_"Play the song, play the song, play the song!"_

_"You are leaving SpringBonnie to sing on his own, join in!"_

_So, he kept on biting down, trying to sing, even though it was physically impossible for him to do so. . .his mental conditioning hadn't factored in this particular situation._

_Yet his subconsciousness in a panicking state began to scream, telling him to instinctively help the crying child and thus conflicting with his programming._

_"SAVE HIM, STOP TRYING TO SING AND GET HIM OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!"_

_"SAVE HIM!"_

_Meanwhile the crying child was trying desperately to free himself, but because Fredbear was consistently biting down, the boy found himself to be pinned. He even repeatedly smacked his Fredbear plushie hard into the side of Fredbear's head as he tried to dislodge himself from Fredbear's jaws._

_"GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT!" the boy screamed in absolute terror and it was because of his blood chilling screams that several people turned in the direction of the stage, their shocked reactions gaining the attention of those near them._

_"MICHAEL, GET ME OUT!" the boy yelled at the top of his lungs, his panic was beyond evident and Fredbear could feel him thrashing about in his mouth, trying desperately to break himself free, but he wasn't strong enough._

_"ELIZABETH HELP ME!"_

_"DAD, GET ME OUT!"_

_All the while, the crying boy's brother, presumably the one called Michael just laughed at the boy's poor misfortunate. His friends laughed as well, finding humour in the boy's suffering as their 'prank' had worked perfectly._

_They were seemingly immune to the younger boy's cries for help and oblivious to the immense danger that they had placed him in._

_Yet the boy's shouts for help and the apparent harm that he was enduring had fully dawned on several staff members and a few of them had started sprinting towards the stage in order to recuse the kid before something terrible happened. Despite standing right next to Fredbear, SpringBonnie didn't respond as his programming had locked him into 'performance mode', plus it didn't cover the odd possibility of having to deal with a child's head being wedged into his bandmate's mouth. So, the unfolding incident slipped him by as he just kept on playing, his cheerful voice being drowned out by the crying child's frantic screams of terror._

_Meanwhile Fredbear was suffering from a crisis of indecision as his instincts were screaming at him to stop biting down and actually help the child; whereas his programming was adamantly insisting that he resumed singing, despite being physically incapable of doing so._

_Each time one yelled, the other would shout back even louder._

_"KEEP SINGING!"_

_"HELP HIM, STOP BITING!"_

_"RETURN TO THE SONG, SPRINGBONNIE CANNOT SING SOLE, SUPPORT HIM!"_

_"HELP THE CHILD, YOU'RE CRUSHING HIM!"_

_"MAINTAIN FOCUS AND SING THE SHOWTIME SONG!"_

_Fredbear could hear the heavy footsteps of multiple staff members approaching the stage at a rapid pace._

_"QUICK, SOMEONE ACTIVE HIS LOCKDOWN PROTOCALL, GET HIM TO GO LIMB!" one of the male staff members yelled in desperation, sprinting at full speed in the hopes of averting a disaster._

_"GET ON THE STAGE AND PREFORM THE SHUTDOWN, QUICKLY!" another one, a female shouted, equally closing the distance._

_All the while Fredbear kept on biting down, as his mind was racked with conflicting instructions._

_"PREFORM!"_

_"SAVE HIM!"_

_"SING!"_

_"GET HIM OUT!"_

_The crying child kept on screaming, unable to pull himself free._

_"MICHAEL HELP MEEEEE!"_

_"GET ME OUTTTT!"_

_Yet Michael was unresponsive to his younger brother's cries for help and he kept on laughing with his friends at the poor boy's misfortune, clearly unaware of the danger that he had placed his younger brother in._

_A danger that quickly made itself known in a devastating way. . ._

_"MICHEAL GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT!" the crying child screamed, unable to prey himself loose, no matter what he did._

_Fredbear's jaws with their jaw extenders came down once more, amidst the screams._

_"GET ME OUT, GET ME OUT, MICHAEL GET ME OU-"_

_CRACK!_

_The screaming stopped almost instantaneously and Fredbear felt the immediate sensation of a warm liquid pooling in his mouth, it caried a strong metallic flavour to it. . .blood._

_The crying child immediately went limb, with his arms becoming motionless as were his legs, they were no longer kicking about in a mad fashion driven by a desperate desire to escape. His Fredbear plushie dropped out of his left hand and hit the stage's wooden boards with a considerable thud. _ _With his inner instincts having ceased their screaming, Fredbear's 'programming' took over and he resumed singing, moving about on the spot, with the unconscious boy's legs moving about aimlessly whenever Fredbear moved his head._

_It was a fairly chilling display to be witnessed as the Showtime song was played, whilst everyone else stared at the stage in stun struck horror._

_Despite being locked into his performance, Fredbear noted the expression of haunted realisation in the eyes of the bullies. He could see a deep-seated sense of shock and horror in their eyes, fear even. The nearby staff members who had been running towards the stage at full sprint had all stopped, transfixed by their sense of shock._

_Blood from the younger boy's head's wound fell down onto the stage, making a dripping sound as it hit the wooden boards. _ _Looking further beyond the four boys, Goldie could see a scene filled with staff members, parents and children all frozen in horror._

_All eyes were on him and him alone._

_The birthday party which was being thrown in the honour of the boy who now hung lifeless in his mouth had come to a complete stop. _ _No one was eating any of the party food, no one was drinking anything, and no one was playing any of the party games._

_No more Pac Man, no more pin the tail on the donkey and no more tag your it._

_Everyone was quiet, all save for SpringBonnie and Fredbear himself, who both continued to perform for a non-existing hyped audience. _ _It was like all of time had just stopped in that one moment, everything had frozen on the spot and would never move again._

_But surely, it would. . .as it soon did._

_Sounds came rushing back like running water, being quiet at first, but then quickly building up to an almighty explosion of noise._

_The staff reacted first, with those nearest to the stage, pushing the group of bullies aside and jumping up onto the wooden boards._

_They immediately proceeded to switch off SpringBonnie by pressing a hidden button around the back of his neck, with his voice dragging itself out as he powered down, before going completely limb. _ _As for Fredbear, one of them merely uttered the safe word to turn his programming off into Fredbear's ear and he stopped almost instantly, before relaxing._

_Yet his usual personality didn't return as his mind immediately entered into some sort of catatonic state, unable to process what had just happened as he stared headlong into the crowd with a disconnected gaze._

_"OH MY GOD!" one of the customers, a young woman screamed, falling onto her knees and gripping her face in a full display of shock and terror._

_"HE'S DEAD!"_

_"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!" another one shouted._

_"THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD!"_

_Then the children started to yell, running about in pure terror, unable to cope with the situation and if their parents were screaming then it must be bad. _ _Then the staff members turned SpringBonnie back on, rebooting his systems and clearing them of any scheduled events, allowing him to help once he fully registered what was going on._

_He only needed to see the terrified masses of people running for the exit and then notice the limb blood stained body of a boy hanging out of Fredbear's mouth to get the full picture._

_His reaction only added to the hysterical chaos._

_"FREDBEAR, LET HIM GO!" Springbonnie screamed, dropping his banjo, his emerald eyes were now only filled with horror, all sense of warmth had departed._

_He quickly grabbed hold of Fredbear's jaws and tried to pry them open, hoping to remove the child and if possible save him, although given the state of the boy's mangled head it didn't seem likely._

_Suddenly, an array of hands grabbed hold of Fredbear from all sides, as he was being shaken by the already present staff members._

_"LET GO, LET GO OF THE CHILD FREDBEAR!" one of them shouted urgently._

_"OPEN YOUR MOUTH WIDE NOW!" another one yelled, trying to get his attention._

_"WAIT, GUYS, HIS MOUTH MIGHT HAVE LOCKED SHUT," a third staff member cried out, trying to get their comrades' attention._

_"JESUS CHRIST, HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN!"_

_"OH, MY LORD, IS HE DEAD?"_

_"THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD!"_

_As the screams continued to build, amidst the rising sense of horror at what had occurred, three of the bullies, those wearing face masks of Freddy, Bonnie and Chica slowly backed away from the stage and away from the boy with the Foxy face mask._

_"This. . .this isn't what we wanted to happen, we just wanted to scare him," the boy with the Bonnie face mask said, evidently panicking whilst trying to justify their actions._

_"Crap, we're in big trouble guys," the boy with the Freddy face mask remarked, clearly dreading the punishment that their action was sure to bring down upon them._

_"Dude, is this what you wanted Mike, I thought that you wanted to give him a good scare?" the boy in the Chica face mask asked, eyeing the Foxy child with a posture which spoke of fear._

_"No guys, I didn't mean for it to be like this!" the boy evidently identified as Michael replied, his voice was one of dread and shock._

_This isn't what he wanted, not in the slightest._

_"Heck Liam if you, or David or Alex thought that it wasn't such a good idea, then you should have said so!" Michael growled in annoyance, but more so in fear of what he had allowed to happen and the implications it carried._

_"It was an accident, Thomas was just meant to get scared and we would have a really good laugh, like all the other times remember?"_

_"Oh God, we're all going to go to jail, we've killed someone!" Alex cried in immense shock from behind the Freddy face mask, as he backed away from the other three boys are fast as possible._

_"Mike, you've really done it this time, we're all in for it now," David cried, giving Michael a look of genuine concern though the Chica face mask, before he legged it, followed swiftly behind by Liam._

_"We have to get out of here Mike, I don't want to go to jail for manslaughter!" Liam shouted, sounding very fearful as he disappeared into the crowds of terrified people who were now making their way towards the entrance in a distorted stampede._

_With Michael having been abandoned by his friends, he turned to see the staff members and SpringBonnie all try together to yank his younger brother Thomas out of Fredbear's mouth._

_"His mind is currently in lockdown, he isn't responding to our demands," one staff member remarked, trying his dam hardest to separate Fredbear's jaws, which were coated in blood._

_"I always believed that the company's decision to give him jaw extenders would be economically wasteful, but I would never imagine in my darkest days that it would backfire like this."_

_"Hang on, he's moving, pull the child back slowly, but keep up the pressure," another one stated, a female staff officer, overseeing the whole operation._

_She then turned to two other members of staff, who had just turned up to help._

_"You two go and get everyone else on hand to contain this crowd, as of now this is effectively a crime scene, lock the pizzeria down now."_

_Immediately the two staff members ran off to find help and to ensure that everyone remained reasonably clam._

_"Well the company is going to take a hammer blow from this, that's for sure," one staff member, a male said, having got the child's shoulders and neck free from Fredbear's jaws._

_"This kid will be lucky to have survived this scarring incident, given the damage dealt by Fredbear's jaws."_

_"Is someone going to call the police?" SpringBonnie asked in a concerned tone, as he looked around at the already gathered group of staff members._

_"Crap, good point, I'll do it, I'm the most senior member of staff here," the head female staff officer replied, sounding overwhelmed by it all._

_She quickly left the group in their attempt to free the child as she ran off stage towards the nearest office with a phone in it._

_"The media is going to have a fucking free for all over this shit," she cursed under her breath, intending to make the fastest dial to 911 in human history._

_Screams, shouts, the frantic pulling of people, the dead eye yet horror filled expression of Michael with his Foxy face mask and the desperate pleas from SpringBonnie to release the child from his jaws did nothing to stir Fredbear's catatonic mind into action. _ _He couldn't move, it was like he had snapped. He possessed no control over his own body, his mental programming had been turned off and yet he couldn't find enough of his own strength to break free from the fog that surrounded his mind._

_He was trapped inside his own head, a mere spectator to the world as it moved around him like a rock jutting out of the sea._

_Just like in 1978, his world had been shattered once again, his image would now be tainted beyond redemption…even if it wasn't of his own making._

_Within the depths of his mind, that part of him which remained conscious and aware, turned to that of his family._

_Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, Foxy._

_What was to become of them, when news of this incident came out, would they be caught up in the fallout?_

_Would they still see him as their father figure, or would they come to despise him for harming a child, accidently or otherwise?_

_And also, what would become of the replacement SpringBonnie, would he be tossed to the side. . .just like the original SpringBonnie was?_

_Would the replacement SpringBonnie share the same fate as his predecessor, to be locked away in the basement of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria, hidden away from the world and preying eyes._

_Fredbear didn't know the answer to any of it and not knowing frighten him to his core._

_Then a new voice entered the fray, completely derailing his chain of thoughts, as well as of that of everyone else._

_"OH MY GOD, TOMMY!"_

_It was high pitched and clearly female._

_A girl, roughly the same age of the boy in the Foxy mask came running onto the scene, her green eyes consisting of nothing but sheer horror._

_She wore a purple pinkish t-shirt with a bluish skirt and possessed bright blonde hair that held a red bow in it._

_The sight of the lifeless boy locked in Fredbear's jaws made her physically sick, going pale in the face, but she didn't throw up, although it looked as though she might, however she was somehow able to supress it._

_"TOMMY!" she yelled, exasperating her feeling of concern._

_Then instantly she turned to face Michael, so fast that her blonde hair whipped around her head._

_"MICHAEL WHAT DID YOU DO!" she yelled; her concern being quickly replaced by anger._

_Immediately Michael put his hands up as a form of surrender._

_"I…I...I…I didn't mean to Elizabeth, this wasn't meant to happen, I swear I just wanted to-"_

_"TO SCARE HIM SENSELESS AGAIN, TO KICK HIM DOWN AND GIVE HIM NIGHT TERRORS!" Elizabeth screamed, her emerald eyes were ablaze with rage and sadness._

_"I didn't. . ."_

_But she wouldn't give him the chance to reply._

_"EVER SINCE MOTHER DIED, YOU'VE BEEN A BULLY TO HIM, YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS!"_

_She then smacked him, whacking the Foxy face mask off, fully revealing his face._

_Black brownish hair and brown eyes, a stark contrast to his sister._

_"TAKE THAT STUPID MASK OFF YOUR FACE!"_

_"I was only trying to teach him a lesson."_

_"FOR WHAT. . .FOR TELLING DAD WHAT YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS DO TO HIM ON A DAILY BASIS!" Elizabeth screamed back, clearly on the offensive._

_"YOU'RE A HORRIBLE PERSON MICHAEL!"_

_"I ONLY LEFT HIM ON HIS OWN FOR A MINUTE, SO I COULD GO AND TALK TO MY FRIENDS!"_

_She then pointed at him, firmly in the chest._

_"Dad is going kill you, he'll be mad, this is unforgiveable."_

_"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT ALREADY!" Michael shot back, now it was his turn to get angry._

_"Where's Vincent Afton, this is his youngest kid, right?" one staff member said, as they neared completion of their task to free Thomas from Fredbear's jaws._

_"Yeah. . .oh shit, here he is, poor guy," another one muttered, sounding very downcast, he knew what was coming._

_Suddenly, a man in a purple staff uniform rushed up, pushing his way through the dense crowd, which was still steaming towards the exit, trying to get away from the scene as fast as it was humanly possible._

_When he reached Michael and Elizabeth, he saw the scene fully for what it was, and he immediately fell to his knees._

_The blood, the motionless body of his son, the screams of the terrified crowd and the dreaded horror-struck expressions of both Elizabeth and Michael who stood nearby._

_There were no words from Vincent, only a facial expression which quickly degraded from seldom sadness to one of complete and utter despair._

_In the end, he only said one thing in a quiet tone that it was almost a whisper._

_"Oh, my lord. . .Thomas."_

_Instantly, he leapt forward, getting off his knees, with his emotions now pouring out like a waterfall in a monsoon._

_"GET HIM OUT, GET MY SON OUT!" he shouted in a plighted desperation that hit everyone's hearts._

_"WE'RE TRYING TO, BUT FREDBEAR HAS HIS JAWS CLOSED TIGHT AND HE ISN'T RESPONDING!" SpringBonnie yelled, but his words on the situation did nothing to advert Vincent's distress._

_"JUST GET MY BOY OUT NOW!" he screamed, pushing the other staff members aside, so he could grab his son's legs._

_With great force which only a loving parent could provide in such a moment, Vincent pulled his son out of Fredbear's mouth by the legs, using immense strength to accomplish the deed._

_The bloodied and mangled head of Thomas Afton was now fully revealed for all to see and he would have dropped to the floor like a stone had Vincent not caught him. _ _Some people fainted at the ghastly sight of the child's crushed head, with SpringBonnie having to act fast to catch two members of staff in one go alone before they could hit the stage._

_"SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!" Vincent screamed, cradling his child like it was a new-born._

_"PLEASE!" He wept with all manner of tears falling down his face._

_"SOMEONE HELP!"_

_He looked down at the blood covered face of his son, who for the large part was unresponsive to the world around him, it was as though he was in a deep sleep. _ _Thomas's head was mostly covered in blood, amidst the signs of other bodily fluids like plasma._

_His eyes were closed, and his arms and legs hung lifelessly towards the floor, not to mention that his clothes were also covered in blood spatters._

_Vincent put his hand to his son's chest, trying to feel a pulse._

_But clearly, he was struggling to do so, as his face became even paler with worry._

_"WHERE'S THE AMBULANCE, HE NEEDS HELP NOW!" he screamed, shouting to anyone who would listen._

_Members of staff had already raced off to find the onsite first aid knit._

_"Come on Tommy, stay with me please!" Vincent begged._

_"Evelyn wouldn't want this," he sobbed, unable to control himself._

_Then Elizabeth leapt up onto the stage coming in from the left side._

_"DADDY, I'M SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN TO LEAVE HIM ON HIS OWN FOR LONG!" she wailed, clinging to him, as she gazed down at her brother's motionless body._

_"I ONLY WENT TO TALK TO MY FRIENDS!"_

_She tried to wipe away her tears, but more kept on coming._

_"Is he…alive?" she asked, her voice was shaky, now being barely a whisper as she struggled to accept the reality that her younger brother might very well be dead._

_"I don't know sweetie, I don't know anything," Vincent replied, his voice cracking with despair, as he looked upon the lifeless body of his son._

_"Tommy wake up, please come on. . .just wake up," he wept, gently shaking his son to try and hopefully get a response out of him_

_"Michael is still here dad," Elizabeth muttered, as she shivered, pointing over to the boy in question without turning round to face him. Michael so far had remained with his eyes downcast, looking at the floor with his Foxy mask in his hand._

_A mixture of immense shame and regret was his only facial expression. . .with the feeling burying itself deep into his heart._

_Slowly, he breathed in deep and raised his head to meet his father, who had his back to him, still cradling Thomas._

_"Dad. . .I. . ."_

_But Michael couldn't say no more, he couldn't push himself to do so, the situation was clear. He had messed up big time and there was no coming back from the tragedy that he had created._

_Besides, Vincent's screams for help prevented him from attempting to speak again._

_"WHERE'S THAT FUCKING AMBULANCE!"_

_"Daddy," Elizabeth sobbed, stroking her younger brother's hair, hoping that the sensation of being touched would somehow stir Tommy awake._

_"Is he dead?"_

_This time however Vincent didn't answer her with his purple hair having fallen over his eyes, hiding them from view. _ _Instead, he started mumbling to himself, as he gently rocked his son, whose eyes stayed closed as he remained completely lifeless. _ _Then a group of staff members turned up with the first aid knit, they set it down and opened it up._

_"It's ok Vincent, just lie him down on his side so he can breathe," one of them said reassuringly, before turning to face his teammate._

_"Hurry, get out the bandages."_

_"He'll need more than just bandages!" Vincent hissed, glaring at their basic equipment. Compared to the urgent medical support that his son needed, this kind of half assed response was an insult._

_Then the air began to fill with approaching ambulance sirens, drowning out the wailing of people who remained, staring at the sicking scene mortified beyond anything and unable to move._

_"Please Tommy wake up, please don't go," Elizabeth begged, gazing desperately at her brother, it was clear that she adored him. . .unlike Michael._

_She slowly turned in his direction, their eyes meet. Sad filled, but enraged emerald pupils staring intensity at regret and sorrow filled brown ones._

_Neither one of two siblings said anything to each other, but as the approaching ambulance sirens grew ever louder, Elizabeth mouthed something at Michael._

_'You coward.'_

_She then turned back to Tommy, who was now being attended to by members of staff, while the screams and wails of the remaining crowd continued unabated alongside the continuous shrieks of the approaching ambulance sirens._

_Elizabeth, having noticed a fallen item alongside Fredbear's feet, slowly reached over and picked it up._

_It was a Fredbear plushie, Tommy's Fredbear plushie to be correct, covered in his blood spatters._

_"Here Tommy, this. . .is yours," she croaked, her voice cracking with emotion, as she gently placed it in his hands._

_"Come on Tommy, please wake up."_

_Then finally, the ambulance crews arrived on the scene, carrying with them more professional medical equipment for the task at hand._

_"It's ok guys, we'll take it from here," the lead one said, brushing aside the staff members, who made space for the newcomers._

_"Where's are his parents?"_

_"I'm his. . .father," Vincent replied, barely audible, as his voice now having gone all sombre and distinct._

_"Right we need to take him with us to the hospital, there's nothing we can really do here," the leading paramedic said, immediately taking charge of the situation._

_Given Thomas's state, it was obvious that he would need major medical attention._

_"Bring up the stretcher," another medic called, as two others came up with a sizeable stretcher to hand._

_The leading paramedic spoke to Vincent again._

_"Sir, the police will be here soon, they'll wish to ask you some questions about what happened."_

_"I'm going with my son, the police can question me, later at the hospital. . .I'm not leaving his side," Vincent answered back, not taking his eyes off Tommy, who was being slowly picked up and placed onto the stretcher with extreme care by the other paramedics._

_He still had his Fredbear plushie in his hands, holding it tight like a personal treasure which he couldn't be parted from._

_"I'm coming too daddy," Elizabeth stated, clinging ever more tightly onto Vincent's clothing, her eyes held a deep seated desperation for reassurance._

_She wanted to be with her younger brother that was beyond evident._

_However, it was clear that she couldn't go with Vincent, nor could Michael, so SpringBonnie stepped in, fulfilling Vincent's unspoken wishes._

_"Come with me, I'll take you both somewhere safe," he said softly, gently taking hold of Elizabeth by the arm, but she stubbornly refused to move._

_"NO, I'M STAYING WITH TOMMY, DADDY GET HIM TO STOP!" she screamed, tugging against SpringBonnie's grasp._

_"LET ME GO!"_

_"Elizabeth. . ." Vincent said, sounding distant, yet there was a degree of authority in his voice._

_"Go with Michael and SpringBonnie, I'll come and collect you both later on. . .when things have become more stable with Tommy."_

_SpringBonnie slowly pulled Elizabeth away from Vincent, amidst their screams and protests._

_"NO, DADDY NO, I DON'T WANT TO BE WITH MICHEAL, HE DID IT!"_

_Vincent gently stroked Tommy's soft brown hair, if it weren't for all the blood and damage around his head he would appear to be sleeping peaceful._

_"DADDY PLEASE!"_

_But Vincent remained motionless, only continuing to stroke Tommy's hair, as SpringBonnie now grabbed hold of Michael and started to pull him along as well, although unlike Elizabeth, Michael offered no resistance._

_Then several members of staff took hold of Fredbear from all sides, pulling him backwards._

_"Get him off the stage and in the back now, the police will make this place secure," one of them said firmly, dragging Fredbear away towards one of the backrooms._

_The sounds of SpringBonnie struggling to control Elizabeth Afton was audible to everyone within earshot, as the latter ferociously tried to pull herself free of the animatronic's grip._

_"LET ME GO!"_

_"Can someone please send over a few staff members to help SpringBonnie keep an eye on the Afton children as well, especially the daughter?" the leading staff member asked, which immediately resulted in another staff member motioning for two of their teammates to detach from the group and headed off in SpringBonnie's direction to help out._

_Then the leading staff member muttered in a low tone of disgust._

_"The company will be shitting itself for what is to come, but the technicians kept telling them that they hadn't successfully worked out all of the kinks in the mind performance program, idiots."_

_All the while, Fredbear had remained completely unresponsive, still locked inside his own mind and too shocked to do anything else but watch and listen._

_All he could see before him was a scene of unbridled trauma and standing at the centre of it all with his lifeless eyes was Vincent Afton. He hadn't resumed crying, but instead wore a crestfallen expression that behold a great deal of dread, worry, fear, panic and shock, all rolled into one. Nearby several paramedics assessed the damage done to Tommy's head as they prepared for his immediate transportation to the nearest hospital._

_Further behind Vincent were his other two children, Elizabeth and Michael who were being taken away by SpringBonnie, with Elizabeth protesting as if her life depended on it._

_"NO, I CAN'T LEAVE HIM, HE NEEDS ME, HE'S MY YOUNGER BROTHER!"_

_Michael on the other hand however was remaining silent, in a cold deathly fashion with his eyes seemingly glued towards the floor that was covered in tiny blood splatters from Tommy's vicious head wound._

_Further behind came the blaring sound of police sirens as they grew ever closer, with the last of the shell shocked crowd being able to come to their senses as the reality of the pizzeria now being a crime scene fully dawned on them and they quickly departed, without looking back._

_Fredbear could see it all, what had started out as a day of fun and excitement had quickly descended in chaos and sorrow. . .as it had before back at Fredbear's Diner in 1979. The big difference between then and now was that the hammer would surely fall on him and not SpringBonnie, but perhaps at least Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy would be spared any ill effect from the fallout, that did give Fredbear a small semblance of comfort amidst the chaos._

_Vincent remained where he was, staring as the unresponsive body of his son Thomas was slowly lifted up by the paramedics, ready to take him to the nearest ambulance. Although Vincent wasn't acting out his distress, his inner turmoil could be seen howling away behind his eyes like a stormy abyss, never ending and all consuming._

_There came more of Elizabeth's cries of desperation._

_"TOMMY, TOMMY WAKE UP, LET GO OF ME SPRINGBONNIE, PLEASE LET ME GO, DADDY HELP ME!"_

_Suddenly, with multiple hands to support him, Fredbear was quickly dragged towards the backroom for whatever it was that they were going to do to him._

_Hopefully, it would involve the start of removing his mind programming, as well as those wretched jaw extenders._

_As he was taken away, Vincent suddenly turned in his direction and for a singular moment their eyes locked._

_Fredbear could see Vincent Afton clearly, with everything else being pushed away to the sidelines. Vincent looked like a man who had been broken and was steadily disintegrating into an emotional wreck, but somehow had the willpower to hold his intense feelings of distress and sorrow within himself and keeping it buried so he could maintain some level of composure._

_Yet it was obvious to Fredbear that Vincent was feeling as though his life was seeping away from him, being lost forever and if Thomas died then he certainly would have permanently lost a major piece of it._

_Yet for a mere glimpse, Vincent's facial expression changed, the demeanour in his eyes flickered to that of something else._

_Anger, rage, agony. . .and lots of it, all amidst the emotional chaos that his face held and was trying desperately to contain for the sake of his children._

_Yet Fredbear could see it and he could feel Vincent's agony radiating out from him like a violent whirlpool, that sought to consume everyone and everything in an embracing tide of red mist._

_In that one moment, Fredbear felt as though Vincent viewed him to be personally responsible for what had happened and suddenly, he felt very afraid. Vincent's agonised yet wrathful gaze only further added to Fredbear's sense of impending dread._

_"I WANT TO SEE TOMMY, DADDY PLEASE LET ME GO WITH YOU!"_

_There came another cry from Elizabeth and Vincent's gaze immediately changed, the anger vanished, disappearing behind a thin veil of composure as Vincent regathered himself._

_Yet Fredbear couldn't dismiss what he saw, as he was dragged further away from the stage into the pizzeria's back rooms._

_He could sense the overwealhming sensation of agony that was coming from the Afton family; the sorrowful and shamed demeanour of Michael, the desperate and pained manner of Elizabeth and the distressed, shocked and almost vengeful appearance of Vincent, even though he tried to hide the latter emotion from view._

_Elizabeth's heart wrenching cries of agony and despair followed Fredbear, echoing through an open doorway as he was pulled through it by staff members; ready to prepare him for immediate isolation as well as for questioning by the approaching police. _ _Then the door to the back room was closed shut by one of the staff members, cutting out the light and suddenly everything went pitch black. Elizabeth's agonised screams faded away into nothingness, as the traumatic memory morphed, taking Fredbear, or rather Goldie as he was now known somewhere else. . ._

* * *

_Indeed, Goldie found himself being transported to somewhere else, but when the blackness finally cleared, it was a familiar sight, and he immediately knew why his memory had brought him here._

_This was where Vincent had told him why he killed the children, why he was still hounding Goldie and his family, the reasoning behind all of his actions until now._

_Goldie was back in the old, abandoned factory on a cold wooden table, held down by metal restraints, with Vincent leaning over him. The other Nightmares were standing nearby and the sounds of the soul sucking machine that had brought in Nightmare Fredbear whirled away before Goldie, looming over him like an executioner._

_Although Goldie knew this to be just a memory, the level of reality with which his mind had gifted to it was disturbing to say the least._

_"If I were to sum up my entire life with one simple phrase, I would say if I couldn't have it, then why should anyone else," Vincent said, his face was nearly all that Goldie could see as the memory played itself out._

_"So, you're jealous of other people. . .something which others have?" Goldie heard himself asked, his dark red eyes locking with Vincent's lifeless green pupils._

_Vincent laughed, somehow finding the situation amusing._

_"Correct Goldie," he answered, he almost sounded pleased with past Goldie's answer._

_Then Goldie suddenly felt his senses undergo an overload, his vision was now starting to fade, everything he heard was now loud and unfocused, he felt pins and needles stabbing him all over his body._

_Yes, his memory hadn't spared him any level of realism here, but he knew that this wasn't real, there was no real danger here._

_He could focus and try to listen to Vincent's words before the memory itself ended._

_"Ah, now that'll be the first set of chemicals overloading your senses, it's only temporary, it's what happens next that you should be more concerned about," Vincent stated, making no attempt to hide his pleasure in causing Goldie immense pain._

_Vincent smiled, it was a psychotic smile that would be entrenched in Goldie's mind for a long time and it still was in current Goldie's eyes._

_"Well, you've waited long enough Goldie, it's time for the truth, please listen. . .if you can," Vincent said softly._

_Then he leaned in close and whispered something into Goldie's ear._

_Vincent's voice was direct and confident and as whereas past Goldie had struggled to hear as his vision faded into blackness, current Goldie fought back, fighting to prevent the memory from ending, to hear those precious words._

_As the memory began to go dark, despite Goldie's efforts, he reached in deep, fighting with everything he had to reestablish the memory; to make himself remember what Vincent had said, focusing only on him and blocking out all other sounds._

_Because he was keeping the memory alive, it kept repeating its final moments in a continuous loop, unable to end, as Goldie wouldn't let it._

_When Vincent leaned in close again, this time without interruption from anything or anyone else, Goldie mentally strained himself to his upmost limits to hear._

_Vincent spoke clearly into Goldie's ear, with his words being audible, despite speaking in whisper, but it didn't cushion their impact._

_"You killed my son, Thomas Afton, Fredbear, remember the Bite of 83?"_

_"The pain that I have delivered onto you and your family, may never be as agonizing as what I felt that day and I know that I am destined to meet the devil; but as long as I can put my family to rest, destroying everything you love is a small price to pay to give my family their happiest day and set them free wherever they might linger."_

_Vincent's words shocked Goldie to his core and in his shock, his grip on the memory weaken, making everything start to go black again and become unclear, but thankfully Vincent seemed to be ending his little speech._

_"You may die from the process Fredbear, but I am not going to let that happen, death is no longer the end that people think it is and I intend to keep you alive in whatever manner I can for as long as it is possible. . .so you can feel my pain and suffer as I did, until I decide to let everything fade away into nothingness, as all terrible tragedies should."_

_"Yet, until that day Fredbear, watch, listen and befall your family's tragedy, which shall be my masterpiece. . ."_

_Goldie let go, his mind was now in complete emotional turmoil, as the realisation of Vincent's motivation for everything stood out before him like the bright light of day._

_He couldn't ignore it, only accept it for what it was._

_Goldie's hold on the memory was now too weak and the whole scene shattered like glass around him, never to be reassembled. In his intense state of shock, Goldie's mind rapidly recoiled and made a hasty return to reality, as all the while Vincent's words echoed about him, never allowing Goldie to escape their horror as Vincent himself so clearly desired to do in real life. . ._

_"You killed my son, Thomas Afton, Fredbear. . ."_

_"You may die from the process Fredbear, but I am not going to let that happen. . ."_

_"So you can feel my pain and suffer as I did, until I decide to let everything fade away into nothingness. . ."_

_"I know that I am destined to meet the devil; but as long as I can put my family to rest, destroying everything you love is a small price to pay to give my family their happiest day. . ."_

_"Watch, listen and befall your family's tragedy, which shall be my masterpiece. . ."_

_As horror filled him, Goldie realised that Vincent was indeed right, for it is in the most sorrowful and damming moments of one's past, when one would discover the most tragic and darkest of secrets._

_Given how far Vincent had gone in his efforts to devastate Goldie's life, his family, his home and livelihood, it was now beyond clear that Vincent aimed for the absolute destruction of everything that Goldie held dear, nothing else would satisfy his vengeful desire for payback for the death of his son as well as potentially other things._

_Without realising it Goldie found himself reliving the past, seeing the whole rotten timeline of dark events that Vincent had carved out with gruesome fashion._

_Looking back at everything that had happened, with Vincent's motive very much fresh in his mind, the whole reflection gave Goldie mixed feelings of dread, shame, remorse, horror, shock, and an ominous sense of dread for the future, given how dedicated Vincent was utterly ruining him and his family._

_Yet there was one thing that Goldie couldn't deny, Vincent had enjoyed creating this hell which everyone was seemingly locked into and he wouldn't let it truly end. . .until absolutely nothing remained. . ._

* * *

(Begin song here if you wish).

_The lights slowly come on, revealing to Goldie a new reality._

_He finds himself in the centre of a decayed and rotten version of the main dining room from the Greenfield Pizzeria. It stretches on for miles, disappearing into the horizon in all directions._

_He is surrounded by everyone, the other Fazbears in their possessed states, showing a mixture of enraged or vengeful expressions. The Possessed Prop Suits with their rusted bodies and creaking limbs that hide their suffering. The Nightmares in their original forms, all smiling with sinister intent and finally, the Fazbear Entertainment animatronics, all twitching and jerking in a malevolent fashion as they stare longingly at Goldie._

_There is a dark presence in the air, a heavy feeling of agony that is as thick as fog yet is equally invisible._

_Standing in the centre of the ring alongside Goldie is Vincent Afton in his iconic purple staff shirt, yet he is the one in control of this mess._

_Goldie looks at him, feeling afraid and yet sensing that he is the source of the agony that seems to be infecting everyone and intermixing with their own; creating a maelstrom of negative emotions that keeps everyone locked into this nightmare._

_Vincent holds a sharp blade in one hand and a plushie of Goldie in his Fredbear persona in the other. . .Thomas Afton._

_Goldie can feel Vincent's rage surging behind his cold green eyes._

_Destructive. . .all-consuming and ever-present._

_Slowly Vincent steps forward, casting a shadow over Goldie, before gesturing to everyone else like a puppeteer._

"**Human minds, frail and scared."**

_Everyone is chained together in more ways than one._

"**Freed by death, and death is fair."**

_Innocent souls that are now as wicked as their tormentor._

"**Hopeless souls, play a part in my wicked work of art."**

_Vincent relishes the moment._

"**Such relief every time, taking life, to take what's mine."**

_He stares at Goldie coldly._

"**At the end, here we lie, here we're killers or we die."**

_We see the plushie of Fredbear covered in blood splatters._

"**When the world was turned to grey, the hatred wouldn't go away."**

_Agony is all that is left behind._

"**Resentment in chains. . ."**

_We see a vindictive Vincent lowering the head of SpringBonnie onto himself._

"**In the coldest of all hearts, a voice descends, the light departs. . ."**

_The suit's eyes glow purple and Vincent laughs joyfully._

**"Madness remains. . ."**

_We then see Vincent in the SpringBonnie suit towering over a group of frighten children in one of the pizzeria's back rooms._

_Vincent smiles as he steps forward, wielding a sharp knife._

_He is doing this to free Thomas, to free his family and to make Goldie suffer the conquences of that fateful day._

_The ends justify the means._

"**Play the game, paint your scene, taking this to the extreme."**

_He relishes seeing the fear in the children's' eyes._

"**Masterpiece, dark design, your last moments, only mine."**

_The pleasure soothes his inner pain for a time._

"**It's a need, here in dust, kill the world that stole from us."**

_His knife is soon dripping with blood._

"**Take your place, let it be, in my crimson symphony."**

_Yet the act doesn't hold back the crippling pain for long._

"**When the world was turned to grey, the hatred wouldn't go away."**

_Anger burns brightly in Vincent's eyes as the years go by._

"**Resentment in chains. . ."**

_There is nowhere else to go but continually forward._

"**In the coldest of all hearts, a voice descends, the light departs. . ."**

_With bittersweet memories to haunt his steps._

**"Madness remains. . ."**

_We see the Fazbears become possessed by the ghost children of the 1_ _st_ _ MCI, wandering the empty rooms of their pizzeria, looking for vengeance that can never be found._

_We then see Vincent smiling deviously from the shadows, as a rampant aggressive Mangle dives down and viciously attacks Helen in the Bite of 87._

_We see Vincent again in the SpringBonnie suit again, towering over another group of frighten children, bringing death and despair once more to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria._

_Cuts to 1993 and we see the Fazbears possessed, stumbling around their old pizzeria, searching for Vincent, while he watches them from the safety of the outside world._

_Observing. . .waiting. . .preparing to return and finish the game that he has started so long ago._

_We then see Goldie again, finding himself to be in a control room of sorts, with numerous monitors on display. Each one is continually replaying a dark event from his family's past, including his own; the bite of 83, the 1_ _st_ _ MCI, the bite of 87, the 2_ _nd_ _ MCI and the bloody violent deaths of the nightguards at their hands._

_And there standing before Goldie is Vincent once more, with a cold smile and malice intent._

_This is his masterpiece, his joy of creation through the destruction of countless lives, giving him a purpose that is as torturous for him as it is pleasurable._

_Vincent then approaches Goldie, gesturing to himself._

"**I feel it in my bones, a need to be your god, a need to strike you down."**

_All the monitor screens change to show the Afton children and Vincent's expressions softs._

"**When order disappeared, and madness took control, the conscience in me drowned."**

_Vincent then points his knife at Goldie._

"**I want to be your guide into the afterlife."**

_His expression is now both pained and vengeful._

"**It's a gift, look past the pain like I do."**

_Cold green eyes stare into anxious dark red pupils._

"**I want to see your eyes, just before your demise, when only fear remains inside you. . ."**

_He then pushes Goldie backwards, making him fall into nothingness._

_As he falls, Goldie sees Vincent staring down at him, still vengeful, but encumbered by years of endless sorrow, pain, and an undying conviction._

_In many ways, he is like his victims. . .you are what you created._

_As he falls further and further, the similarities become clear and clear to Goldie._

_He sees the mindless revenge driven aggression of the ghost children, slowly being hallowed out by their rage._

_The Fazbear family turning inward and trusting no one else but themselves._

_The Nightmares' burning desire to escape their reality and become free of their fear of permanent death._

_He sees the Possessed Prop Suits, screeching and yelling in the darkness of Limbo, clawing away at themselves in desperation for release, to escape their metallic hell._

_Finally, Goldie sees himself, struggling to accept that he threw Springtrap under the bus, allowing the emotional pain of his betrayal to act as a chain and weigh him down._

_The more he sees it, the more he realises how trapped everyone really is._

_Everyone is either:_

_Broken. . ._

_Vengeful beyond reason. . ._

_Afraid. . ._

_Depressed beyond hope. . ._

_Denying the conquences and allowing the pain to fester and attract new victims._

_No one is ever truly be free of this nightmare._

_There's too much blood on everyone's hands and too much agony that cannot simply be buried._

_Everyone is on puppet strings, being influenced by a puppeteer that doesn't want to stop the show, even if the puppets are falling to pieces._

_Yet even a damaged puppet can still be broken, torn into even more pieces and smaller pieces still._

_This show has no end until nothing remains, and both the puppets and their puppeteer are gone._

_Vincent wouldn't have it any other way. . ._

_He won't, the puppets will be stripped of everything but their lives and perhaps only then can final show begin._

_The finale to end all finales. . ._

_We see rage burning in the possessed Fazbears' eyes._

"**When the world was turned to grey, the hatred wouldn't go away."**

_Jealousy surging within the Nightmares' eyes at their imprisonment._

"**Resentment in chains. . ."**

_The Possessed Prop Suits' face plates opening up and revealing their agonising fate._

"**In the coldest of all hearts, a voice descends, the light departs. . ."**

_The Fazbear animatronics twitching aggressively._

**"Madness remains. . ."**

_Goldie suddenly finds himself back in the dining room, with everyone else, only now the entire room is a raging inferno._

_There in the centre of it all is Vincent once more dancing along to the screams and cries as the flames consume everyone._

_A final destructive act to a torturous play._

_We see the Fazbears screaming as they are burned alive and the children's souls be released._

_The Nightmares smiling in sweet relief as they are finally freed from their prison, even though their physical forms are destroyed by the fire._

_The Possessed Prop Suits tearing themselves apart to speed up their deaths and be set free._

_And the Fazbear animatronics crumbling into pieces as the flames devour the last lingering remnant of Fazbear Entertainment's dreams for expansion._

_Everything dies. . ._

_The flames surge around Goldie, pushing him closer to Vincent, as the latter is equally pushed further forward by the fire._

_Vincent stops dancing and he stares at Goldie, still holding his signature knife and Thomas's Fredbear plushie._

_He doesn't advance on Goldie, instead he just stands and stares as the ravenous flames get closer and closer._

_He wants to see Goldie's fear, to see him realise that this is truly the end and that he is the one who caused it._

_Just like Goldie in a way caused Thomas's death, trapped with no way out and no help in sight._

_Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind. . ._

_Then suddenly Vincent lunges forward and pushes Goldie into the encircling flames._

_As he falls Goldie sees Vincent's twisted smile, enjoying the moment, relishing his revenge, but he also sees something else._

_Relief, a strong sensation of relief now that the end has truly come._

_Even though Vincent knows his destination once the smoke finally clears, but it was a price worth paying._

_Nothing else matters now, just let the flames take everything away, including the pain._

_Vincent closes his eyes and hugs the Fredbear plushie tightly as the flames begin to consume him whole._

_Let the nightmare end, as all terrible tragedies should._

_End communications. . ._

_Yet everything slowly goes dark, leaving Goldie falling away into nothingness as he departs for reality, away from the horrifying realisation of how twisted and tragic Vincent's motivation really is._

_Everyone is prepared to do dark deeds to break free of their pain, to jump into the abyss._

_The only remaining question is who would go deeper?_

_This question haunts Goldie as he returns to consciousness and away from the shadows of the past. . .only that they will follow him and everyone else forever. . ._

(The song fades out).

* * *

As Goldie steadily retuned to reality, two questions echoed about in his mind, these being the loudest ones to those already present, shouting above all the others to be heard. Given how much control Vincent liked to have and how he had withheld his motive from them for decades on end, why reveal such a critical piece of information anyway?

Why would he be willing for it to be revealed, when playing a war of information against the Fazbear family was a vital part of his strategy?

He was always in the shadows, knowing a great deal about them whilst deliberately keeping any information about himself hidden, or at the least vague as so to keep them constantly off balance.

Why give away so much if he had used the mystery of his motive to misdirect and torment them for years?

And above all else, why now, what was going on with Vincent Afton that made him commit to this choice of action?

Goldie already had his suspicions, above all with Vincent wanting to make him realise his part in creating the circumstances for so much blood soaked horror, regardless of Goldie never having the desire to harm anyone.

Alternatively, though, there was. . .

No. . .

Goldie felt his shock and fear rise like a tidal wave, as the full realisation of what his own thoughts meant hit him full on.

That can't be the answer. . .could it?

Vincent had often described this whole tortuous affair of theirs as a game, with him being the director, controlling just about everything through direct or indirect means; often beating everyone else, and forcing them to keep playing.

The only understandable reason as far as Goldie could see, as to why someone like Vincent would allow such precious information about themselves to be discovered by their enemies. . .was if he didn't want to play this game anymore. . .or at worst end it.

And knowing Vincent Afton as well as he did, Goldie could only imagine what Vincent's endgame scenario was, and he would want everyone to be present for it.

He would keep them here in this game. . .

He would hold them in place. . .

He wasn't going to let anyone go until he was ready, not until the darkest pit of hell had swallowed him whole.

Death. . .permanent death was how Vincent envisioned ending this nightmare.

Although as Vincent himself had told Goldie earlier, death wasn't quite the end that it has always been believed.

Therefore, this nightmare might never end.

It would be Vincent's triumph. . .Vincent Afton's masterpiece. . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been wanting to get this to plot point for a long time, hopefully the build up has been worth it.
> 
> In an ironic twist, Vincent's intentions are a double edged sword for him, as it gives him a purpose and satisfies his dark desires, yet it is constantly reminding him of what he has lost, locking him into an emotional hell of sorts from which he can never move on from.
> 
> Although you could argue that his victims are in an even worse state as a result of his actions and his never ending desire to commit harm.
> 
> Chapter 55 will be uploaded when it is possible, hopefully next month, but we'll see.
> 
> Thank you for reading and please review, I appreciate your thoughts. :-)


	56. Bittersweet Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, another chapter, it took a long time, but it's finally here!
> 
> I know that I didn't upload last month, so this chapter is extra long to make up for it.
> 
> 2020 is nearly at an end, (thank God) and it has certainly been a year for the record books to say the least!
> 
> With new Fazbear Frights books on the way, (looking forward to reading Blackbird), FNAF AR is releasing new animatronic skins, FNAF Security Breach is on the way and the FNAF film is finally off the ground with the 'Mike' script, FNAF keeps on growing and growing - long may it continue. :-)
> 
> A huge thank you to both those who have left Kudos and to those who have read up to this point. :-)
> 
> Chapter uploads will be sporadic from now on, they'll happen, but just expect long periods of inactivity in between.
> 
> There is a song in this chapter, it's 'Put Me Back Together' by JT Music, Andrea Storm Kaden. It is a great FNAF song and it perfectly suits the chapter, hopefully it isn't too fast at certain points.
> 
> Apologies for any lingering grammar mistakes and enjoy! :-)

**Chapter 55.**

**Bittersweet Memories.**

_"**Memories warm you up from the inside, but they also tear you apart."**_

**Haruki Murakami**

Goldie's return to reality felt like water rushing over the edge of a waterfall, quiet at first, but steadily getting louder and louder with each passing second.

Even though he was being haunted by the realization of Vincent's true motive, reality was crashing into him and he was thankful that the brief sensation tore his focus away from the tragic truth for why Vincent had dedicated himself to hounding them relentlessly.

Very soon everything became clear and Goldie could properly focus, with his dark red eyes darting about in all directions. He could see Vincent, the Possessed Prop Suits, the horde of animatronics, including those four possessed by the Nightmares themselves and all of the other Fazbears standing together in the mismatched pizzeria that the Nightmares had created.

Everyone was looking at him, wondering what Goldie had seen in the depths of his memories.

Slowly, Goldie raised his eyes to meet Vincent's, whose eyes were sharp, yet seemed indecipherable.

Seeing the gaunt expression on his face, Vincent knew where Goldie's mind had taken him.

His cold yet unreadable expression only stared back as Goldie readied himself to speak his mind.

"It's me," Goldie said slowly, his voice was shaky, as the vivid bloodied image of the Thomas Afton lying unconscious on the stage at Fredbear and Friends reappeared in his mind's eye.

"You committed all of those horrific acts, because you lost your son to me, even though it was entirely an accident."

Goldie stared at Vincent with a look that was intermixed with shock and sadness as he continued to speak.

"You lost your son and so you wanted to make me feel your pain by taking away everything that I hold dear and by extension everyone else's hopes and dreams. . .in order to satisfy your twisted sense of vengeance."

Vincent's reply to Goldie's words was solemn and plain, there was no smugness or sense of victory in his voice.

"Well. . .it took you long enough to connect the dots Fredbear. . .then again, I'm not surprised that you've buried the memory, given how traumatic it was."

"Yet I didn't forget and I can't even if I wanted to, I can easily imagine that the parents of the children I've murdered feel the same way, ironically we all share a deep and harrowing sense of grief."

He then slowly gestured to everything else around him, the horde of animatronics, the flashing nonlight signs and the various child friendly attractions such as the merry go round and the ball pits.

"It took me a short while to realise what needed to be done, to you and Fazbear Entertainment, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, it may seem like an overreaction and I don't blame you for thinking that, but justice. . .true justice was and is still hard to come by."

There was no verbal reaction from anyone, for the first time it seemed that the entire pizzeria stood still as Vincent spoke, his voice was calm and plain, it was almost soothing.

"Fazbear Entertainment was soulless to the core, they wouldn't do the right thing even if their lives depended on it and I knew that you wouldn't fully accept the responsibility of what you had allowed to happen Fredbear. . .so I had to show you how despair and loss truly feel."

Vincent smiled a little, but he mostly looked sad, with there being a reflective look in his green eyes.

"I have nothing left and thus nothing to lose, but my own life, I couldn't rebuild, too much had been lost; this game of mine has become my life and has given me a purpose, a way to transform my pain into something _'creative'_, _'beautiful'_ and it is so _'destructive'_ that it satisfies me in ways that I never thought to be possible."

In his green eyes there appeared a sinister glint that turned his sad smile into something psychotic, now giving Vincent a deranged look that best suited his sinister nature, now that his melancholy demeanour had faded.

Whether it was an act or a genuine expression, Goldie couldn't be certain as Vincent continued to speak.

"It soothes my pain and hunger so much that it has become second nature, some monsters are born, while others are made, forged in the fires of agony. . .among other things."

Vincent then gestured to the Fazbears who stood before him, as well as to the Possessed Prop Suits, who stood off on the flanks, watching him with great interest as their rusty metallic bodies creaked and groaned every time they moved slightly.

"And they in turn create more monsters, a never ending cycle of pure agony, trapping everyone together in a brutal web of loss and pain."

He smiled, fully enjoying the moment of being the orator.

"My masterpiece. . ."

He seemed to be deeply proud of his work, believing that his actions were completely justified as they were _'enjoyable'_.

Then Freddy spoke up.

"You lost your son and thus you strove to destroy everything that ever mattered to Goldie, just so you could drag him down to your level of bitter pain?" he asked in a steady tone. He spoke slowly, trying to absorb the full implications of Goldie's discovery. He felt a mixture of things, confusion, shock and above all anger at Vincent for using for what so obvious a terrible accident as an excuse to commit brutal murder, as well as to hound his family to no end.

Yet deep within himself, Freddy felt something that he never thought he would feel towards Vincent Afton. . .pity.

It was tiny, so small and insignificant that it could be regarded as fleeting, like a cloud briefly covering the sun before moving on, yet the feeling stayed, flickering like a lone flame and it sicked him to his core. Vincent didn't deserve any pity, not after what he had done, especially having done it so willingly and enjoying every cruel act, no matter what form it took.

Yet his son didn't deserve to die at the hands of Fazbear Entertainment's carelessness and certainly not in a manner so horrifying.

The poor boy's screams of terror could easily be imagined in Freddy's head, given how Goldie had previously described the Bite of 83 to him and everyone else back in Jeremy's kitchen. It also reminded him strongly of the children's' sense of overwhelming fear when Vincent murdered them, the cries of immense panic and dread as Vincent took them into the embrace of death.

"Goldie had to feel my pain, he caused Tommy's death and my agony knew no bounds, but I had to make him truly understand what the conquences of his actions were," Vincent remarked firmly, now replying to Freddy's question, but he still retained his psychotic look.

"However, having lost so much in such a short space of time, I was prepared to go all in, like I said, I have nothing left to lose."

Then his tone changed, becoming dark and foreboding that matched his deranged expression.

"You can't take anything away from me, yet I can still take away so much from the likes of you, despite having already inflicted immense damage."

The desire to cause harm was very evident in Vincent's expression, his agony and thirst for vengeance had merged to become something truly twisted that had greatly consumed his soul.

Vincent's words and his facial expression strongly remined Freddy's of Lefty's words from earlier.

_" He could have returned to your dump of a home, so many times in the past and have killed you all, but he didn't. He doesn't want to end this feud quickly, no, because he wants to wear you down, to strip you of everything you hold close to your hearts and he's done a pretty good job at it so far."_

So, what was left exactly?

They had no livelihood, no real home, and a dark reputation thanks of Vincent's actions, he had taken all of that away and yet like a ravenous beast he still wanted more.

_"__All we have left is ourselves and our hope that we can escape our past, either through actually leaving it behind or killing you Vincent Afton, seeing how you're so keen to drag us all back into it," _Freddy mentally muttered to himself firmly, trying to put everything together like a jigsaw piece.

Then Goldie spoke, although it didn't derail Freddy's train of thought.

"From your words, I take it that Michael and Elizabeth are also dead?" he asked, his voice was shaky, fearing the worst for the other two Afton children.

"Yes," Vincent began, shaking his head, but in his eyes, there was now a mixture of both sorrow and anger that intermixed with his psychotic expression.

"They both went shortly after Thomas did, Michael couldn't handle his guilt and so he took his own life, despite my best efforts to save him from himself."

"Elizabeth's death. . ."

He sighed, with his psychotic look fading a little, making him seem more reflective in his expression as he spoke softly.

"I never saw it coming, even though I should have, she seemed able to weather any storm, but something bad happened. . .something bad always happens. . ."

"And I was a fool for thinking that there was light at the end of the tunnel, in truth it was only an illusion, making my pain even worse when the illusion shattered."

His words further spurred Freddy's thoughts, but he didn't react, still trying to guess what Vincent aimed to destroy next, if he wasn't going to kill them already right here. He had the gut feeling that killing everyone right now wasn't Vincent's intent here, even though he felt a sense of deep foreboding for why Vincent was revealing a vital piece of information about himself that he would otherwise have kept hidden.

Vincent wouldn't be willing to expose himself so openly unless he had a particular reason for doing so, regardless of whether he was being honest.

He might look sincere, be sorrowful about the loss of his children, but with everything Vincent did, there was always an ulterior motive.

_"__You're doing this for a certain reason, you said that you don't want our pity and that you understand that your actions were wrong in society's eyes, but you don't care about that, so why are you telling us about your past all of a sudden?" _Freddy mentally questioned, challenging himself to understand Vincent's reasoning.

Then Vincent's eyes narrowed and became filled with rage once again as he spoke.

"The agony of my children's' departure never left me, no matter how hard I tried to bury it and causing you pain Goldie gives me some semblance of relief as you did nothing to save Thomas, but instead left him helpless and in fear, so I shall repay you with the same terror and it isn't over yet."

"It never gave you the excuse to do what you did!" Goldie retorted fiercely, pushing back, he wouldn't allow Vincent to label him as the true villain in this story.

"Thomas's death was a tragic accident, you decided to kill those kids and send us and everyone else into oblivion, the choice of how to react was made by you alone Vincent!"

"Don't you dare to try blame me for any of it!"

Goldie did feel a great deal of regret for not being able to save Thomas Afton, but he wasn't in control of the situation, whereas Vincent's actions were entirely premeditated. Yet Goldie felt other emotions wrestle within him, shock for knowing that the death of an innocent child, which had in turn spurred the deaths of Vincent's other children and all of that was what caused Vincent to descent into a mad and terror inducing quest for vengeance.

This isn't what he had imagined Vincent's motivation to be at all. Long before this revelation, it always seemed that Vincent had a darker side to him that made him curious about the nature of death and killing and that's what had fuelled his desire for blood and chaos.

Looking back at his actions and how he carried them out, it seemed to make sense, a serial killer with a fascination with death that pushed him over into the abyss. He committed those heart wrenching acts because he loved the sick sensation that it gave him; but to do all of that because he lost his family and above all his youngest son in an horrific accident. . .

The justification didn't make sense, largely because Goldie didn't want to believe it, despite it being true.

Although he was putting on a brave face and he did indeed feel furious at Vincent for trying to make him the bad guy in all of this, Goldie felt his mind beginning to combust. It was cracking like glass against rock as the long held image of Vincent Afton as a manic serial killer broke apart, only to be reassembled as a loving father to a happy family.

And with that change, came the sneering whispers of self-doubt rising from the depths of Goldie's mind to mock him, it was made worse by them being speaking in the Nightmares' voices of all people.

_"_ _You did this, you killed his son and left him with no option but to react violently."_

_"_ _That poor innocent boy, you could have saved him, but you didn't and you destroyed a family!"_

As Goldie felt himself retreat inwards, Freddy finally exploded, making his fury known to everyone present, but to Goldie he sounded distant.

"You deserve to suffer for what you've done, particularly as all of it was done in the name of avenging your children!" Freddy roared, now venting his frustration, and clenching his fists.

Yet that small piece of pity remained deep within him still.

"Aye laddie, you're the one at fault here for dragging everyone else into your mess!" Foxy yelled, swinging his hook in an aggressive manner.

He admitted that he did feel sorry for Vincent's children, for them to die so quickly after eachother and in horrific ways, but he could feel nothing for Vincent. The man that stood before him had inflicted immense harm throughout the years and with great joy that it made Foxy feel numb to the man's sorrow, although Vincent had said that he didn't expect to earn anyone's pity.

_"__Your children would be rolling in their graves, if they knew what you had done in their name, you've shamed them Vincent, this mess is entirely of your own making,"_ Foxy thought to himself.

As if by coincidence, Chica seemed to speak Foxy's thoughts out loud.

"Your children didn't deserve a monster like you for a father!" she exclaimed; her green eyes were aflame with disgust as she pointed at Vincent in an accusing manner.

"How dare you try to justify what you did, especially with how you made all of those parents feel after taking their children from them, that was you, not Goldie."

Vincent sighed, shaking his head.

"You misunderstand Chica, I know what I did, and I do not care much for it, only that I know that my pain is equally their pain, yet it is a small price to pay."

"As I told you before I am too far gone to care about the conquences of my actions, for I cannot change them and nor I would."

Then Bonnie ferociously injected.

"Still, you knew what you were doing Vincent, you decided to _'share' _your misery with so many innocents; we may now know the real reason why you committed yourself to destroying our lives and killing kids, but your motive actually only makes you look like a fool for acting the way that you did!" she hissed venomously, barely able to contain her rage that surged through her like a vicious storm.

"How the hell you thought that hounding us and destroying Fazbear Entertainment would somehow avenge Tommy's death, or that of Michael's or Elizabeth's is beyond me!"

"Didn't you at least think about it!"

The Toys' reaction was more of shock than anger, but even then, there was still plenty of it.

"Why, why did you have to come after us and so many other people, what Goldie did was clearly an accident and nobody else was ever involved in the Bite of 83?" Toy Freddy shouted, he was clearly angry like the others, but also confused by why Vincent had cast his web of destruction so far and wide.

His blue eyes narrowed in open frustration with Vincent's actions, both past and present and he actually snarled, a rare sight for Toy Freddy to actually express.

"You befriended us at our pizzeria, made small talk, shared laughs and we had never done anything to you to deserve your wrath, but we were just pawns for you to play with. . .literally."

He was thinking of Mangle and how Vincent had framed her, used her as a distraction so he could commit more murder and thereby destroy the Toys' livehoody and their legacy in a single day.

The truth was that Vincent never cared; everyone else around him was just something to be used to suit his twisted purposes.

Vincent gave Toy Freddy a hard look, it was like his green eyes were piercing right through him.

"You were indeed just pawns Toy Freddy, granted I did actually enjoy some of our shared moments, but I couldn't allow you to be happy, not if it gave Fredbear here any hope of peace or allowed Fazbear Entertainment the chance to escape the conquences of its infinite inadequacies."

"You had to suffer Toy Freddy, besides seeing how the six of you had become close friends with Fredbear and the Originals, I knew that you would eventually become my enemies as a result of my actions."

Vincent wasn't smiling as he spoke, in fact he didn't seem to express any smugness about it, but instead uttered every word as though it was cold hard fact.

"Why bother building bridges if you are just going to tear them all down in the end," he remarked coldly.

Toy Freddy felt a chill rush up his spine, he knew that Vincent didn't care, but to see he express his disregard for them so openly just further illustrated how detached Vincent was and how his desire for vengeance by any means had consumed the man that he might had been. He was truly soulless, save only for the sorrow that he felt at the tragic loss of his children and the disintegration of his own life. Suddenly, Toy Freddy felt a hand clutch his shoulder tightly and in an almost protective manner.

"Do you realise Vincent that you might bite off more than you can chew!" Toy Bonnie shouted in great anger, gripping Toy Freddy's shoulder strongly, as she snarled at the man behind the slaughter.

"And that what you've done might come back to haunt you, because your luck can't last forever?"

"Just as we have suffered, then so shall you!"

Toy Freddy felt his heart leapt at the sensation of Toy Bonnie's touch, feeling his checks grow warm and praying that everyone was too caught up in the intensity of the situation to notice.

Yet he deeply appreciated her coming to his aid, it lessen the coldness of Vincent's words that had rippled up his spine.

He would make sure to remember this moment and all of the others as well.

"You don't care Vincent, you just want to hurt us endlessly, you won't stop and even then, you're not going to kill us, you'll just torture us by destroying any new life that we might build for ourselves!" Toy Chica yelled, her tone was both of rage and immense sadness, as she clung to Goldie, who was still struggling to recoil the facts of his discovery, evident by him gripping his head as his mind rocked like a ship caught in a storm.

"You lost your children, but why did you have to take it so far?" Toy Chica asked, she sounded desperate, but in her eyes, there was a great deal of intense anger.

Then Puppet spoke in a bitter tone that held much scorn, looking as stern as she ever had done.

"You murdered those children, took them from their families, left them with no hope of escape and in their frenzied desperation they killed other people and dragged them into the darkness as well, but it was you Vincent Afton, you of all people you purposely created this hell that we all find ourselves in."

She then folded her arms, before speaking again.

"I'll be honest enough to say that I genuinely feel sorry for your son Thomas, such a cruel fate he didn't deserve to die, no child does, not even your oldest child Michael or Elizabeth for that matter."

Then her stone hard expression softened slightly as she sighed.

"Ironically, we both share the fate of suffering at the hands of Fazbear Entertainment's careless management style."

"Yet that doesn't justify anything that you did!" she shot back, with her tone being sharp once more.

"Yet, given what you've told Toy Freddy, you wanted to hurt as many people as possible simply out of spite and it sounds so. . ."

Her expression softened once more, and she now seemed to be disappointed if anything else.

"Childish. . .when you really think about it."

"If I can't have my family back, then why should any of you be able to enjoy life, as I told Fredbear here when I was about to allow Nightmare Fredbear to possess his body, if I can't have it, then why should someone else," Vincent answered, his voice was now equally sharp, and one could sense the resentment in his voice.

He knew that what he did was wrong in the eyes of society, it was why he went to great lengths to hide the evidence of his killings, why he went underground for so long and why he was willing to keep people at a distance if he could help it.

Yet he didn't care, mostly because in truth he was too lost in his own pain to consider the plight of everyone else who he had affected. Their agony was insignificant compared to his own. If what had happened to his family was undeserved and he no control over it, then everyone else should understand that life is very cruel and regardless of who you are as a person, life would treat you indifferently as those around you.

Plus, Vincent knew that there was no way of restoring what he had taken away, not that he wanted to, not when it had the desired effect of destroying Fredbear and his family.

Why regret what you can't change. . .

Then suddenly Foxy injected, with an interesting observation.

"Wait, if you intended to strip us of everything prior to killing us. . ."

He then gestured over to Goldie.

"Then why allow Nightmare Fredbear to possess Goldie if the process would kill him outright?"

"It seems quite odd of you Vincent to try and finish Goldie off so hastily, when you've clearly been going to great lengths to play this 'game' of yours for all that it is worth and that Goldie is the one you want to see suffer the most."

Then Goldie spoke, but his voice was small as he was largely focused on wrestling with the fallout of his revelation.

Tommy. . .Vincent being the father, his whole motivation. . .it couldn't be true and yet it was, but to think that some much evil had come from an event so tragic filled Goldie's heart with an almost unbearable ache and his mind with countless questions.

Yet he was able to summon the will to speak his mind on the matter, pushing his self doubt far to the back of his mind.

"You did tell me Vincent that I wasn't meant to survive the process, that it was your intention to put me through that horrific transformation," Goldie muttered, although loud enough to be heard.

"You haven't exactly planned things out have you?"

Vincent couldn't deny the truth coming from either Foxy or Goldie, but it was impossible to plan everything out in great detail, He could give them both credit for spotting the ad-hoc nature of his methods, although he certainly held long term intentions and a specific end point in mind.

_An end point that was now fast approaching. . ._

He was willing to adapt, should he see an opportunity appear, Binging in Nightmare Fredbear would have helped to give him an even bigger advantage in being able to push the pieces on the board towards his desired outcome, By depriving the Fazbears of Goldie's wisdom and his ability to act as the grand head of the family, Vincent knew that they would have been left significantly rudderless without him.

Even in the end, he wouldn't have killed Goldie outright as Foxy put it, death in the physical sense when the body died wasn't the end as humanity had believed it to be for countless eons.

"With the Nightmares' help I would have searched for Goldie in Limbo, I know he wouldn't have given up so easily, even when Nightmare Fredbear crushed his spirit, Goldie not wanting to give in, but unable to find a way back would have ended up in Limbo as a weaken spirit, roaming endlessly. . .not wanting to depart for either heaven or hell and in the end, I would find him and trap in a hell of my own making instead. . ."

"Like I said previously, I'll never let any of you leave until I allow it. . ."

That was the naked truth of it, he wanted to make sure those who he deemed responsible suffered for as long as possible and as long as he was alive, he would never stop.

He would have to be destroyed beyond all hope of recovery if Goldie or anyone else wanted any peace.

Looking at their mixed reactions of horror, dread, shock, disgust, sorrow and even disappointment, he decided to pre-empt them by answering a question before they could even ask one themselves.

"Why did I take the path that I did, well I did it because I knew in my heart that such actions, such devastation would destroy you, ruin you and I will not stop until nothing remains of anything. . ."

He smiled, but his smile seemed to be deranged, being both cold and vengeful simultaneously.

"Regardless of where you all run, I will find you, I was able to keep an eye on you lot before and I can easily track your steps."

Vincent knew that he sounded mad, but he felt empowered by the moment, enjoying the despair that the Fazbears were expressing and how his true motive seemed to be destabilising Goldie, given how quiet he had become all of a sudden. The strange thing was that he didn't feel afraid, even with the likes of Puppet and Freddy standing only a few steps away from him and knowing full well that they would simply love to tear him apart.

Although he did have the Nightmares and their animatronic puppets for support, plus the Possessed Prop Suits; even though they were something of a wild card in all of this, but he felt secure in the knowledge that he wasn't their intended target.

All of their repressed rage, pain and desire to escape was clouding their judgement, particularly with their killers being so close by.

The opportunity for spilling blood must be so. . ._tempting_.

Knowing that, Vincent felt in control of the entire situation and he loved it, now that everything was starting to come out, all sorts of secrets could be revealed, even though he was exposing himself to those who would surely try to use such information to harm him to the same degree as he had done so to them.

Although the feeling of pure joy that Vincent felt surging through him didn't weaken the deep painful ache that he felt in his heart at having to remember the Bite of 83, Michael's suicide and Elizabeth's demise. The past sounds from those terrible events echoed about in the back of his mind, clouding his feeling of joy.

Thomas's screams of terror being abruptly cut off by the cracking sound of Fredbear's jaws breaking his skull.

The ominous creaking noise of the rope from which Michael hung himself.

The distant sound of ambulance sirens getting ever louder as he gazed down at the lifeless body of Elizabeth laying on her bed.

_Although it wasn't where he found her. . ._

In truth Vincent did hope that Elizabeth and Michael had been able to find peace in the end, that they had joined Evelyn in the far beyond, but he couldn't say the same for Thomas.

Locked away inside his own hell with only the nightmarish recreations of his bullies and his own brother for company. Quickly, Vincent's eyes darted over at all four of the possessed animatronics that stood nearby, knowing that Nightmare Foxy would be possessing one of them.

Nightmare Foxy. . .Tommy's wrapped interpretation of Michael, possessing all of Michael's worst characteristics.

His slyness, his dark cunning, even though it was child like and above all his sense of pleasure from bullying his younger brother. Yet with Nightmare Foxy, all of Michael's faults were pushed to the extreme, creating a literal monster that could terrify Thomas far beyond anything that Michael could do, intentionally or otherwise.

It did sadden Vincent to know that's how Thomas saw Michael, as well as that Michael had scared Thomas so much that something like Nightmare Foxy was the outcome. He did try to save them both from the struggles of life, but he failed, he let his guard down with Thomas, and he couldn't bring Michael back from the brink of his own hell for the part he played in causing Thomas's tragic death.

Vincent let them go, allowing them to slip over the edge of the abyss, watching the darkness consume them both as they fell. He tried his best, but it wasn't enough, he couldn't even keep Elizabeth safe despite being alert at all times.

His little dancer, daddy's little 'monster' as he sometimes called her to tease her to no end.

Yet in the end she too fell into the darkness, with it swallowing her whole and he wasn't there to save her, despite her supposedly being in her bedroom at home, the safest place for any child. He couldn't save any of them when he should have done, at the very least he should have been able to keep them safe from harm, especially given how cruelly life had taken their mother away from them.

Evelyn. . .hopefully Elizabeth and Michael had indeed gone to join her, whilst he had to live and suffer on earth, focused only on freeing Thomas as well as to feed his dark desires until the bitter end.

Vincent knew in his heart of hearts that Evelyn would be horrified to see him as he was now, but there was a significant part of him, his darker side that didn't care about what others thought, only that he was able to achieve what he desired. . ._his darkest desires._

_In the heart of the darkness, only agony existed, manifesting itself through multiple expressions, but it all lead to the same outcome. . .more pain._

He had tried to fix things though, to gain vengeance for the death of his children and a sense of closure in the only way that truly made sense, regardless of how illogical it might have sounded to everyone else.

They hadn't suffered like he had, if they had, then perhaps they might have understood.

And if they didn't. . .well, why regret what you can't change.

He remembered his previous words to the Nightmares' about how they strongly reminded him of not just the Originals, but of the boys who had claimed his youngest son's life, Alex, Liam and David.

_"_ _Every time I look at you four, I am reminded of them. . .the Originals."_

Only for Nightmare Bonnie to reply back with.

_"_ _You do know who we really represent. . .don't you?"_

Of course, he knew, he couldn't never forget those boys and what they did.

_"_ _Yes. . .I know who you are based on. . .I knew when I first saw you. . .I've never forgotten those faces."_

And nor he did ever intend on forgetting them and he wanted to show them the conquences of pulling off such ridiculous pranks.

Yet he never got to make them feel what Thomas had felt. Somehow, through a strange twist of fate, those boys ended up dead within a week of the incident and Vincent was perplexed by that. Although he did wonder if it was a botched form of suicide that had claimed each of the three boys' lives, he knew that they all felt extremely shameful and remorseful for what they had done.

The self loathing they must have felt was probably indescribable.

Suffice to say there wasn't much evidence left for anyone to make a proper judgement on what exactly happened with each 'incident'. . ._let alone any intact human remains after the fires that were associated with them._

It was like they wanted to disappear entirely from the world entirely and in fairness Vincent could understand their desire to end it all.

He knew every well that once you've committed murder, intentional or otherwise there is no coming back from it. It was like a constant shadow hanging over you, reminding you every day that you could never truly know peace until death itself claimed you.

Although given what he now knew about Thomas' suffering in Limbo, the idea of you gaining peace the moment you die was obviously a lie. It was simply an illusion to make people feel better about death, unless they were able to fully move on and reach a state of permanent death, when the suffering supposedly ceased forever.

In the end though, Vincent had reasoned that it was perhaps for the best that he hadn't been involved at all in those boys' deaths. It certainly made it easier for him to slip by when it really mattered, despite feeling annoyed that he wasn't there to force the boys through death's door himself.

Yet when he first saw the Nightmares in their newly acquired physical hosts, he recognised the opportunity to deliver some long overdue vengeance, feeling the emotional urge of revenge surge through him, but he had been persuaded quite firmly that it would it do him no good to take such action.

They weren't those boys, only Thomas' nightmarish recreation of them. They had no memories of that dreadful day and Vincent couldn't make them pay if he couldn't force them to relive what they had done.

It wouldn't be the same, it would have been pointless, that cold fact alone was made very clear to him back then. . .

* * *

_November 1987 Greenfield Indiana_

_"_ _Still, these Nightmare friends of yours better be worth all the effort I've thrown into this. . .'deal'," Vincent said cautiously, but with a hint of scepticism in his tone._

_"_ _Trust me Vincent, they are worth it," the figure replied in an assuring manner, as they slowly approached the chained up Nightmares._

_"_ _In an ironic twist, given our appearance and capabilities, Thomas's trauma would be beneficial for our efforts in destroying the Fazbears."_

_Vincent however didn't find the figure's words to be reassuring in the slight, Thomas's pain wasn't something to be teased about, although he could view the fact of having reduced the numbers of the Nightmares Thomas had for company as a good thing._

_"Perhaps," Vincent remarked coldly._

_"Perhaps something good can come out of your creation, now that your kind shouldn't be hounding my son anymore for your sadistic pleasures, although the pain that you lot put him through won't go away easily just because you're now helping him find salvation."_

_The figure with their bright piercing eyes slowly turned away from the row of chained up Nightmares and looked towards Vincent. . .studying him, as though they were trying to gauge his reaction to their next words._

_"We all promised to keep him safe Vincent, we won't harm him anymore," they answered, now speaking plainly, before ending with._

_"Although given the circumstances, we are now the last thing on Thomas's mind when it comes to fear. . ."_

_They didn't need to say anymore, Vincent was more than aware of the 'spiritual infliction' that seemed to constantly plague Thomas; as his divided nature fought itself within himself, like a raging storm that ceased to die down, attacking itself viciously._

_He remembered making his solemn promise to Thomas in that 'out of body' experience with the Nightmares being present._

_"I'll put you back together Thomas. . ."_

_To him, the answer seemed obvious, plus Tommy didn't need to know how he would come to find peace, only that Vincent would do his upmost to achieve it. . .at whatever the cost._

_"I can fix you. . .I promise."_

_Only for Tommy to reply sorrowfully and almost bursting into tears as he spoke._

_"You can't dad. . .you just can't."_

_Vincent sighed deeply, feeling the emotional torment return to make a home in his shattered heart. To see Tommy so tortured like a wounded animal begging for death both hurt and infuriated him to great lengths._

_It wasn't fair, Tommy had done nothing wrong to deserve this kind of fate, where not even death itself would grant him peace._

_Neither did Evelyn he reminded himself, despite not wanting to be reminded any further about how her death took her right out of this world without even a goodbye._

_Fate was undeniably cruel to those who didn't deserve it, as some would say, and Vincent knew far more about that saying than anyone else._

_Feeling his emotions rise within him, Vincent turned away from the figure to look at the four chained up Nightmares who were being suspended upright against the far wall._

_Tommy's nightmares, his creations, his personal demons given life and now in a strange twist of fate. . .the only real remnant of those boys who foolish took Tommy's life. . .Michael Afton included._

_Michael. . ._

_Vincent stared hard at Nightmare Foxy, watching the Nightmare's brown reddish eyes dart about in all directions as he tried to understand his new surroundings._

_Michael, this is how Tommy saw Michael, as an aggressive sadistic fox human demon hybrid with a razor sharp hook for a right hand. _ _He couldn't entirely blame Tommy for seeing Michael like this. . .'thing', but this wasn't how things were meant to be, but any sense of normality in Vincent's life had long since derailed before he had arrived at this outcome._

_"Dammit Michael, why did you have to take your pain of losing mother out on Thomas, he was in just as much agony as you were?"_

_Vincent sighed again, putting his hand to his head, feeling his inner torment build as memories of Michael's moody outbursts came rushing to the surface of his mind._

_"We were all suffering. . .but you didn't need to act so aggressive and kick back at us when we tried to help you."_

_He could feel his hands morphing into fists, as his feeling of sorrow rose above him like a sinister cloud._

_"I just wanted to help you. . .but I failed, I let you down. . ."_

_"I'm sorry Michael, I should have made a bigger effort to help you confront your pain, your inner demons."_

_Yet out of his sorrow, out of his hatred, out his agony, came a heartfelt promise, one that he had repeated to himself countless times._

_"I couldn't save you then. . .but I will save you now, you, Elizabeth and Thomas."_

_"I'll make those who took you away suffer, I'll let them know that actions have consequences. . ."_

_His green eyes now narrowed in hatred as he gazed ominously at the Nightmares, feeling his inner rage build, reaching new heights of unparalleled emotional furry like a whirlwind._

_Those boys, why did Michael have to fall in with a bad crowd, let alone become their leader and they won't leave Thomas alone, like he always had the word 'target' written on his back._

_And even though those very same boys had now perished which did please Vincent, it greatly infuriated him that he wasn't the one to send them through death's door and that their cruelty and bullying had survived their passing, morphing into new heights of savagery in the form of the Nightmares._

_Why out of everything did that element of them remain?_

_Yet Vincent's rage and pain continued to build as he instinctively reached into his trouser pocket for his knife, having already decided on his next course of action, even though it was being emotionally driven._

_"I hope that David, Liam and Alex are suffering in hell for what they did. . .even though I can't make them feel your pain. . ."_

_"These lingering remnants of them will do instead."_

_Now his twisted nature came fully to surface, as he smiled a cruel smile with his green eyes expressing a very dark desire that made him seem greatly unhinged mentally, even though an immense deal of emotional pain raged within him like a mighty storm._

_"After all they love pain, so they shall have it in immense quantities and know how it feels to be on the receiving end."_

_With his choice already made Vincent purposely walked over to the chained up Nightmares, it was like shooting fish in a barrel given how strong their restraints were._

_In their confused mental state and with them expanding most of their energy in order to crush or perhaps eject the souls of the bodies' previous owners, they were in no position to protect themselves from any external attack._

_Vincent moved himself to stand before Nightmare Freddy. . .Alex, this was how Thomas saw Alex, a demonic vicious Freddy lookalike, it exactly suited Alex given his vicious demeanour towards Tommy._

_The Nightmare in question did turn his gaze to look at Vincent, but he didn't seem to register him, being too lost in his own thoughts to properly read Vincent's menacing expression._

_Vincent's insidious smile only grew as he slowly brought his knife out of his trouser pocket, gripping it tightly._

_He was willing to bet that Nightmare Freddy had something akin to a high pain tolerance, but that didn't matter. . .in the end everyone has their breaking point. it's just a question of finding it and Vincent had all the time in the world to devote towards such a bloody task._

_The lower intestines would be a good place to start, a vicious wound there wouldn't necessarily kill the victim, but they would certainly feel it. _ _Vincent slowly alerted his handling of the sharp knife, so it would slice and stab exactly where he wanted it to. . .like a well precise amputation of a limb._

_Nightmare Freddy only stared back with a blank expression, seemingly unable to understand the danger he was in._

_"Let's see how many pieces I can cut you into," Vincent whispered coldly, but with a clear undertone of sadistic desire and if not childish excitement, knowing that Nightmare Freddy was too mentally distant to react. . .all for the better really._

_"Why. . .?"_

_The word was spoken so softly that Vincent struggled to hear it and to pick up the threatening demeanour it carried._

_Suddenly, before he could properly process the word, he felt a cold dark presence right next to him. _ _Immediately, he turned to look to his left and saw that the figure was now standing right beside him, staring at Vincent intensely._

_Their eyes were bright and a blaze with both anger and annoyance._

_"You dare to harm them?" they asked, although they spoke more so in disappointment then curiosity._

_"Given the trauma that they've put Thomas through already and who they represent, why would me harming them be of such concern, it'll be a drop in the ocean compared to the damage those 'brats' have inflicted," Vincent replied harshly, but he was able to restrain himself from snarling as inner nature demanded._

_Although he certainly stressed his desire for payback and how it made sense. . .to him at least._

_"It's only fair that I reap what they've sowed and in the end, they symbolise those boys, like a mirror that reflects back their inner nature and it is that same dark nature that took Thomas from me!"_

_Yet the figure answered back with a serious tone, whilst their eyes expressed a stern demeanour._

_"They aren't those boys, they have no memories of the event, despite having greatly inherited their vile nature, but remember that their nature is based on how Tommy perceived them, everything has been wrapped beyond the extremes."_

_"It's still them, they are those boys, the way these monsters see Thomas, it's just the same way as how Alex, Liam, David and Michael saw him, as a punching bag for sport!" Vincent argued back quite fiercely, with his eyes now burning with frustration and rage._

_It then the figure gripped Vincent's left arm, the one holding the knife and immediately Vincent felt a painful coldness rippled up his arm as the figure's grip instantly tightened. _ _The sensation was so powerful that it felt like molten fire was racing up his arm towards his shoulder, but Vincent forced himself to ignore the pain, keeping his gaze on the figure whilst they spoke in an authoritarian tone._

_"Harming them is useless, they aren't those boys, you can't make them regret what they did, let alone beg for mercy or forgiveness because they cannot be taken back to that moment; they cannot relive it and thus you'll be deprived of the agony that you would want to stir in them, you wouldn't be satisfied Vincent, just left feeling more frustrated that you cannot have that 'moment' with their nightmarish reflections."_

_Yet Vincent responded back strongly, whilst fighting off the pain as it tried to suppress his ability to speak._

_"I lost my chance. . .to deal with those. . .boys, to make. . .them understand. . .the true depths. . .of their mistake, but now. . ."_

_He then gestured over to the Nightmares with his free right hand, doing his best to ignore the agony that was engulfing his arm, but he was able speak his mind._

_"Fate has returned them to me. . .they may not be those kids, but these Nightmares. . .and them are the same, cruel bullies who. . .thrive off causing pain and have never. . .felt what it is like to be on. . .the receiving end."_

_Then the figure smiled, looking to be greatly amused by Vincent's words._

_"An ironic choice of words mister Afton, now who does that remind you of?" they asked, knowing full well the only answer that Vincent could give, and Vincent knew it._

_Knowing that he shared the same space as those bullies who had taken Tommy's life, Vincent sighed in acceptance of the figure's words, feeling his anger and frustration began to gradually subside. Although the level of pain that he was feeling fully increased and he reacted instinctively hissing in pain and quickly trying to pull his arm free of the figure's grip, yet they did not relent._

_Instead, they merely strengthen their grip, slowly moving closer to Vincent, breaking into his personal space and speaking in a clear soft whisper, but their voice carried deep sinister undertone with a coldness that made Vincent freeze, unable to look away._

_"You understand that harming them will get you nowhere, good, I'm glad you get the message, yet. . .as a reminder."_

_The figure's eyes bore deep into Vincent's, it was like staring into the heart of a supernova and Vincent had seen what the figure was capable of by using their eyes, let alone their claws and 'other abilities'._

_"Should you ever harm them Vincent Afton," the figure remarked coldly._

_"You won't have enough time to regret your decision. . ."_

_Then they left it at that, quickly releasing Vincent's arm and moving away, out of Vincent's personal space and starting to walk away. They didn't even bother to deprive him of his knife just for good measure, but rather they resorted to leave their words hanging in the air, so that Vincent could see that it was pointless to torture the Nightmares; given the differences between them and those who were truly responsible for Tommy's death and enteral agony._

_Indeed, Vincent had understood that he was acting rashly, allowing his hatred to get the better of him, blocking out the big picture. The Nightmares weren't those boys, unable to relive that dreadful day. . .it would have been a wasted effort in the end, bringing Vincent no closer to what he truly wanted. . .vengeance and in close succession to it. . .closure._

_Yet the figure seemed to speak Vincent's very thoughts as they turned back to face him, speaking calmly, but with determination under the dim glow of the overhanging light stands._

_"You cannot have your revenge against those boys who murdered Thomas, but Fredbear still remains and with us at your side; the trauma, the bullying and the savagery of those boys that these Nightmares represent, can be turned against him."_

_They then smiled in a prideful expression, as though they were pleased with themselves._

_"As I told you previously Vincent, something good can come from Tommy's suffering and we can end his pain and set him free, put him back together as you promised."_

_"It'll be agony breeding agony, it's quite beautiful when you think about it and in the end, it'll be Fredbear, or 'Goldie' as he is now called, kneeling bruised, terrified and broken before you, feeling Tommy's pain and you can be his executor."_

_Vincent smiled a knowing smile, knowing very well what he had in mind for that particular moment should it finally come about._

_"It would be fitting for the roles to be reversed and in the end, I want Goldie to fully understand what it is like to have nothing and to know that there is no way out," Vincent remarked confidently, now looking at his left arm. The immense pain that he had experienced earlier hadn't left any physically mark at all, even as the ice cold sensation it left steadily declined._

_He then briefly glanced at Nightmare Freddy, but the Nightmare in question just stared back at him with a curious expression. He was properly trying to make sense of who Vincent was and the confrontation that had taken place right before his very eyes._

_It would take time for the Nightmare's memory to fully return, but how long that would take Vincent couldn't be certain of. _ _Then the figure's words tore Vincent's attention away, he turned round to face them._

_"Fredbear will know what it is like to have no escape as the jaws of death close in on him from all sides, as at the very end he'll only have his life left," the figure stated, speaking with a great deal of determination, if not outright desire to make that outcome happen._

_"In the end, your children, most of all Thomas will be set free and allowed to rest in peace, we'll be free to experience life as unbound souls and you'll have gained your vengeance and with it a sense of peace mister Afton."_

_They then turned to towards the metallic stage that was lit up with an array of colourful lights akin to a light show. _ _It greatly illuminated the four figures that stood on stage, their clashing colours of red, pink, blue and purple._

_"I'm sure that Elizabeth would deeply appreciate the effort you put into making her drawings and dreams a reality," the figure remarkedly impressively._

_"They look so lifelike, it's a technical wonder what you've achieved here."_

_They then briefly turned back to face Vincent._

_"Although you said that you always had a thing for art and creativity."_

_That was true, Vincent couldn't deny that he had creative talent, not that he generally showed it to others, save for a few people, not even Henry Emily knew much about his creativity._

_Henry. . .had his creative drive died with Sammy?_

_Vincent wasn't too sure about it, but he wouldn't be at all too surprised if it did, given how devastated Henry looked in the aftermath of Sammy's 'disappearance'._

_What he had done had taken the light out of Henry's life, but the Henry shouldn't have been so carefree about Sammy's safety in the first place._

_If Henry truly cared about Sammy; he wouldn't have let him out of his sight. . .like Vincent himself did with Thomas when he needed him the most on that dreadful day. _ _He could still hear his frantic screams for help, echoing about in the back of mind. . ._

_Yet Vincent's creative drive remained regardless of his heart wrenching experience, and he had used it for both good and bad purposes; although Vincent no longer saw things through a black and white lens. . .not anymore and it was an illusion that he was thankful to be rid of these days._

_Looking at his desk which was situated before a mighty array of monitors, atop it he could see one source of his creativity, which originated from his childhood days._

_Bendy the Dancing Devil, as an old plush toy with his signature black curvy horns, white bowtie and gloves and his smile that made his teeth look akin to piano keys._

_The devil plushie stared back at Vincent with a mischievous grin of delight that in another light made Bendy look somewhat sinister._

_A devil is a devil after all. . ._

_Vincent had a few more plushies upstairs of Bendy's acquaintances, the likes Alice Angel, Boris the Wolf and a few other mentionable characters such as the Butcher Gang from that long forgotten cartoon style franchise. Yet he kept Bendy down here for inspiration as he worked on his creations, feeding his creative drive as he laboured long into the night._

_Turning back to face the figure, Vincent saw them cautiously approach one of the stationary figures on the metallic stage. _ _The figure then slowly leaned in, closely examining the frontmost figure, clearly being deeply interested in their human like design, even though this was the fourth or fifth time that they had seen them._

_Given the figure's level of interest in his creations, Vincent had to admit to himself that maybe his creations were more impressive than he first thought. Although deep down Vincent knew that they would never be perfect; they couldn't fully replace what he had previously lost, as much as he wanted to believe that they could._

_Somethings just cannot be recaptured. . ._

_Then the figure seemed to reach out with one of their hands, aiming to touch the face of the foremost motionless figure, but no sooner had they done so, the other figure 'activated'._

_Immediately, a of pair of bright green emerald eyes burst into existence, with the figure's pupils instantly looking up at the other figure, staring at them directly in the face._

_They blinked momentarily, before speaking._

_"Oh. . .it's you!" they said a girlish yet soft tone that carried a great deal of surprise, recognition, and excitement._

_"Hello, it's nice to see you again!"_

_The smooth human looking face of the animatronic clown girl lit up with joy at seeing the figure, with an expression what could only be described as pure contentment. The bright glow from her green eyes and the dazzling array of show lights combined to illuminate her bodily features in a colourful heavenly glow._

_She possessed glorious locks of red hair that ended in a ponytail at each end, wearing a beautiful red skirt, matched with a skilly red overall dress that flowed smoothly over her bodily frame. She wore what looked like white tights on her legs with red clown bell shoes on her feet. Overall, she looked glorious, as she wielded a reddish shinny microphone in one hand._

_Not to mention that she was quite tall and large for supposedly being made to look like a child._

_"Are you ready for another performance, or do you want to join us on stage?" the clown girl asked curiously._

_"And become the star of the show?"_

_Yet before the figure could respond, Vincent intervened, stepping forward and speaking in a calm, but firm manner._

_"I think our guest would rather watch you and the other Funtimes preform later on Circus Baby," he said, folding his arms, as the clown girl, now known as Circus Baby, turned to face him with an inquisitive expression._

_"Pity. . ." she said softly, now sounding downcast, coupled with the lowering of her eyes._

_She then turned to look around at the other 'Funtimes'._

_"Will the others join in like before?" she asked curiously._

_"Ballora's needs to undergo vital repair before that can happen, she isn't working as fully intended and Funtime Foxy needs to have his voice box fixed due to audio static issues, but don't worry Funtime Freddy can keep you company while you wait."_

_The moment he spoke his name, the white and purple animatronic human Freddy lookalike activated._

_"Is someone ready for a musical surprise!" Funtime Freddy shouted gleefully and if not sounding a bit overdramatic, with his bright blue eyes immediately looking over at the chained up Nightmares, who had turned their heads in the direction of the Funtime's voice._

_"Hey Bonbon, let's say hi to our new friends!" he yelled joyfully, encouraging his little humanoid male green eyed rabbit puppet to begin waving enthusiastically at the Nightmares. The latter just stared back at the Funtimes with a collective blank expression, completely unsure on how to read the situation, despite Bonbon's frantic waving._

_"Hello here," he said cheerfully, before asking._

_"Fancy a show?"_

_"I'm afraid that our new guests aren't really with it, a stellar performance by you four would just go over their heads," Vincent commented causally, shaking his head._

_"Ah, what a party pooper!" Funtime Freddy replied in a disappointing tone, now looking rather crestfallen with his lowered white purplish bear ears expressing his dissatisfaction. Bonbon equally shared his look of dismay, lowering his arms and looking_

_Then Funtime Foxy 'activated', with his yellow eyes glowing brightly, displaying his white pinkish fox tail and fox ears._

_"A show was demanded of me and the lack of a proper audience is killing my vibe!" he roared, with his faceplates opening up wide as he displayed his sense of buzzkill; showcasing his human fox like metallic face that the faceplates mostly hid, whilst his bright yellow eyes looked around as though he was searching for a viable culprit._

_"Whe-wher-where, i-s- i-s is th-e t-he the a-ud-i-en-ce au-d-ie-nc-e audience?" he asked with his voice box emitting a crackling static that largely broke up the flow of his words._

_Vincent winced momentarily at the distorting sound, that needed fixing swiftly or else the problem would keep occurring at odd moments and undermine the Funtime's ability to perform. _ _No matter how hard he worked on fixing their faults whenever they turned up, they would always remerge later on, and he couldn't fully work out why._

_He would replace parts or reprogram their software to work out any lingering bugs and overall, he had been quite successful. Yet there was always some new problem that needed to be fixed when it came to the Funtimes._

_Then finally Ballora activated, as she started to twirl on the spot with her purple skirt rotating in a clockwork like motion, whilst she looked around with her closed eyes, as though she was trying to locate something or someone through sound alone._

_"I can hear you all breathing, but is there someone new present, is someone there?" she asked in a graceful tone that held no ill intent. . .to be seen._

_"Yes, we have four new guests with us today," Vincent answered eagerly, as Ballora briefly opened her eyes, displaying a bright set of purple pupils that luminated her smooth and delicate bodily frame, along with her pink rosy cheeks and blue bra straps._

_She glanced over at the Nightmares, noticing their respectable colours of brown, red, yellow and bluish purple, before turning her attention towards the figure._

_There was immediate recognition when she spoke._

_"Ah, it's you again, back for another performance or do you wish to dance with me?" she asked casually, although with an undertone of expectation, like she wanted them to hopefully say yes._

_However, Circus Baby reduced any hope that Ballora had for putting on a show._

_"Vincent says that they aren't here for that, but they may watch us later on," she said, making Ballora clasp her hands._

_"Well, I can wait until then, a good performance needs not be rushed," she remarked proudly, smiling as he spoke._

_Although if she were to preform right now, she wouldn't be able to move at all due to the inbuilt rollers in her feet having been worn out, effectively immobilising her._

_Vincent knew that Ballora's feet would require immediate repair before he could begin work on fixing Funtime Foxy's voice box._

_Speaking of which. . ._

_"Ok, we might as well make a start on those repairs, what kind of creator would I be if I allowed your problems to linger," Vincent muttered sarcastically, stepping forward onto the metallic stage, making a thud as his feet made contact._

_He knew what he needed to do, for these cases. . .the scooping room was required to help him administer the necessary repairs._

_"I can get Ennard to help me with finding those spare parts, I know we have them down here somewhere," he whispered to himself as he gently took hold of Ballora, putting his hands under her armpits so he could slowly drag her onto the conveyor belt that was situated right behind the stage and would take both her and Funtime Foxy straight through to the scooping room._

_"Funtime Foxy, please move onto the conveyor belt, you know what needs to happen now," Vincent ordered, knowing that the Funtime would obey his command regardless as it was due his programming._

_He didn't even need to say please, but Vincent believed or rather had grown to accept the idea that there needed to exist a positive bond between the creator and the created; even if he was just speaking to highly developed animatronics, but to him they were more than that._

_They were family. . ._

_After all, if he treated them like failures, then they would eventually become failures and that was an outcome that he had no intention of making a reality._

_Not after all devoting so much effort into making Elizabeth's imagination come to life, to recapture what he had lost._

_After pouring his love and agony into them, to kick his creations to the curb would be the same as hurting himself._

_Yet. . .he did have to lay down some ground rules. . .to ensure their safety in both the short and long term. . .especially when he was no longer around._

_The figure watched with passive interest, as Vincent using all of his strength slowly hauled Ballora backwards, before firmly placing her onto the conveyor belt. Funtime Foxy simply sat down next to her, fully complying with Vincent's order._

_Once done, Vincent turned back to face the figure with an amused smile on his face._

_"You may do the honours this time, for a change."_

_Slowly, a smile of cold delight swept across the figure's face, as they sensed that immense joy could be taken from what was about to occur._

_"I thought that you would never ask mister Afton," they replied in a delightful manner, before reaching out to a small nearby control panel and pressing a specific button._

_There was a sudden humming sound that was instantly followed by metallic clanging noises as the conveyor belt began to move. Steadily, it took both Ballora and Funtime away to the scooping room, with Circus Baby, Funtime Freddy and his rabbit hand puppet Bonbon watching them go._

_Satisfied with how things were moving Vincent stepped off the stage and re-joined the figure._

_"Handiunit can do the rest, but we should make our way over to the scooping room now, Ennard should hear the sound of the conveyor belt moving and join us outside." Vincent said firmly._

_The figure cast a brief glance at the four Nightmares before returning to look at Vincent._

_"I'll put the Nightmares into their respective commas after your Funtimes' performance, your repairs shouldn't take too long," the figure replied, eager to move things along._

_Then that sense of eagerness suddenly vanished, replaced by a passive curiosity, it was as fast as a light switch being flipped._

_"On another subject though?" they then asked in an interested tone, with their eyes displaying a desire of. . .'something'._

_"How have you found mister Emily's blueprints, the ones that I 'borrowed' from him?"_

_Vincent felt a little taken aback, not expecting such a question, although he been pondering on it earlier, so he wasn't entirely unprepared._

_"It brings back memories, the man was a creative at heart and Henry's designs have given me a few ideas on how to improve certain parts of the Funtime's internal design," Vincent answered casually, feeling a wave of nostalgia hit him as he spoke._

_He briefly turned to face the likes of Circus Baby and Funtime Freddy and then the Nightmares who remained staring headlong into nothing._

_"He loved his work, there is nothing denying that as much as I love mine."_

_Although deep within himself Vincent knew that his work had taken on multiple forms, both for good and bad, but regardless he felt a great sense of accomplishment from both._

_Both were works of art, yet he knew the differences in their purposes, and he had little to no intention of allowing the Funtimes to be drawn into his schemes._

_If he was willing to spare anyone from the hell that he was deliberately creating than it was them._

_Although. . .he had considered such an idea before, he had even drawn up complete blueprints for their 'new purposes' and 'special features'._

_Yet he couldn't bring himself to discard them, the idea, the creativity alone, kept on drawing him back._

_The potential of their use . . .was very intriguing._

_Then the figure spoke, completely derailing Vincent's train of thought._

_"A creative mind Henry did indeed possess, if you saw the state of his workshop, but in his depressed broken frame of mind, he will forever ask what happened, he may even question if he ever had the blueprints in his possession in the first place," they answered, sounding rather reflective._

_They smiled, before turning round and heading off towards an open doorway that would eventually lead one to the 'scooping room'._

_"Henry Emily will never retrace what happened to you mister Afton, I made sure to leave no trail, despite a few minor mishaps on my part when retiring his blueprints for you," they remarked in a fairly content manner, secure in their knowledge that what happened held no impending conquences for either of them._

_Yet there was something in the back of Vincent's mind that had resurfaced when the figure spoke._

_"Are you sure that he won't at least try to find out what happened, knowing that the only other person who was as interested in animatronics him was me?" Vincent asked curiously, although there was an undertone of concern in his voice that he couldn't quite mask._

_"And considering that I had lost my children around the same time as those 'unfortunate missing children's incidents', he might try to put two and two together, not that the link itself is obvious."_

_Granted the link between himself and those incidents was fairly weak, given how good a job he had done at covering his tracks, but there was a lingering worry that he might have accidently left something behind that could connect to him what happened. _ _Plus, unlike other work colleges, Henry knew him, knowing the trauma that he had gone through, losing Evelyn, then his children in quick succession and the mental toll that it had taken on him, even though Vincent did a good job at hiding his real feelings._

_He couldn't trust Henry not to get suspicious, but at the same time he believed that he had done a good enough job in making himself the least likely suspect on anyone's radar._

_It wasn't easy, but he had avoided coming to the attention of the police so far, yet now he was starting to have doubts. . ._

_"When Henry put his mind towards something it was extremely hard to shake him off it, he was like a bloodhound," Vincent commented, hoping to provoke a response from the figure._

_Yet the figure kept on walking towards the open doorway as Vincent continued._

_"Hey, he asked you a question?" Funtime Freddy yelled abrasively, stepping in to support Vincent. Meanwhile Circus Baby remained silent, watching the scene unfold with cautious eyes._

_When the figure reached the open doorway, Vincent feeling largely dissatisfied with the lack of an answer called out loudly._

_"Nightmare. . ."_

_Upon hearing their name, the figure slowly turned round to face Vincent. . .revealing a pair of scarlet red eyes that burned with an inner fire that seemed demonic._

_"Are you sure that Henry won't get the slightest bit curious and try to piece things together, considering what I've just said?" Vincent asked, steadily stepping forward, although he masked his feelings of doubt and hesitation with a curious expression._

_However, Nightmare simply smiled, or at least he seem to smile, not appearing to be bothered by Vincent's concerns, before saying a calm manner._

_"I can understand your worries Vincent, but regarding Henry Emily and the state that he was in when I encountered him at his home; how you can start to piece things together if you are unsure what the pieces exactly are, let alone that any connecting pieces even exist."_

_Then his scarlet red eyes narrowed._

_"And should he ever try to dig into all of this, we'll end him within an instant, he is only alive because it was far easier to confuse him during our encounter than to end his life."_

_"He would be reunited with Sammy, an ironic twist to say the least," Vincent remarked noncoherently, feeling his initial doubts begin to fade._

_"Trust me Vincent," Nightmare said confidently, holding out his claw like hand, beckoning him to follow._

_"Mister Emily doesn't know where to start, no one does, but together we can achieve the unthinkable, we both indulge in our darkest desires and end this waking nightmare for everyone as well, on our own terms of course."_

_Vincent smiled in a satisfied manner, feeling reassured and that of his confidence returning._

_This whole mess was a complex ever twisting labyrinth, anyone caught within it wouldn't know where to start in order to unravel it, let alone anyone else looking in from the outside. . .save for those who had devised the entire thing._

_"The joy of creation will be a work of art and we shall complete it until nothing remains," he said coldly, with his smile now turning sinister._

_"Looks like someone's not ready for a big surpriseeee!" Funtime Freddy yelled enthusiastically with Bonbon giggling, although the Funtime most likely had no idea what either Vincent or Nightmare were actually referring to._

_Circus Baby however remained quiet, choosing to listen instead, her expression was unreadable._

_"Still, we need to move things forward, I'm sure that you'll be interested to see the Scooper in operation again," Vincent said a determined tone, now walking towards Nightmare, whose smile only increased to look all the more insidious._

_"Lead the way mister Afton," he remarked in a delighted tone as Vincent passed him by._

_"Just remember this though."_

_Vincent looked back to face him, away from the show lights Nightmare's physical appearance was hard to make out with only his scarlet red eyes marking out his presence._

_"Even though those boys are beyond your reach, Fredbear still remains, destroying him utterly and that of everyone else who is associated with him will set Thomas free. . .we can give everyone their happiest day, even if they don't see it that way."_

_"I know," Vincent replied in a somewhat sombre tone, before his darker nature reared its head in his eyes, giving him a rather psychotic expression._

_"It'll just be a lot of fun in making it happen. . .before the final plunge."_

_Then he turned round to face Circus Baby and Funtime Freddy who still remained on stage._

_"Handunit," Vincent called loudly, immediately provoking a male response that seemed to come from everywhere._

_"Yes, Master Vincent?" they asked politely._

_"Do please initiate an immediate shutdown for both Circus Baby and Funtime Freddy," Vincent ordered firmly._

_"Of course sir, initiating now."_

_Then Vincent swiftly left the room with Nightmare quickly following on behind._

_He felt more settled now, knowing that he had been allowing his emotions to block out the reality of the situation and he had risked making a major mistake, the cold presence of Nightmare behind him served to entrench that fact in his mind._

_Yet as he headed directly for the Scooping Room, Vincent genuinely smiled, earning some joy from an unmistakable fact._

_His revenge maybe incomplete in some ways with the likes of Liam, Alex and David gone from the world, but it could still happen, and he had all the time in the world to turn it into reality. Yet, above all, he would put Thomas back together and in an ironic sense do the exact same for everyone else. . .either they wanted it or not. . ._

_Flashback ends. . ._

* * *

_Meanwhile. . ._

_Circus Baby felt pure panic surging through her no sooner had Vincent told Handunit to shut her and Funtime Freddy down, as she immediately recognised what was happening._

_Yet she couldn't stop the procedure, despite furiously fighting back._

_She tried to move, but she couldn't, it was like her feet had become welded to the metallic stage that she stood on._

_Then she saw both Vincent and Nightmare quickly leave the room, away from where she could either see or hear them._

_"No, don't go, not with him!" she mentally pleaded._

_Quickly, her eyes flickered to the chained Nightmares, who just looked at her and Funtime Freddy with a cold look of indifference, but in their eyes, she could see an unmistakable feral hunger for fear._

_"Please, don't leave us alone with them!" she mentally screamed, looking at Nightmare Foxy in particular._

_Funtime Freddy verablly groaned, clutching his head, feeling both agony and fear rip through his body like a thousand knives were being pushed into him. His faceplates opened up, his blue eyes went wide, and he tried to scream, but he couldn't express himself._

_Handunit had already silenced his voice box._

_Even Bonbon tried to yell, but like his puppeteer his voice was also absent, taken by Handunit._

_Time was short and Circus knew it, her body was locking itself down, it was like a numbing sensation was rolling over her senses like thick fog._

_She turned towards the open doorway that led to the Scooping Room, fighting against Handunit's attempt to keep her pinned in place._

_"If you do not comply, then I'm afraid that I'll have to give you a quick minor controlled shock," Handunit announced in a nonchalant tone._

_"Master Vincent wants you to perverse your power levels for the big show later on, please don't make me pick that option."_

_Yet Circus Baby fought back desperately, seeming to reach towards the open doorway with one hand, as though she was trying to grasp it._

_She was able to utter a few words._

_"Please. . .don't go, don't foll-"_

_ZAP!_

_The shock was both minor and brief as Handunit said it would be, it was enough to physically jolt and distract her, allowing Handunit to proceed with the shutdown procedures._

_"I'm sorry, but I did tell you, didn't I?" Handunit asked in a blank tone, although he didn't expect an answer from Circus Baby, as he locked her firmly in place by disabling her limbs._

_He quickly did the same thing with Funtime Freddy and Bonbon, giving them both a quick electric shock before locking them down whilst they were confused._

_Their limbs fall by their side, their head slowly dropped forward. The wiring sounds of their inbuilt electronics died down as they both felt sleep overcome them, smothering their feelings of panic, dread, and fear with an overwhelming sensation of tranquillity._

_"Shutting down procedure successfully completed, logging in report on mechanical malfunction for later assessment," Handunit announced, although his voice sounded very distant now. Whilst both Funtime Freddy, Bonbon and Circus Baby slipped off into slumber, with the light from their eyes rapidly dimming, although Circus Baby did her best to hold out._

_She tried to force an expression, to do anything, but all she accomplished was briefly expressing a sorrowful look before her facial features were forcefully changed into a permanent happy go lucky expression._

_The show lights behind her and Funtime Freddy died down, fading alongside the green glow of Circus Baby's eyes. In the end, despite her will to fight back, she had to succumb to the overpowering urge to sleep and all attempts to resist stopped._

_Deep down here, in this metallic place of hollowed dreams. . .memories sleep and they should slumber undisturbed. . ._

* * *

_Back to the present day. . ._

"So, how does this all end then Vincent?" Freddy asked firmly, folding his arms, and narrowing his eyes, an expression that was shared by everyone else.

"You intend to trap us all inside a burning building and watch us die, or join us as you've said so yourself, you have nothing left in this world, just painful memories."

His hands slowly morphed into fists.

"You are just as trapped as we are by this mess, but you want to make us suffer and be dragged down to your level, as a form of revenge."

Freddy gave Vincent a hard look, before saying.

"It's senseless, but I think deep down you know that, given what you've said already today."

Vincent's expression was now mostly blank, but in his eyes, there lie a spark of interest in Freddy's words.

"As you say, why regret what you can't change, however. . ."

Freddy's tone steadily changed from firmness to one of anger.

"Why are you telling us this?"

"Why reveal so much about yourself now?"

It was a good point to raise, given how Vincent had always withheld information about himself over the years.

To do so right now, clearly indicated an ulterior motive.

"And before you say it, it isn't because you're feeling generous today, there is always a more sinister reason underneath it all," Freddy said angrily, although there an undertone of caution in his voice.

"A good question Freddy, but not everything has to be revealed right now, although I'm sure that you all know me well enough to hazard a guess," Vincent answered calmly, giving the Fazbear a small smile.

He then looked over at both Puppet and then Goldie, before saying.

"However, don't worry, I'll give you the real answer in the end, maybe you'll get it right before I actually give it to."

"I think I know," Puppet replied sharply, with her inner rage being expressed through how twitchy her fingers were getting.

"You sense that the end is approaching, so you are no longer feeling the need to withhold secrets from us, as though it doesn't matter because there is nothing, we can do to escape it."

"As you say, we're too far gone to turn back, well, that's your opinion, in the end you're the one responsible for everyone's fate here and you alone deliberately did what you did, whereas we had next to no choice."

She then sighed, clasping her head in her hands as all manner of thoughts rushed through her head, before muttering bitterly.

"And yet you still commit, your family would be disgusted to know what you've done in their name, no matter how hard you try to dress it up, it is still murder, murder by intention, whereas we were all forced into that role. . .by you."

Then her eyes narrowed once more, and her voice became cold yet again.

"Yet, in the end it'll be you who suffers, not us, because in the end everything was caused by you, of that there is no doubt, however you look at it."

In Vincent's eyes, there was a glint of mischief, like he was aware of something and it sent a shiver up Puppet's spine, but she continued, refusing to stop.

"You have my sworn word Vincent that you'll get what's coming for you, even if I end up having to drag you to hell myself."

"We'll be free of you and fix the past, for everyone."

Unnoticed by everyone else, Balloon Boy smiled at Puppet's words, remembering what he had told her back at the old factory.

_"You shouldn't blame yourself for the past."_

_"_ _It is what it is, and Vincent will get what's coming for him. . .all tyrants get their just desert."_

He could see how he had inspired her to challenge the gloom that surrounded them and seeing her verablly challenge Vincent made his heart sore.

_"__Keep going Mari!" _he mentally cheered.

_"_ _Break him down!"_

Puppet smiled as she continued to speak, feeling ever confidence with each word.

"You think that you hold all of the cards Vincent, well you did once, but not anymore."

"Trust me, you can never stay on top forever. . ."

"You'll make a mistake, you slip up and we'll be there to end you, besides even age will wear you down and consider this. . ."

She took a few steps forward, until she was literally standing in front of him.

_"__Puppet, I wouldn't do that!"_ Bonnie mentally screamed, feeling very concerned for the girl's safety. Although she didn't voice her concern, unless she quickly gave either Lefty or Vincent the idea to immediately attack her outright.

Puppet continued to speak, with her current mood having made her seemingly unaware of the danger that she was in.

"What if we killed you first Vincent, that would completely ruin your plans, you think that we are the prisoners, no, you're trapped in here like we are, but you cannot hound us forever, regardless of your determination."

Vincent smiled, but his smile was cold and devious, he sensed a challenge.

"I always come back Puppet," he said firmly, and his eyes now burned with determination.

"You can't escape me, even if I am not physically present."

"Plus, I wouldn't stand so close, these animatronics aren't exactly the friendly types."

Suddenly, without warning, Lefty's chest plates swung right open and a metallic claw burst out, ready to grasp Puppet.

However, she was quick to realise her error and she jumped back just in the nick of time, as the claw's pincers slammed shut just inches away from her.

Vincent sighed humorously, before adding.

"Still haven't learnt the most important lesson of all Puppet, don't get too close to strangers, let alone follow them."

"And with your poor understanding of that rule I am surpised, genuinely surprised that you haven't died yet."

Puppet glared at him with murderous eyes, but she didn't take the bait and instead simply fell back in line alongside Goldie and Foxy. Lefty meanwhile simply withdrew his metallic claw back into his chest, with his chest plates closing shut with a considerable clang, he looked amused to say the least at having embarrassed Puppet.

"Yet, you are right Puppet," Vincent began, directing all attention back onto him. He now looked calm, his former cold demeanour had disappeared to be replaced with a reflective expression.

"My family would be horrified to know what I've done to give them eternal peace, but some truths are best left buried."

He then shook his head, seeming to sign deeply, before continuing with.

"I know that you will never see it this way, given what I have done to you lot, but I know that in the end my actions will lead to something good."

Then as if it had been preordained Lefty reached over to Vincent and placed his hand on the man's head, establishing mental link between them. . .in the dreamworld anything was possible.

"However, this is something else that I wouldn't mind sharing with you," Vincent said softly, feeling Lefty, or rather the Nightmare within Lefty began to search his memories, looking for the right one until they found it, a recent one when Vincent was in the airship's cockpit by himself.

Then Lefty reached out with his other hand, as though he was dictating something through thin air.

Suddenly, four items dropped into Vincent's hands, appearing right out of nothing before everyone's eyes.

Vincent smiled, before saying calmly.

"Relics, is what they are, but they serve as a constant reminder of what I have lost and what I hope to fix. . ._no matter the cost_."

He said that last part in a dark ominous tone and he knew that his words would come back to hurt him. . ._one day_.

Meanwhile the Fazbears just all stared in disbelief at the small collection of items that Vincent held within his hands, but none were more shocked than either Goldie or Foxy.

For in Vincent's hands. . .were three plushies and a small wooden, but highly decorated box.

The first plushie was obviously Goldie in his Fredbear persona, sporting a purple waist coat, bowtie, and top hat, although it looked a little worn with age.

The second plushie was that of Foxy and like the plushie of Fredbear it too looked a little aged. looking a little aged. The plushie of Foxy had his signature hook hand and black eye patch, although judging by its appearance, it looked as though its head had been stitched to his neck as there were tiny white marks along its neck, like the head had previously been torn off somehow.

The third plushie however, took everyone by surprise as it related to none of them, or to anyone else that they recognised.

It was of a girl with red hair, red cheeks and bright green eyes. She wore circus themed clothes, consisting of a mini red skirt and a small red velvet dress, whilst wielding a red flashy microphone in one hand, all whilst bearing a bright big smile.

Vincent lightly pressed her chest area, which resulted in the circus girl plushie saying in a dreamy voice.

"The show will begin momentarily."

"Memories," Vincent began, gently stroking the soft fur of the Foxy plush.

"That is what these treasures are, as well as chains, but despite all of the pain, the blood and the destruction, something good can come out of all this evil."

He looked at Freddy with a cold hard look, staring into Freddy's shock filled eyes.

"It wasn't just mindless devastation for the sake of it Freddy, but I have enjoyed the chaos."

Vincent then flicked the lid of the decorated wooden box open and a small figure slowly rose out of it and started to spin on the spot, with soft music beginning to play.

It carried a gentle and mellow tone that for a moment could make someone feel utterly peaceful.

"This is my way of fixing things, healing this gaping wound that I have deliberated allowed to keep bleeding," Vincent remarked firmly.

He smiled, with it being both psychotic and yet sincere, if such a thing was possible.

"Yet though I have stained just about everything as well as my own soul for all entirety, not everything has been tainted by my actions and dark desires, a deliberate intention on my part."

"Although in the end, I have managed to recreate them somewhat, to keep them pure and separate from my deeds and thoughts, all of which have become second nature to me over the decades."

He briefly looked at the dancing figure, before returning his gaze at the Fazbears who now collectively looked unsure of what to make of the situation. This explanation, this confession wasn't what they expected out of Vincent, not after everything he had ever done and how it he went about it.

It didn't fit their mental image of a crazed serial killer stalking the hallways for unwary children in a suit, pretending to be a trustworthy person, before luring them away to their untimely doom.

"I am a monster and I love it," Vincent stated, with no indication of regret.

"However, I am not utterly heartless, I do share something with you lot, I can relate to you, and no we are not the same, not in many ways, but in this there is a commonality between us all."

He then slowly held out his small collection of memories as though he was offering them to either Freddy, Puppet or even Goldie.

"We share a deep desire to fix what is broken, to put everything back together and give ourselves, or the ones who we care about their happiest days."

"Achieving that goal alone. . .is worth everything. . ."

* * *

(Begin the song here if you wish).

_We see four figures standing on a stage, shrouded in darkness, as voices of the Fazbears, Nightmares and Possessed Prop Suits share their discontent._

"**What are we?"**

_Remnants_

"_**Worthless?"**_

_Diminished_

"**S…c…r…a…p…p...e…d?"**

_Left behind_

"**Abandoned?"**

_Rejected_

"**F…o…r…g…o…t…t…e…n?"**

_Rotting_

"_**Decayed?"**_

_Haunted_

"**Feared?"**

_Disgraced_

"**R…e…v…i…l…e…d?"**

_Twisted_

"_**Broken?"**_

_Crushed_

"**Shattered?"**

_Then the eyes of all four figures light up, revealing themselves to be the Funtimes._

"**Whatever we are."**

_They all look troubled, as though they know a disturbing truth._

"**Whatever you thought, you knew about us. . ."**

_Then Circus Baby utters softly._

"**Was a lie. . . ."**

_We see stage lights turning on, the Funtimes activating, as playful music begins to play._

_We see Circus Baby's faceplates twitching, as she begins to dance on stage before Vincent and Nightmare._

_She then points at them before singing in a joyous manner._

"**I'd like to get to know you."**

_She smiles warmly._

"**Something about this feels right."**

_She then holds her hand out to them both._

"**So even if it's only for a moment."**

_Her eyes shine brightly._

"**Would you join me here tonight."**

_We see Vincent's shadow pass over a portrait of the Afton family._

"**I'll never leave you in the dark."**

_The love is always there._

"**I'll keep a light on. . ."**

_He looks downtrodden though._

"**And I've already seen your scars, no need to hide 'em."**

_He pushes several buttons._

"**I know tonight's full of sorrow."**

_He begins to smile._

"**But don't lose sight of tomorrow."**

_He'll put everyone back to together._

"**If I bend and break, I know you'll make it better."**

_The joy of creation. . ._

"**Cause you put me back together!"**

_The Funtimes' eyes light up brightly._

"**You make me whole!"**

_Vincent looks beyond pleased._

"**When you put me back together."**

_His eyes lit up with immense happiness._

"**You're in my soul!"**

_We see Vincent in the SpringBonnie suit, wielding a blood-stained knife._

"**Even though I've got a bite, don't be scarred of my bark."**

_He also holds Thomas's plushie of Fredbear._

"**Long as I am by your side, have no fear of the dark."**

_He stares at it longingly._

"**If they tear us apart, I'll be there in your heart forever."**

_He hugs it lovingly._

"**Now that we're back together."**

_We then see Vincent working on the Funtimes, slowly completing them._

"**Now that we're back together. . ."**

_He stops and briefly gazes at a picture of Elizabeth._

"**At first our connection. . .was only virtual."**

_He then pushes Circus Baby's faceplates close, finishing her face._

"**But ever since then, it's been. . ."**

_Her green eyes lit up._

"**Becoming something personal."**

_He gives her a small electronic shock._

"**Now I feel like you are part of me."**

_Circus Baby jolts briefly in pain._

"**Doesn't matter if you don't want to be."**

_Vincent smiles pleased with his success._

"**I knew from the start I'd have you in my heart forever."**

_It's not perfect, but he has recaptured Elizabeth's essence._

"**When you put me back together."**

_His determination is boundless._

"**I'll make you mine!"**

_He ruffles Circus Baby's smooth red hair._

"**Come on and put me back together."**

_She smiles at him in response._

"**You give me life."**

_We see Ballora dancing on stage, twirling before Vincent._

"**I've done the same song and dance plenty of times."**

_Vincent looks captivated by her performance._

"**Never thought I'd ever fill my empty inside."**

_She then reaches out for him; he takes her hand._

"**Till you picked up the pieces, now it's you and me forever."**

_Ballora's eyes open and she smiles sweetly._

"**Now that we're back together."**

_We see Vincent looking despondent._

"**I could sing a happy song."**

_The agony never ends._

"**But it doesn't heal the pain."**

_We see the Funtimes looking sincere._

"**I would never do you wrong."**

_They won't leave him. . .like their inspirations did._

"**Trust is more than just a game."**

_Vincent grips his head and screams in emotional turmoil._

"**I feel like a prisoner, trapped deep within this cell."**

_We see Elizabeth's likeness being reflected in Circus Baby._

"**Maybe I've got the key to free you from this hell."**

_We see Vincent standing triumphant over the Fazbears._

"**My iron will was strong."**

_Cuts to him looking broken before the Funtimes._

"**Till it rusted in the rain. . ."**

_Circus Baby reaches out for him._

"**But by now it's been so long, it's time to reignite this flame."**

_She grips Vincent's shoulder; making him look up at her._

"**Just forget the past and cast aside their lies."**

_Vincent knows the truth; he is brave enough to admit it._

"**Now shed your mask."**

_He is a dead man walking.  
_ **"There's nothing left to hide."**

_But the souls of his family will be spared from the hell that he is creating._

"**And you'll see it in my eyes."**

_We see plushies of the Funtimes fall into Vincent's hands._

"**I'm never leaving you behind, now that I have you."**

_We see Circus Baby and the other Funtimes preforming on stage._

"**I'll never let the party die, if I don't have to."**

_We see Vincent looking enraptured as they perform._

"**I just wanna hear you singing, it would be a delight."**

_Nightmare watches from the side-lines, seemingly mystified by the Funtimes._

"**The opportunity is waiting if you see it you bite."**

_Vincent looks at him and they share an unspoken agreement._

"**Only wanted your help, so I'm not by myself forever."**

_Beautiful music fills the underground._

"**You put me back together."**

_We see the chained up Nightmares staring at the Funtimes with confused expressions._

_Nightmare's eyes narrow at Circus Baby, he seems. . .interested._

"**You put me back together."**

_His claws tighten to become fists, while Vincent approaches the stage._

_Circus Baby holds out her arms and Vincent embraces her in a hug._

"**I try not to remember, the times that I have been hurt."**

_The other Funtimes join in, sharing the moment._

"**I find nobody better than you. . ."**

_An illusion can become reality. . ._

"**To put me back together."**

_The lights fade out, giving away to darkness._

* * *

"In the end, it will all be worth it, I know you all too well that you see your struggle in this game in the same light, you can try to escape it, but I won't let you."

Vincent's expression became dark, foreboding and his smile was cruel.

"Our lives are far too entwined; we all have to see this wretched saga through to its bitter end."

"You can try to hide, try to run away from it, from me, but in the end, I will find you, I had the means to watch you before and I can do so again."

Then Toy Bonnie interjected, raising her hand, and looking confused, but in her eyes there was also a look of dread, the fear of what Vincent's words implied.

"Wait, what you do mean watch us like before?" she asked, completely derailing Vincent's thoughts, as she eyed him with great suspicion. Although the dread in her voice, was picked up by other Fazbears with them looking at her and then turning in Vincent's direction, their expressions.

Then things seemed to fully dawn on Chica, with her eyes going wide as she realised something, only for her expression to then morph into a snarl.

"You knew when we intended to leave the pizzeria and how, you were watching us, weren't you?" she asked venomously.

Vincent's smile didn't enlarge as one would expect, but in his green eyes one could see the glint of enjoyment that sprang from knowing something that they didn't.

Yet he eventually gave Chica an answer,

"It's time," he remarked ominously.

"For one more revelation. . ."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more revelation, everything is finally coming together. . .well, what's been revealed so far. ;-)
> 
> Vincent does have a good side, although it is deeply intermixed with the monster that he has become.
> 
> The Funtimes have been revealed at last, as has Nightmare's involvement in all of this - I really wanted to get to this part!
> 
> Once again, future chapter uploads will be sporadic from this point going forward.
> 
> Thank you for reading and please review, I appreciate your thoughts.

**Author's Note:**

> So, there you have it the first chapter, sorry if you are confused as to what's going on and why...that's the intention ;-)  
At the same time, I just got used to calling Purple Guy or the Murderer Vincent, because that was the long held fan name and I started writing this story in 2015 before Scott revealed the official name as William Afton in the Sliver Eyes and Sister Location, so to satisfy both sides, I've combined the two, hence Vincent Afton.  
Please review.


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